The Detailers Cafe
The Café Detailing Help Desk => Detailing Help => Topic started by: Too Stroked on March 16, 2014, 12:27:13 PM
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Hey guys, I have a question on laundering my microfiber towels that?s been bothering me for months. When I first buy new Ultra Plush (or any other) microfiber towels, they?ll suck up water like no tomorrow. After the first wash and dry though, they?re nowhere near as good at soaking up water. Nothing I?ve tried so far will bring them back to the original condition.
So here?s what I do to wash them right now. I throw them in the washer for a hot water wash / cold water rinse. I use Tide detergent plus some Oxi-Clean powder and a half cup of Vinegar. Recently, I began adding Micro-Restore too per the instructions on the bottle. For drying, I toss them in the dryer on medium heat with no fabric softener.
My theory is that since I only have one washer and dryer, maybe there?s some buildup of fabric softener from regular laundry loads on the dryer drum and that?s getting onto / into the microfibers and preventing them from working as designed. Other than that, I?m fresh out of ideas. Your thoughts?
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I pretty much do the same thing only I use Woolite instead of Tide. I don't think my MF's are getting back to the way they were either. I've tried to hand wash with Woolite as I figured the same thing on the residue from previous washes, but not much improvement.
Has anyone found a MF specific wash that works?
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Prob need Justin to see this...I think he told me one time to boil them on the stove from time to time.
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Prob need Justin to see this...I think he told me one time to boil them on the stove from time to time.
If it's that simple, I can make it happen. Should one of us PM him? Others would like to know too.
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Get the fire pit going and get a huge pot. There you go.
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I can just see Gip with a MF Dutch Oven and a wooden mixing spoon cooking up some MF's then as they are drying, his wife throws them out as trash.
Oh wait, that isn't so funny. That actually happened.
:whisp:
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OK, so boiling the microfibers has been mentioned as a possible solution. How long does one need to boil them for?
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Well, I boiled some of my microfiber towels tonight. Cooked them for 5 minutes at a rolling boil. Do not try this at home of you have a wife of GF around! They're in the wash right now and will be dry later. Maybe I'll try one out tomorrow if it's warm enough to wash a vehicle.
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I add a teaspoon of white vinegar for every towel to the wash .. It makes a big difference.
I can just see Gip with a MF Dutch Oven and a wooden mixing spoon cooking up some MF's then as they are drying, his wife throws them out as trash.
Oh wait, that isn't so funny. That actually happened.
:whisp:
I wish it was my wife. It would be easier to live with. I am the idiot that threw them all away.
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I wish it was my wife. It would be easier to live with. I am the idiot that threw them all away.
Ouch! That does suck. I always assumed someone else threw them out. I know its wrong that I'm laughing right now but its kind of funny. You could always delete this post and we can all go back to pretending it was your wife's fault. She doesn't have to know. Haha
In a related story, a couple years back I went with my girlfriend and her family to visit their family in Tennessee. Everyone's stuff was placed in garbage bags in the bed of the truck in case of bad weather during the drive. Upon arrival it was all unloaded in to the garage. Well the next morning someone had taken a bag full of her fathers shoes to the dump.
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Well folks, I finally got a chance to try my recently boiled microfiber towels out today. (Many thanks to Justin from Obsessive Detail for suggesting to boil them to release some of the deep down trapped contaminates.) As usual, he was right and almost all of the original ability to absorb is back. Prior to this I'd tried every other trick including Vinegar in the wash, Micro Restore in the rinse, not using Fabric Softener and yelling at them using bad words.
So if your microfiber towels don't seem to suck up water like they used to, make sure the wife or GF aren't around and boil them for about 5 minutes each before washing them with the usual tricks mentioned above.
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So cursing at them didnt work? Man... that's my go-to solution.
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So cursing at them didnt work? Man... that's my go-to solution.
Yea, I was kind of shocked myself. I even used strong bad words. Of course me standing there over the stove with a 3 day beard, a beer, sweat pants and a wife beater probably scared them even worse. :redneck:
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what did the water look like after boiling? Oil slick of product?
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what did the water look like after boiling? Oil slick of product?
Believe it or not, no. Most of the towels I boiled were yellow and the water that came out of that pot was somewhat yellow in color. No rainbow effect that I could see, but there was enough steam coming off of everything to hide something like that.
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So if you keep boiling all of the color out will it make the towel softer?
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So if you keep boiling all of the color out will it make the towel softer?
Good question. I don't know. I decided to limit the festivities to 5 minutes per towel. I didn't want to risk over-cooking them.
