Washing towels

You will be fine to use your towels. Try some of Pinnacle's Microfiber Restorer. I got some with one of their microfiber kits and what a drifferance, leaves the towels real plush.
 
FAST SVT said:
I'm not trying to jack this thread, but my question relates.



My waffle weave MF drying towel and one of my regular MF got mixed up in the wash with regular clothes. I know you are supposed to wash MF's separately, and I always have, but someone who shall remain nameless washed my MF's with their clothes. I'm wondering if it is still ok to use the two towels that got mixed in with regular clothes on my car or if they are done and I need to buy some new ones?
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I would probably rewash them before using them - particularly if fabric softener was used.
 
Guys... stop saying "vinegar." It can confuse some people and they may use wrong salad vinegar or wine vinegar! You need to use only distilled white vinegar. You use it in the final rinse, about a tablespoon per towel.



It will not smell or damage fabric and can be used on all types of clothing.



White vinegar is the original "fabric softener." What it does is allow the fabric fibers to release every last bit of detergent in the final rinse so that the fabric is free of residue, hence the fabric feels softer.



Using it in the wash does no good, you must use it only in the final rinse.
 
DFTowel- You're right, of course. Heh heh, it must be frustrating for you when we laymen get sloppy about textile care :o



I *have* found that washing a second time (or more) with only distilled white vinegar (instead of detergent) can work wonders on textiles with a lot of buildup. Sorta like a "super-rinse cycle".



Erase- Why not just use warm or even hot water? I find Shout can be tough to get out, though the (distilled white) vinegar rinse helps.
 
Accumulator said:
I *have* found that washing a second time (or more) with only distilled white vinegar (instead of detergent) can work wonders on textiles with a lot of buildup. Sorta like a "super-rinse cycle".
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Same here :xyxthumbs
 
Accumulator said:
DFTowel- You're right, of course. Heh heh, it must be frustrating for you when we laymen get sloppy about textile care :o



I *have* found that washing a second time (or more) with only distilled white vinegar (instead of detergent) can work wonders on textiles with a lot of buildup. Sorta like a "super-rinse cycle".



Erase- Why not just use warm or even hot water? I find Shout can be tough to get out, though the (distilled white) vinegar rinse helps.
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I also find the best time to incorporate the distilled white vinegar (DWV) is during the rinse cycle. I add roughly 1 oz of DWV for every 2 towels.
 
Accumulator said:
DFTowel- You're right, of course. Heh heh, it must be frustrating for you when we laymen get sloppy about textile care :o



I *have* found that washing a second time (or more) with only distilled white vinegar (instead of detergent) can work wonders on textiles with a lot of buildup. Sorta like a "super-rinse cycle".



Erase- Why not just use warm or even hot water? I find Shout can be tough to get out, though the (distilled white) vinegar rinse helps.
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I haven't used warm or hot water because I am concerned about damaging the microfibers- but I suppose this is unfounded. Also when I use hot water I get the stuff floating out of the towels onto the washer and I get "a dirty ring around the top of the washer".



(And then you should hear the bitching I get for that "ring around the washer")



So instead of boiling it to the surface I disolve it away with Shout.



If the vinegar works that well- I want to use it because it is cheaper than Shout and likely more environmentally friendly.



If find that washing with detergent alone won't get the darker stains out of my MF's .. I bought the Eurow yellow MF towels from Costco just to do interiors and windows...are they safe enough to use on my paint for removing wax and QD'ing? Or must I buy that Concours towel- or the Pak shaks?



BTW thanks to everyone here at Autopia. I got a pc, IP, MFP, souveran.........



and I hit a 94 E420 black metallic with IP with a yellow megs pad, then mfp with a yellow pad and mfp again with the megs polishing pad. For all polishes I started at 2 for the horonzontal pass then 4.5 for the 2 diagonal passes and finished with 6 for the vertical pass. All my spider webbing is completely gone. The car looks like it has new wet paint.



I always wanted to be able to do that ...thank you....:)



But I have so many dirty Mf's...I'm thinking if the Eurow mf's are okay for exterior I should just buy bags of them (16 for $10) and save them until I have a whole load.
 
For those of you who have the type of washer that front loads & add the detergent at the top (like on a Neptune). Take out the little bleach/softener hoppers when washing mf. I realized I was contaminating my towels w/ softener reside that was still in the little hoppers. For the rinse cycle, the water sprays through these hoppers-wheteher there is anything in there or not.
 
Definitely wash the cotton and MFs seperately. I use Woolite to wash my high-quality MFs, and regular liquid detergent to wash cheap MFs and cotton towels.

Dry the MFs in the dryer on low heat until they are just damp, and then let them air dry. If they are just damp, you can even just open the dryer door and fluff them for a minute with your hands. Let them sit for a few minutes with the door open and they will dry completely.

