Cleaning ONR microfibers with Palmolive?

efnfast

New member
After 2 or 3washes I usually soak my ONR microfibers with palmolive to remove all the trapped dirt. Works like a charm (after soaking them, they tend to release a surprising amout of dirt that I didn't think was there, btu is, and doesn't come out just rubbing under water).



Soooo the question, is there some reason I can't use palmolive (no scent/phophates/etc..etc...) to remove stubborn dirt? I've been doing ti for 2yrs so far without any problems.......
 
I wash my MF with Dawn and have been for years. Cleans the MF better than anything else I have tried and rinses out well. I find regular soaps don't clean as well and don't rinse out well either.
 
Only thing that concerns me is that the residual Palmolive/Dawn in the wash media (if any) is transferred back to the paint when you're ONRing the car. And we all know what a little bit of Palmolive or Dawn can do to LSP. This conjecture is untested by me...just thoughts.



Your thoughts?
 
MichaelSpoots said:
Only thing that concerns me is that the residual Palmolive/Dawn in the wash media (if any) is transferred back to the paint when you're ONRing the car. And we all know what a little bit of Palmolive or Dawn can do to LSP. This conjecture is untested by me...just thoughts.



Your thoughts?

As I said in my post Dawn rinses out far better than Tide or other detergents. I came to this conclusion when I was running a load of MF through a rinse cycle and noticed the large amount of suds in the rinse water using Tide. I than decided to keep running rinse cycles until the water was clear. On the tenth cycle I said enough of this. I always used a very little amount of soap to.





That was a few years ago. I have been using Dawn since then and notice the towels are fluffier, softer, and my drying towels absorb water as good as when they were new.
 
After I do my post-buffing/pre-LSP Dawn wash I always make sure to do a full bucket mix and soak my MF's in the left over water(clean) as pre-soak. Works great are breaking down all the polishing oils before throwing them in the washer.
 
Anthony A said:
I wash my MF with Dawn and have been for years. Cleans the MF better than anything else I have tried and rinses out well. I find regular soaps don't clean as well and don't rinse out well either.



You can use dish soap in the washing machine?
 
Be a *little* careful using outside-the-box products in the washing machine. I do it too, and no...no problems. But some stuff will suds up more than you might expect.



Does Palmolive still have palm and olive oils in it (whence came the name)? "You're soaking in it"...I'd want an oil-free/clean-rinsing dish soap for something like this.
 
....I typically use a dedicated MF detergent like Micro Restore and don't have rinsing issues. I will also presoak & rinse heavier soiled items to help release product/contamination if needed. I have used Dawn during the presoak in some cases but resort back to the MF detergent during the final wash.
 
For clarification, I'm not talking about buffing cloths w/ polishes and waxes in them - those are easy enough to soak and remove the stuff from them with standard MF products.



I'm talking about cloths I'm using for ONR washing - the ONR really seems to trap (encapsulate) dirt in there and not easily release it, and most of my MF products arn't really able to remove all of it. I've tried like crazy to rub them out, and they're just not as effecting at forcing the ONR to release the dirt as something like palmolive is....one little squirt, a bunch of rubbing,t hen rinsing out for 3minutes and my cloths are literally brand new, no matter how soiled they were after ONR'ing.



Accumulator said:
Does Palmolive still have palm and olive oils in it (whence came the name)? "You're soaking in it"...I'd want an oil-free/clean-rinsing dish soap for something like this.





I don't know, but that may be worth looking into....
 
Accumulator said:
Does Palmolive still have palm and olive oils in it (whence came the name)? "You're soaking in it"...I'd want an oil-free/clean-rinsing dish soap for something like this.



Regular blue Dawn is what I use. Leaves the dishes squeaky and grabby so it's not leaving anything behind.



I'm comfortable that it rinses out because after the rinse cycle I usually run the MF through a full wash cycle again but without any soap as a sort of super rinse cycle and the water is very clear on this second run through. With regular detergent I could do this many times and still have sudsy rinse water.



