Microfibre Cloth Washing Instructions?

[bpsmith]

Any ideas as to how I should go about washing my dirty MF cloths?

I have put them in the WM with no detergent at all but they are still dirty. Any better ideas on how to clean them without wrecking them as there are about 9 to wash and dont fancy replacing them after just one use!?!

Cheers Guys!

[petsy]

hmm, I just put mine in a 40C wash with liquid detergent then tumble dry.

[Sponge]

Do they not have care labels on them? Mine do and they're all either 30C or 40C. They all say no fabric conditioner.

It should be safe to use detergent (I do) but you may want to use a non-bio/soap free one.

I always use the extra rinse option on my machine too.

You can actually buy a MF specific detergent (Clean & Shiney sell it) but tbh I think that's a little OTT (it's not exactly cheap).

[Tarmac_Terrorist]

Regularly wash my Megs M/F cloths on a 30 short wash and then a gentle (cool tumble) dry. I don't use any fabric conditioner.

I often use my M/F's to remove paint sealent after application. This often means that the M/F will not soak up water even after a machine wash. In this instance I have left to soak in warm water and fairy liquid for a couple of hours before washing in the machine and rinsing thoroughly. This seems to remove the sealent residue and the M/F regains it's water retention properties.

[bpsmith]

Cheers guys! Think I got the wrong end of the stick and put them in with just the hot water at 40 degrees. I read posts before as being nothing else at all rather than just no fabric conditioner. Anyway will get them back in tomorrow with some soap but not conditioner and hopefully they will be a tad cleaner this time! Doh! ;-)

[McGee]

As above but 60 degrees with no conditioner. if really dirty pre-wash by hand with washing up liquid.

A good quality m/f should not have a care label as this will scratch paintwork.

[OGWT]

Directions: Use hot (120oF<) water and add 1-2 ounces to a standard size (8 gallon) load, for larger loads or heavily soiled laundry, add 3-6 ounces. As a pre-spotter: dilute 1 part concentrates with 3 parts water, apply to stain and launder as usual.

Do not use fabric softener (most contain silicone that the towel will adsorb and it will weaken the towels static charge and clog the fibres thereby reducing their effectiveness) towel will also treat the fabric softener as if it was dirt by trying to store the tiny particles of the softener in the towel fibres.

This will clog up the micro fibres and render the towel ineffective. Add a teaspoon per towel distilled white vinegar in place of a softener, the vinegar doesn't coat the fibres but instead works to eliminate detergent residue and the acid counteracts any alkaline minerals in the water supply.

Vinegar (Acetic acid, pH=2) works well in the rinse cycle to make your towels softer. Detergent is an alkaline (pH=12, the opposite of acidic on the pH scale).

When you wash your towels (or anything for that matter) there are small amounts of detergent left behind, when your add Vinegar it balances the pH of the solution and helps removes the excess detergent from the wash.

Do not wash micro fibre cloths / towels with other non- micro fibre fabrics, as they will pick up lint from other fabrics.

Air dry or you can dry micro fibre cloths / towels in any dryer on low heat, remove them before they are still damp (cuts down on static charge) just be sure that the dryer does not dry at temperatures above 235 oF as a synthetic Microfiber will melt if heated too high. Colours may bleed during first washing.

Information resource- (http://www micofibertech.com