Joined
·
432 Posts
I don't use microfiber, but I use white Egyptian cotton hand towels. I soak mine in Dawn first. Then I throw them in the washer. I use a fragrance free detergent.
How to clean waxing supplies
So I waxed my truck last weekend and I have the microfibers I used to wax my truck that need to be cleaned. What is the best way to get wax off these cloth's?
1 - 15 of 15 Posts
Joined
·
80,273 Posts
Hot water and simple detergent. Soak them until the wax starts breaking away from the fibers, then agitate them until the clumps are gone. Rinse thoroughly with cold water. You may need to repeat. After, hang dry or put in dryer with no softener.
After that, go online and order the concentrated powder cleaner for dissolving wax and polishes. It breaks up the wax faster and allows it to rinse right out.
After that, go online and order the concentrated powder cleaner for dissolving wax and polishes. It breaks up the wax faster and allows it to rinse right out.
I use 1.5 oz original dawn in 1 gallon bucket of warm water. Agitate and let sit for about an hour. Agitate again and rinse in a bucket of hot water. i then wash w/ oxyclean powder in clothes washer (highest water level), and dry win dryer on low heat with no softener.
Joined
·
23,133 Posts
I clean my microfiber cloths (from Adam's Polishes, a site sponsor) in hot water with whatever detergent my wife has available that doesn't have fabric softener in it. I clean the polish and wax ones together and the window cleaning ones separately. If you have clumps of wax on your cloth maybe something is wrong with your technique or your wax. I know I've never had clumps like that from my current wax (a synthetic) but I suppose my old Griot's Garage carnuba based wax could do that if I didn't work in it well enough to start. I use a machine to put the wax on and microfiber to take it off by hand.
Joined
·
8,304 Posts
I just have excessive wax on one of the applicators, I was teaching my son how to wax, and he got too much on it. All the other cloths I used, I was able to just shake off the remnants and throw in the machine. Thanks for all the info guys, looks like Dawn will do the trick.
Joined
·
1,039 Posts
Lay them out on a clean flat surface and blast em with the fan tip on your pressure washer...This will take off most of the bulk....Then soak in a degreaser or detergent overnight in a 5 gal. bucket, pressure wash again and rinse next day and you should be fine.
Joined
·
1,039 Posts
AAAhhhh yes Gary....The graduation to wheels always means a new mitt for the paint...HA!
Gary knows his stuff.....
Joined
·
2,717 Posts
listen to this guy he knows about cleaning; I mean his T was CLEAN at OT, I would eat off of it if he let me lol
Joined
·
2,016 Posts
Thanks Chris!
Joined
·
198 Posts
Lot's of good tips above - 1 thing to add is NEVER wash them with any non-microfiber items as the MF towels will grab all the nits that come off the other items.
Once that has happened, they are useless & you'll never be able to pick the nits off by hand !
Once that has happened, they are useless & you'll never be able to pick the nits off by hand !
Joined
·
80,273 Posts
Good Point! :thumbsup:
Joined
·
432 Posts
I found that out the hard way back in the day. Ruined about 10 MF towels. I then met a friend at a 350Z meet who works at a place that details exotics. He told me to use premium white hand towels.
*edit - Interesting. Found this info on the 350Z detailing section. http://www.scribd.com/doc/12934518/Auto-Detailing-Microfiber-Towels In terms of chemistry, the posted "vinegar solution" does make sense. Need to run this by my friend and test it.
Wash Directions (Towels): 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. Pre-soak in a liquid detergent / water and then squeeze out wax/polish with your hands and rinse thoroughly. 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 clog the fibers thereby reducing their effectiveness) fabric softeners work by coating the surface of the cloth fibers with a thin layer of chemicals, a 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 fibers. This will clog up the fibers and render the towel ineffective.
Add a teaspoon per towel distilled white vinegar in place of a softener in the final rinse cycle, the vinegar instead works to eliminate detergent residue and the acid counteracts any alkaline minerals in the water supply. Do not use vinegar in every wash as it is a cationic (hydrogen ions bind to the anionic groups on the fibers) the disadvantage of coating fibers by hydrophobic layer is in decreasing the absorption properties of the fabric. 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 microfiber cloths / towels with other non-microfiber fabrics, as they will pick up lint from other fabrics. Air dry or you can dry microfiber cloths / towels in any dryer on low heat, remove them before they are still damp (cuts down on static charge) Colors may bleed during first washing
Note: to ensure that the washing machine has no residual detergent or fabric softener; rise the machine drum with a 1:3 solution of washing liquid (with no bleach) / distilled white vinegar, clean about every 2-3 months
1 - 15 of 15 Posts