Your right about the sudsing. You don't need much Dawn in the wash just a little and you get some serious suds.
 
Anthony A said:
Regular blue Dawn is what I use..



Yeah...while I did like the scent of the "Baking Soda Fresh Scent" version of AJAX, which rinsed clean but is not longer available in my area, I just buy a big jug of regular blue Dawn and fill my kitchen soap dispenser and little garage/shop bottle from that. Those big jugs last us for ages.



I have some used-for-washing MFs that simply don't come clean. Period. Stains that seem permanent. I just don't worry about it :nixweiss But I'm not wiping down my hood with 'em either.
 
I use a dedicated MF detergent on all my towels and foam polishing pads. For ones that are very dirty or that I know will be hard to remove I add a little 303 Fabric and Vinyl cleaner. This has gotten every stain/dirt out everytime I have used it. The 303 cleaner is such a strong but delicate cleaner/degreaser it is wonderful



I have found when I use a dedicated MF detergent the towels are fluffy and absorbe water as if they were new, but when I use dawn or something like that the towels seem to be almost flattened out and not fluffy they also do not absorbe water as well. Maybe I was adding too much dawn or doing something wrong I am unsure. For the price of the microfiber detergent I use it all the time Autogeek has a BOGO alot with microfiber detergents and thats when I stock up on them.





- LI 85
 
Anthony A said:
Regular blue Dawn is what I use. Leaves the dishes squeaky and grabby so it's not leaving anything behind.



I'm comfortable that it rinses out because after the rinse cycle I usually run the MF through a full wash cycle again but without any soap as a sort of super rinse cycle and the water is very clear on this second run through. With regular detergent I could do this many times and still have sudsy rinse water.



Your right about the sudsing. You don't need much Dawn in the wash just a little and you get some serious suds.



How much do you think I should use for a full load of MFs? About a Teaspoon?
 
Boston Man said:
How much do you think I should use for a full load of MFs? About a Teaspoon?



You have to experiment but I tea spoon is not enough for my full loads. I still use a top load washer so I just open the lid and look in and if it's not enough I add a little more.
 
David Fermani said:
After I do my post-buffing/pre-LSP Dawn wash I always make sure to do a full bucket mix and soak my MF's in the left over water(clean) as pre-soak. Works great are breaking down all the polishing oils before throwing them in the washer.



David,



What ratio Dawn/water do you use for pre-LSP wash and for pre-soaking MF's?
 
About 4-5 ounces(1/2 cup) for 4 gallons of water. IMHO, I'd say polishing oils are more difficult to remove from fabric than ONR. When you get a fabric dirty and then get it wet (without using the proper chemical) it can set the stain. The dirt will lift, but the discoloration will many times remain. Stains aren't harmful.
 
David Fermani said:
About 4-5 ounces(1/2 cup) for 4 gallons of water. IMHO, I'd say polishing oils are more difficult to remove from fabric than ONR. When you get a fabric dirty and then get it wet (without using the proper chemical) it can set the stain. The dirt will lift, but the discoloration will many times remain. Stains aren't harmful.





I've found the opposite - using those orange crystals I can easily clean my MF pads/towel of polish. However, ONR seems to almost bond itself to the microfiber.



I've tried a dozen different ideas to wash them clean, but unfortunately only palmmolve has been 100% successful (i.e., squeeky clean, brand new, no stains).



Regarding the stains and ONR, I'm not entirely certain. After squirting a bit of palmolive onto the cloth (I usually squirt a little drop, rub it in, then add water and rub for a minute to get squeeky clean) as I'm rubbing under the water I can see a little bit of dirt removing (not dirt particles, but slightly brownish water) from cloths that I've rubbed clean with just water - it's almost like the ONR grabs it and hides it and refuses to let it go without some form of degreaser.
 
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