Microfiber laundering - A nightmare find...

Oneheadlite

Oneheadlite

Member
Got a chance to do some car cleaning this weekend, ended up with a couple loads of microfibers to run trough the wash. I did my "good" load first, which was a batch of Speed shine, PFM, PFM drying, polish and wax removal towels, gold plush jr`s, and some shine and buff towels.

When it came time time to throw them in the dryer, I checked the lint trap which was virtually empty. I figured this was perfect, meaning the last load through was probably sheets and I wouldn`t have to worry about lint leftover in the drum. Threw my towels in, ran it as usual.

When I went to swap in my next load of "dirty spot" towels, I had a horrifying discovery when I pulled out my good towels. A small amount of fine sand on the bottom of the drum, and some along the paddles. I can only guess it`s playground sand from my toddlers socks that must have static-clung to the barrel. :o

Am I screwed? I`m thinking the best approach would be to take them outside and shake them all out really good, then run them through a couple wash cycles hoping for the best?

Looking for any advice to help keep these in service. I just don`t have the budget to replace them, and it`s a good portion of my best towels!
 
I would vacuum out the dryer first. Vacuum the towels with the sand. Then wash the towels with the sand and see what happens. The worst that can happen would be relegating the towels to jobs that do not touch your finish

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Good thinking on vacuuming.

I found this late last night (brain may not have been firing on all cylinders), and immediately wiped it out with wet paper towels and washcloths, collecting up as much as I could find. One last check with the vacuum, plus a once over on the affected towels sounds like a solid plan.
 
Be careful with the wet paper towel. Could fall apart and have tiny pieces of paper towel and sand to contend with.

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have you considered making a pvc drying rack or something? I use the sticky hooks and place them under the door frame so I can hang the towels on hangers but still shut the door (to the laundry room) when the hangers are not in use

might not work so well for someone who doesn`t live by themselves but I`ve never even had a woman notice those sticky hooks were there unless I had towels drying on them

I don`t even like using the same washing machine for my micros but I do because I don`t really have space for a second washing machine just for the micros. Plus I feel that would be further wading into the deep end and I`m already waist deep, ha.
 
I got a bit lazy on `towel discipline` recently; think *someone* in the household mighta dried a load of paint friendly towels on high; couldn`t determine which towels specifically were affected so all went into the interior/wheel tub. Ordered all new towels; was surprisingly affordable.
 
Good call on the washer cleaner. I got a free sample of some brand machine cleaner and used it in the past. I need to get more.

I think I might do one load of laundry for every four loads of micros! I wash micros so much that by muscle memory habit I generally end up pouring micro cleaner into the wash machine when I`m doing clothes. Seems to work pretty well.
 
BudgetPlan1 said:
I got a bit lazy on `towel discipline` recently; think *someone* in the household mighta dried a load of paint friendly towels on high; couldn`t determine which towels specifically were affected so all went into the interior/wheel tub. Ordered all new towels; was surprisingly affordable.
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What did the High setting do to `em?

I`ve dried MFs on High before and it never did any damage, was well below the melting point etc. (as I`d think any properly functioning dryer oughta be; the melting point for MF is awfully high). I usually dry them on Low or Medium, but never sweat it if they get done on High.
 
Accumulator said:
What did the High setting do to `em?

I`ve dried MFs on High before and it never did any damage, was well below the melting point etc. (as I`d think any properly functioning dryer oughta be; the melting point for MF is awfully high). I usually dry them on Low or Medium, but never sweat it if they get done on High.
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Can`t say for sure, just know that they were dried on high which I never do and then I started having linting/micromarring issues...so I just tossed em all (actually moved to `no paint` bin).

They were mostly towels I have used for about 30 jobs (although `job` would indicate some kinda financial compensation but it was all freebies in the interest of `learning`) so they were ready to move on anyway.

I had a thread here somewhere about linting during coating that was the end result if something gone awry with something; towels were just one suspect in that case since they were dried on high immediately before coating application.

Who really knows in the end...i just know that the next car I did with new towels had no issues.

Bear in mind that I usually have no real idea what I`m doing it seems so anything is possible!