If you leave the dryer running until the MFs are completely dry, you will have a lot of static on them.



I would only use cold water to wash MF products.
 
ERASE said:
I haven't used warm or hot water because I am concerned about damaging the microfibers- but I suppose this is unfounded. Also when I use hot water I get the stuff floating out of the towels onto the washer and I get "a dirty ring around the top of the washer"....
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Heh heh, maybe that dirty ring is dirt that wouldn't otherwise be coming out of the towels ;)



No problems washing MFs with hot water, and I have the one water heater turned up pretty high. Been doing this forever (since they first came out way back when) with no problems.



Dunno about that brand of MFs from CostCo, but there are a lot of MFs that are perfectly paint-safe. You don't *need* to get a CBT (which I like with some products but not with others), I generally just use plush MFs for most everything. But some of the suede-style ones work great with products like SG.



Glad to hear the Benz turned out so nice!



AutoNova- You should be able to see it (as in, plush MFs that get threadbare-looking) or feel it (some people's MFs get stiff) or tell by decreased performance (start linting, quit absorbing, start smearing, etc.). It's not like there's some built-in life expectancy, I have some old ones that're still working fine.
 
Has anyone tried putting the distilled white vinegar into one of those "Downy Balls"? Downy Ball It supposedly opens up to dispense the Downy during the rinse cycle, and since i don't feel like monitoring my washer, I think it might work pretty well....
 
RCBuddha said:
Has anyone tried putting the distilled white vinegar into one of those "Downy Balls"? Downy Ball It supposedly opens up to dispense the Downy during the rinse cycle, and since i don't feel like monitoring my washer, I think it might work pretty well....
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There was a recent thread about this...apparantly it works well. I'd just add it on the second rinse...but you may not do a second rinse.
 
RCBuddha said:
Has anyone tried putting the distilled white vinegar into one of those "Downy Balls"? Downy Ball It supposedly opens up to dispense the Downy during the rinse cycle, and since i don't feel like monitoring my washer, I think it might work pretty well....
Click to expand...



I have tried it. It does work well enough. It seems to make the MF's a little more soft and plush without any adverse affects on their wiping ability.
 
Accumulator said:
snipped.....Heh heh, maybe that dirty ring is dirt that wouldn't otherwise be coming out of the towels ;)
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Well the shout really does "shout it out" even in cold water tehy look completely new- like right out ofhte package- and to see the rinse water......you know its all coming out.



I was thinking that what might happen is the waxes in the towels are melting and floating ontop of the water in the hot

cycle and then when they spin out- some spins back into the towels. I find with hot water they look pretty clean- but some of the solvent smell remains. sniff....ahhhhh....;)



With the shout I can't smell any left over solvent....but perhaps the shout smell masks the solvent?????!!?? I dunno.



Problem is I have to soak the yellow 80/20 Eurow MF's in pure shout to get out the stains. (I soak a towel completely- sqeeze out teh gook onto the next towel and repeat..





Anyway, Accumulator, I think you have a good idea about the hot water (getting out unseen remains)...so after "shouting the MF's" I'll run the rinse wash with hot water and see if I get that ring again...If so then there is still residue left in the towels. If no ring- I'll still use shout or hopefully vinegar....... or the gf will kick my --s out.



Also I guess its pretty ridiculous to worry about keeping some MF"s that cost 9.99 for 16 towels in pristine condition.



My thoughts were to buy about 5 bags of the MF's (I'd have 96 mf's) and that many Mf's holds so much water that the washer can just barely spin them all dry.



I have hung dry the mf's- and since they are hydrophobic anyway...they seem to dry very quickly in the basement near the boiler.
 
ERASE- It just occurred to me that when you typed "Shout" I read "Spray and Wash", which is, I think, nastier stuff.



And "yeah" about killing yourself over cheap towels ;)



Regarding the ring- our previous washing machine (our current "good" washer has a stainless steel basket and it doesn't seem to hold onto much dirt) used to get a ring in it from my work clothes and the dog towels. Not as bad as the washer I use for the car towels, but still sorta yucky looking. I just cleaned it out from time to time, no biggie. You could always stay one step ahead of your SO and clean it before she sees it ;) Seems like they always need a little cleaning from time to time anyhow.



Hmm...this has me thinking how I seem to do a lot more laundery around here than my wife does...
 
Ok, after mentioning something about the Downy Ball earlier, I decided to do a quick wash of my MF towels. I used 1.5 ounces of Charlie's soap, and I filled the Downy Ball with Heinz White Distilled Vinegar up to the little line on the ball. Ran a warm wash, and after 20 mins on low in the dryer, the towels feel much better than when i was using just Woolite or Tide by themselves. If it makes a difference, i used a top-loader washer.



I will test some more, but the towels felt good, and i'm eager to see how the Pinnacle Micro Rejuvinator stacks up against the Charlie's soap....



Buddha
 
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