Yea, like I knew what I was doing. :crazy:
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Yea, like I knew what I was doing. :crazy:
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Do any of us really know what we are doing? :yoda:
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Thanks for trying it out TS. I have a bunch of MF's that need to be freshened up. I think I'm groin to try the turkey deep fryer to do mine.
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I think I'm going to try the turkey deep fryer to do mine.
Now there's a man who knows what he's doing!
Actually not a bad idea at all - as long as he replaces the cooking oil with water. :redneck:
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Someone asked if boiling will make them softer, yes they will get a little softer again. All of the products that build up in the towel will end up taking some of the softness away and the towels won't absorb as well. Boiling will help with this. All it really helps if you add some vinegar every time your clean your towels.
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I think I'm going to try the turkey deep fryer to do mine.
Now there's a man who knows what he's doing!
Actually not a bad idea at all - as long as he replaces the cooking oil with water. :redneck:
Obviously yes. I haven't even used it yet, so it will be easy to prep for MF soup! :uugly:
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Someone asked if boiling will make them softer, yes they will get a little softer again. All of the products that build up in the towel will end up taking some of the softness away and the towels won't absorb as well. Boiling will help with this. All it really helps if you add some vinegar every time your clean your towels.
I was actually kidding. I was referring to the idea that towels with less or no coloring added are softer. But that makes sense. I am going to need a BIG pot. Anybody have a cauldron?
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Anybody have a cauldron?
My ex is a witch ... :funny:
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Something tells me that was a typo, Tom, but the B and the W arent even close on the keyboard.
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Something tells me that was a type, Tom, but the B and the W arent even close on the keyboard.
Well, that too, but that goes without saying.
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Interesting follow up to this one. I boiled all of my large microfiber towels because they're the ones I use for drying and they're also the ones that had lost their ability to absorb. Following the boiling, I washed them using my standard method:
- Small load
- 12 minute wash cycle
- Hot water wash, Cold water rinse
- Tide detergent
- Oxy Clean
- 1/4 cup of Vinegar
Following the wash, I dried them on Medium heat in a gas dryer.
The very next wash and dry of a vehicle, the towel I used was back to absorbing like crazy. Tom was thrilled!
After a few more car washes, I'd gathered enough soiled microfibers to do another small load using the above process - without the boiling step of course.
Bad news, I'm right back to the original problem. I really don't want to boil my microfibers every time they need washing and we do not have anything remotely close to "hard water." Any thoughts before I do a Google search on the term "cauldron?"
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It will be a while before I try the turkey deep fryer, but it might be the ticket. I would also put a MF wash solution in at the same time and then just run them in the washing machine on the rinse cycle with a dab of vinegar. Other than that, you may just want to employ your son to do the boiling at his place... :redneck:
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It will be a while before I try the turkey deep fryer, but it might be the ticket. I would also put a MF wash solution in at the same time and then just run them in the washing machine on the rinse cycle with a dab of vinegar. Other than that, you may just want to employ your son to do the boiling at his place... :redneck:
Yea, you might be right on my son doing the boiling! :funny:
BTW, I forgot to add that I've been adding the recommended amount of Micro Restore to the wash along with everything else.
I'm starting to think that there may be enough built up fabric softener on the drum of the dryer - even though I don't toss a sheet in with the MFs - to get some on the towels.
Any thoughts?
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55 gallon steel drum over a fire. I don't know how to make it stop though. What towels?
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It will be a while before I try the turkey deep fryer, but it might be the ticket. I would also put a MF wash solution in at the same time and then just run them in the washing machine on the rinse cycle with a dab of vinegar. Other than that, you may just want to employ your son to do the boiling at his place... :redneck:
Yea, you might be right on my son doing the boiling! :funny:
BTW, I forgot to add that I've been adding the recommended amount of Micro Restore to the wash along with everything else.
I'm starting to think that there may be enough built up fabric softener on the drum of the dryer - even though I don't toss a sheet in with the MFs - to get some on the towels.
Any thoughts?
I think it's possible, have you tried just hang drying a few?
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It will be a while before I try the turkey deep fryer, but it might be the ticket. I would also put a MF wash solution in at the same time and then just run them in the washing machine on the rinse cycle with a dab of vinegar. Other than that, you may just want to employ your son to do the boiling at his place... :redneck:
Yea, you might be right on my son doing the boiling! :funny:
BTW, I forgot to add that I've been adding the recommended amount of Micro Restore to the wash along with everything else.
I'm starting to think that there may be enough built up fabric softener on the drum of the dryer - even though I don't toss a sheet in with the MFs - to get some on the towels.
Any thoughts?
I think it's possible, have you tried just hang drying a few?
