MF towels only last 20-25 uses?

J

jupiter

New member
My MF towels have gone through the wash only 20~25 times and now they completely lost their ability to absorb water. Is it because they've reached the end of their life cycle or is it because I used some of them to buff off wax? I washed them repeatedly in warm water and mild detergent so I would have thought that would remove wax embedded in the fibers. But to no avail.. man, what a waste of money :/
 
Run them through with about 3 tablespoons of dawn and a cup of vinegar, that should help. Also make sure you never use fabric softener. That said, I downgrade my towels after about 10 uses to interior work. Towels are cheap, paint is not.
 
Don't set your dryer to high heat. MF towels are cheap especially Costco 36 pack, after few washes start using them for other cleaning purposes than wax removal.
 
Some MF simply have a limited working life, but FWIW I seldom find plush MFs all that great for drying anyhow.



My WWs usually get less and less effective over time, no matter what I do when washing.



My plush drying towels from Walmart (the ones Tom P. recommended) are very good at getting all the water, but then I've only used 'em a few times so far so I don't know what to expect from them.
 
jupiter said:
My MF towels have gone through the wash only 20~25 times and now they completely lost their ability to absorb water.
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I've had the same experience, but certainly got more than 25 uses. Definitely a couple years. But then they just cease to absorb water. It has not been a wide-spread situation. Some towels that I have from the same vintage are absolutely fine.



FWIW, no amount of special washing/handling, even with MF wash solution, helped...even a little.



I have started drying all my MF on low heat. Perhaps that will extend their life :)
 
Wow.. 25 uses,.. I've usually dropped mines before I get 10 uses out of them lol, so I'm always buying more.
 
20-25 is respectable, however I've heard of people getting over a year's use out of their Cobras (don't remember anything about frequency of use though).



I too have noticed that when you use a plush MF for LSP removal, it generally loses it's absorption ability because of the residual waxes. I like to keep my MFs color coded to what their purpose is so I don't "cross-contaminate".
 
Maybe its the care of them? Or water quality perhaps?(film buildup?)



I still use bins of towels from like 3 years ago, on paint as well. They perform the same exact way they did after their first wash.



We had a customer contact us because his zaino towels marred the snot out of his brand new Challenger. I was floored by this as they had always gotten rave reviews.
 
Accumulator said:
Some MF simply have a limited working life, but FWIW I seldom find plush MFs all that great for drying anyhow. My WWs usually get less and less effective over time, no matter what I do when washing.
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Totally agree. I use the Mothers Laminated Waffle Weave for initial drying and then follow up with a quick wipe with a standard WW. Extremely fast and very little 'touching'.



All my MF and WW get at least 20+ uses before they are downgraded to 'dirty detail'. I use Liquid Tide detergent. Cool wash and low heat dry. I have a dedicated washer for my detailing stuff that never sees fabric softeners or other additives.
 
lostdaytomorrow said:
I always had a problem with the edges of my Towels unraveling so Now I buy silk edged towels exclusively.
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I've been seeing this on a few of my cobra MFs :-/. I just ordered a dozen of the blue bogo MFs from AG that looked like they didn't have a separate edge, so hopefully they will hold out better. At $10 for 6 of them you can't go wrong.
 
lostdaytomorrow said:
I always had a problem with the edges of my Towels unraveling...
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I never worry much about that, mine don't come apart in a huge way like I'd expected them to. I've even cut out sections and just let the holes fray a bit.
 
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