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BudgetPlan1- Well, I dunno about that "..I usually have no real idea what I`m doing..." ;)

Whatever was going on with those MFs, yeah, if they`re causing marring then that`s that for use on paint.

Consider that boiling is a generally accepted means of revitalizing MFs (some of mine came with instructions to boil `em before the first use), and that`s a whole lot hotter than a dryer oughta get. Anyhoo....just belaboring it so you don`t get tempted to throw out perfectly good ones should that !oops! with the heat setting happen again.
 
512detail said:
have you considered making a pvc drying rack or something? I use the sticky hooks and place them under the door frame so I can hang the towels on hangers but still shut the door (to the laundry room) when the hangers are not in use

might not work so well for someone who doesn`t live by themselves but I`ve never even had a woman notice those sticky hooks were there unless I had towels drying on them

I don`t even like using the same washing machine for my micros but I do because I don`t really have space for a second washing machine just for the micros. Plus I feel that would be further wading into the deep end and I`m already waist deep, ha.
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Good point about air-drying vehicle exterior-dedicated microfiber towels INDOORS to keep them clean. I usually dry mine on the clothes line outdoors, BUT in a residential neighborhood when someone cuts their grass or its a dry, windy day,"lawn and tree debris" can and will get into those microfibers. Not a good thing for wiping vehicle exteriors. Tree leaf and small bark pieces , not to mention pollen, can be (and is) quite abrasive.

Trying to hand-pick out debris from good (IE, expensive) microfiber towels can and is a time-consuming job. It`s one of the reasons professional detailers work INDOORS (unless, of course, your detailing is a MOBILE one doing customer`s vehicles OUTDOORS). No tree and grass "natural" debris to mess up wipe-downs or wipe-offs. Sometimes I wonder if that is one of the "unknown causes" of micro-marring (or just plain marring) for hobbyists and weekend warriors. Try just washing a car outdoors in the fall when the leaves have turned color on dry, windy day in the Upper Midwest; you never will again. (Been there-done that; live-and-learn)
 
Whenever I air-dry my textiles...MF, cotton, whatever...they come out stiff. That`s even with filtered/softened water...never have figured it out.

And yeah...while I wash all sorts of stuff in my shop`s washer, I never take my Detailing MFs outside nor use them for anything other than Detailing. Never work outside period other than inspections in sunlight. My environment just isn`t clean enough...suppose that`s gonna vary between different people, but I sure sympathize with anyone who has to do their detailing outdoors.
 
Thanks for all the input!

I`m going to start with shake, vacuum, double wash, dry, and vacuum and see if they still skeeve me out.

An indoor drying rack sounds interesting, but like Accumulator I find they end up more plush after running through the dryer.

Ronkh said:
"Ron" em

(garbage or engine work)
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Would love to be able to do that, but I`m not currently in a position to replace the $100+ in towels. I`ve gotta try to save them.


Found out the mystery of how I missed sand in the dryer before I started - It wasn`t there when I put the towels in.
The night after my discovery, I was relaying to my wife why I was so late getting up to bed. The look on her face as I was explaining what the towels were was both an immediate explanation of what happened, and all the apology needed for such an honest mistake: Saturday she ran all of our daughter`s shoes through the wash, and put them on a drying rack to air dry.
Sunday night I put my good towels into the dryer before I went to bed.

I leave for work at 6am, so I left them in the dryer to deal with in the evening.

Monday morning (615ish?), my wife was getting ready for work and checked the shoes - to find most of them still damp. She grabbed the driest pair and threw them in the dryer. Early morning brain meant she just saw towels that meant the shoes wouldn`t be clunking around while she tried to let our 2.5 yr old get as much sleep as she could.

And so they deposited the sand left in them into the drum. *Facepalm* Again - though a huge bummer, an honest mistake.
 
I have a daughter, and have had some stuff stained pink by the exact situation you mention. common to all fathers of daughters, I suppose - I wouldn`t trade it for anything though.

Sorry about the towels, I hope the super-clean and vacuum works out alright.
 
air dry!
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accumulator- what detergent do you use?
im using poorboys typhoon and no crusty towels air drying
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