That's probably going to be my next test. That or trying the rolled up ball of aluminum foil in the dryer instead of dryer sheets.
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Well guys, I finally solved my microfiber problem. As you might recall, the Ultra Plush microfiber towels I use to dry my vehicles just weren't absorbing much water after I laundered them. I'd tried everything to solve the problem. The best fix I'd run into involved boiling the towels on the kitchen stove. Unfortunately, that fix lasted until the next washing, then I was right back in the soup.
As promised, today I tried something different. My hypothesis was that there was a build up of Fabric Softener (I use Bounce on my regular laundry) on the inside of my Drier Drum and even though I wasn't using Bounce in the dryer with my clean microfibers, there was enough on the drum to cause problems. So today after I did a whole load after the Saleen & V6 Mustang details, I cleaned the whole drum and door with APC, then tossed the load in and prayed.
Guess what? That was the problem! I washed the xB and tried a freshly dried MF towel on it and it soaked up water like when it was new. So if your microfibers aren't absorbing water like they used to despite all of the recommended care, check - and clean - your Drier Drum.
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Thanks for the update TS, that is great news! I am wondering if boiling may be something to do every once in a while depending on chemicals used :dunno:
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Thanks for the update TS, that is great news! I am wondering if boiling may be something to do every once in a while depending on chemicals used :dunno:
I'll keep an eye on my situation and tell you how it goes over time. I'm sure boiling every once in a while will give you something of a "super wash," but the secret I may have discovered is how not to need a super wash. Besides, boiling them was a PITA.
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Looks like we are going to be cleaning the Drier! Been having an issue with our microfiber glass towels leaving more streaks than usual, I figured it was from some kind of build up. This may be my answer!
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Looks like we are going to be cleaning the Drier! Been having an issue with our microfiber glass towels leaving more streaks than usual, I figured it was from some kind of build up. This may be my answer!
I'd be interested to hear what you find. If it was the problem, I'd like to thank the academy, my mother and father, JP, ...
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Well, I gotta boil. I may buy a outdoor cooker burner and doe more than a few at a time.
How long did you boil each one?
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Well, I gotta boil. I may buy a outdoor cooker burner and doe more than a few at a time.
How long did you boil each one?
Once you get the water boiling, place the towels in the water and it will only take a couple of minutes to do the job. You can also add vinegar, this will help with cleaning them out too.
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Well, I gotta boil. I may buy a outdoor cooker burner and doe more than a few at a time.
How long did you boil each one?
Once you get the water boiling, place the towels in the water and it will only take a couple of minutes to do the job. You can also add vinegar, this will help with cleaning them out too.
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Thanks Justin.
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Ok, I boiled about 10 towels....2 or 3 at a time and then washed them in Micro Restore and dried them. Spilled some water on the counter tops to test them and my red Super Flys just pushed the water around rather than absorb it.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
JP
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Ok, I boiled about 10 towels....2 or 3 at a time and then washed them in Micro Restore and dried them. Spilled some water on the counter tops to test them and my red Super Flys just pushed the water around rather than absorb it.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
JP
maybe boil them one more time. It has always worked fine for me.
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Ok, I boiled about 10 towels....2 or 3 at a time and then washed them in Micro Restore and dried them. Spilled some water on the counter tops to test them and my red Super Flys just pushed the water around rather than absorb it.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
JP
maybe boil them one more time. It has always worked fine for me.
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roger that....going to do this batch again.
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This was my first go. Just finished another hour of this.
Now they are ready for another another wash and dry....then test.
Shit man.....the things we do for this stuff.
(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/12/10/8219d270bb76e370e8e7241eb500b4db.jpg)
(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/12/10/deb5a6da26978ccb9cbd6ef178644bc3.jpg)
(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/12/10/68b235abd139d2effef986004abd8292.jpg)
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This was tonight after thought about a better way to pre hang them. A colander.
(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/12/10/8ed895a5c8afc4efeb20d5b2afedf20b.jpg)
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Hopefully after all of this work, the towels get back to normal. Those are some pretty old towels though! I haven't carried the red with white border in years.
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Hopefully after all of this work, the towels get back to normal. Those are some pretty old towels though! I haven't carried the red with white border in years.
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Indeed they are old sir. I am getting close to a whole make over....if this doesn't clear them up, my red superflys will become gen purpose and it will be restock time. The funny thing, I have a unused pre packed still shrink wrapped pack of 16 sitting in my cabinet. So at least I got 16 newer ones. Unused sitting here.
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Justin as an FYI, i have around 60 of the original red super fly's without the edge piping. I only boiled about 14 and a few yellow's with black and 1 shag rag.
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I knew you had quite a few. The awesome you have several still new.
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