What do you wash your MF with?

nlkccom

Do I know you?
I just recently tried to wash some of my MF in the washer, however, after the wash, I can still smell the product that it was used with before the wash.



I just wash them with Tide that I used for my clothes. Did I use the wrong stuff? If so, what should I use to wash the MF?
 
They will normally always smell. My sheepskins still smell of product I was using, even after using detergent. Either way, so long as their clean I don't think it will make a huge difference. From my experiences, I have washed MANY sheepskins, microfibers in the washing machine and they always come out perfect, and never have an altering affect on my paint.
 
I throw the pads in with all the microfibres, cram everything in there! Slop in some tide, add a bit of vinegar and you're good to go. Oh, wash with cold water and dry with the gentle cycle. I have a number of white pads that turned blue. :lol
 
I did use liquid Tide Free then I switched to Costco's house brand (Kirkland) liquid perfume and dye free laundry detergent.
 
liquid tide (do not overuse liquid detergents these days as they are very concentrated) in warm water, with vinegar on the last rinse cycle. off into the dryer on the lowest heat setting with no fabric softener/dryer sheet...



there are many threads on this topic, try searching...
 
Same here pretty much. Just a little tide and vinegar on the delicate cycle and then dry on the delicate cycle. Haven't had a problem yet.
 
Try to wash with liquid detergent "HD" and add vinegar during the last rinse cycle. Sometimes I'll miss the last rinse cycle cause I'm usually doing something else. So if thats the case, re-rinse with some vinegar.(1/2 to 3/4 cup does the trick for me. If your still uncomfortable with the smell of the product remaining, re-wash. Most importantly as far as I'm concerned, is to make sure the dryer has been wiped down to release all traces of fabric softner. I find that to be so important, that I'll even do a load of regular towels with no softner sheets before I do "my" MF's.
 
I can get my MF mostly odor-free. I run two wash cycles and two rinse cycles. In the first wash cycle I add a big scoop of regular detergent (usually Arm & Hammer powder). In the second I use about half a scoop of detergent, and about two ounces of Griot's Garage MF cleaner. After two full rinse cycles I dry them in the dryer on medium heat, of course no fabric softener. I know some guys say liquid detergents only for MF, but the powdered detergents seem to work great for me. Maybe the key is to make certain you rinse very thoroughly.
 
If you want your microfibers clean also add some simple green. Sometimes I soak my pads in pure simple green and it'll dissolve even built up dried wax.
 
I Use a citrus based detergent and some degreser if nessasary, They come out flawless (aside from set in stains) and, sometimes I risnse them twice depending on soil level.
 
A few Tablespoons of Tide Free + 1 ounce Simple Green + Vinegar + hot wash + extra rinse = clean MF's every time.



Tide is *very* concentrated. More does not mean better cleaning. Same as not taking 10 Tylenol for a really bad headache!



I wash my WW drying towels separately with barely any detergent because they are just drying a clean car and don't need a vigorous cleaning session.
 
I only use cold water, warm or hot water increases the chance of shrinking the the tiny fibers in the towels. (i could be wrong though) I can tell when some MF's have reached their end point, they get harder/tougher and stop absorbing as well. Mitts and drying towels separate from general purpose and wax/polish removing towels. And I line dry my MF's. No smells.
 
I use Costco's Kirkland Signature dye & perfume free detergent.



If you have an older washer, I'd highly recommend getting a newer, front-loading washer. Some months back we purchased a new set of LG's top of the line steam washer/dryer. In the old, top loading washer my towels would come out a bit grungy, even after 2 washes & 2 rinses.



Now I wash my towels on the "sanitary" cycle with steam set to "on" and the same towels that looked grungy before are coming out noticeably cleaner. Besides being cleaner, they also come out much softer/fluffier and because I set the dryer to also do the steam, there's no where near as much static as before.
 
Tusin said:
Dawn Power Dissolver



product is nice but you cant really clean MF towels in a bucket. You can with pads, but i dont see this would be cleaning effective to clean wheel towels and just in general.Maybe drying towels :) I like having a washing machine and have it spin and do it all.
 
You won't shrink the microfiber fibers, when cotton is produced it is stretched and heat set to make threads tries to returns to it's natural state, curly, when heated. Microfibers are drawn into their final shape so heat won't make them want to shrink or anything. Microfibers are mostly polyesters and you can wash any polyester leisure suit in hot water no problem, same with microfibers.



Whether hot or cold I generall only get about 20 or so washings before the microfibers become stiff and lose much of their fluff nad absorbing capability. So instead of buffing towels they kinda become my wax breaking towels and metal polishing and grease cleaning cloths. Once they get the black metal polish or grease then I don't wash I just throw them away, by then they're pretty much useless.
 
I mix tide + vinegar in cold water then let all soak overnight then I finish the cycle and airdry them.....works like a charm ;)
 
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