How do I avoid all the "lint" I'm getting from my micro fiber towels?

R

RenuAuto

New member
Or at least that's what I think it is?





They're my drying towels. After the final wipe down, the towels seem to be leaving a ton of "fibers" back on the windows and mirrors. I'm using RightLook Fiber Wash to wash them as well.



Any ideas what's going on?
 
Sometimes it has nothing to do with the specific cloth. You have to let the window dry and wipe it with one of the towels specifically made for windows.



I think there is some sort of contamination on some windows that catch fibers off the microfiber.



Robert
 
another cause is washing them with cheaper towels that might of transferred lint onto them. i wash my good (paint) towels and the cheaper (wheels, jams, etc) ones seperate...
 
Good point. I have towels separated into:



-Exterior Drying

-Windows

-Interior

-Exterior polishing/wax removal



...and wash them all that way as well.
 
For some reason *all* my MF towels leave lint on glass, even the "made for glass" ones do it eventually. And yeah, I wash/dry them all separately and do my best to avoid any cross-contamination.



I only use MFs on the exterior glass, and then only my WWMFs (the slight dampness from doing so "primes" them). And then I redo the glass with other media, in part to get any MF lint off.



Some MFs just *lint* period. And by the time they quit doing so they're getting worn out. Sorta like the way cotton towels always leave lint in the dryer's lint filter I suppose.
 
you just shouldn't use microfibers on glass. This makes me so mad when I see this. Grrrr lol Listen save your microfibers for paint only what you need to get is surgical towels.



Surgical Towels, Blue, 170 Count



You will never use a microfiber on glass again. you can wash these towel 1000 times and they still work as day 1. you wasting money everytime you use a microfiber on glass. . sorry for the rant. I just hate to see people throw money away
 
bufferbarry said:
you just shouldn't use microfibers on glass. This makes me so mad when I see this. Grrrr lol Listen save your microfibers for paint only what you need to get is surgical towels.



Surgical Towels, Blue, 170 Count



You will never use a microfiber on glass again. you can wash these towel 1000 times and they still work as day 1. you wasting money everytime you use a microfiber on glass. . sorry for the rant. I just hate to see people throw money away
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So, $70 dollars later with shipping I'm standing by my front door waiting for my new towels...



This is on you Barry, l:2thumbs:



Robert
 
i've had good luck with edgeless low nap microfiber towels for cleaning glass and don't have an issue with lint...
 
go to Wally World and find the Kitchen section and pick up the waffle weave towels for glass, they have not linted on me in over a year, they are cheap for a 3 pack.



I like the idea of the surgical towels, I will give them a go after I stop by the hospital. They are not thick so I don't know if I'll like the feel.



Cheers,

GREG
 
bufferbarry said:
you just shouldn't use microfibers on glass. This makes me so mad when I see this. Grrrr lol Listen save your microfibers for paint only what you need to get is surgical towels.
Click to expand...



Ding!, Ding!, Ding! - Give that man a ceegar.:)
 
BigAl3 said:
i've had good luck with edgeless low nap microfiber towels for cleaning glass and don't have an issue with lint...
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I also have the same experience.



I often use a terry cloth applicator (no lint) to scrub the glass and then the mf to remove the residue. I will switch out the mf if it gets saturated..usually can do the exterior or exterior.
 
Noting that there must be a zillion different surgical/huck towels on the market, a while back a member here sent me some that he thought were really great; I thought they were simply awful :nixweiss



More often than not, I use use my cotton terry towels, followed by the Griot's polypropylene window wipes. I just keep going back to that combo...





BigAl3 said:
i've had good luck with edgeless low nap microfiber towels for cleaning glass and don't have an issue with lint...
Click to expand...



Some of my napless MFs for glass are good lint-wise. Not good enough for regular use on the vehicles, but plenty good enough for use on household glass.



They *are* good for the winter though, when tenacious salt residue makes very minor linting the least of my concerns.
 
Accumulator said:
Noting that there must be a zillion different surgical/huck towels on the market, a while back a member here sent me some that he thought were really great; I thought they were simply awful :nixweiss
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I've noticed that surgical(and most cotton) towels need to be washed several times before they begin to absorb wetness properly. Once that happens you're chrystal clear. What what your experience Accumulator? Tell us more...
 
Accumulator said:
Some of my napless MFs for glass are good lint-wise. Not good enough for regular use on the vehicles, but plenty good enough for use on household glass.



They *are* good for the winter though, when tenacious salt residue makes very minor linting the least of my concerns.
Click to expand...



goes to show you everyone has own their experiences. the edgeless microfibers (viking, megs, blue perl, mothers, etc, etc.) have worked well for *me* after continuous use (in all aspects) and liberally spraying glass cleaner/QD makes a difference as well...
 
BigAl3 said:
goes to show you everyone has own their experiences....
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Yep, all we can do is try stuff that's worked OK for others and see how our own experiences go.



I sure find it frustrating that my MFs for glass never remain lint-free, but I'm happy enough with the (somewhat pricey) Griot's polypro wipes so it's no biggie.



And yeah, I'm mighty generous with the glass cleaner all right :D



Oddly enough, I have one of the old (very first gen.) Cobra MF for glass, a yellowish-orange, somewhat plush one, that's still great in this regard even after many years of use; I reserve it for use on eyeglasses/fine optics and it never leaves a speck of lint. I have others from the same purchase that are seemingly *exactly* the same and they lint something awful; some did since new, others after a few uses :nixweiss



David Fermani said:
I've noticed that surgical(and most cotton) towels need to be washed several times before they begin to absorb wetness properly.. What what your experience Accumulator? Tell us more...
Click to expand...



Yeah, I've found that generally all textiles need to be laundered first, some more than others. The huck towels I used simply didn't work out for me. Yeah, they were somewhat absorbent after washing, but they never did work as well for me as regular cotton towels for the real cleaning, nor did they finish up as issue-free as my other glass towels.



I still have them around here somewhere; I didn't give up on them nearly as soon as one might expect.



But my thoughts always ended up along the lines of "sheesh, how did he ever think these were OK?!?" but it's not like he sent me something without having reason to think I'd be pleased with them. Just one more "YMMV" thing, I suppose.
 
So, on Barry's recommendation, I got a big box of surgical wipes for windows.



Tried them and came up with this method.



First, for now I still use a microfiber cloth, slightly damp to go over the window first. It seemed that the microfiber took contamination off the glass better - though I'm going to experiment with using the surgical wipes exclusively. Then, I tried using the wipes just folded over, but I found them hard to hold and it was hard to get a good contact patch no matter how flat I tried to hold my hand. So, I folded the wipe over a hydrophilic sponge and presto, clean glass, easy, easy, easy. The sponge makes the wipe easier to hold and easier to push into the edges.



The wipes folded over a sponge, one wipe per car, so I can keep track of the sides that have been used is going to be the go to move on windows until something else comes along.



Thanks Barry and all, you've saved me time and aggravation.



Robert
 
Robert (WhyteWizard) - Are they "wipes" or towels? If they're towels, were they pre-washed 1st or did you use them straight out of the package?
 
bufferbarry said:
Bob Prewash them first. You'll never use another microfiber again on glass.
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Using them the way I did I got a really good result. Now, about half of the order is in the wash and I'm really looking forward to an improvement on that.



Dave,



They are the ones from a rag guy that Barry linked to. They were used and washed but as I wrote, now, I'm washing them. Decided to go with the extra rinse.



If you guys haven't tried the sponge trick, please do. I bet you'll like it.



All the best,

Robert
 
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