6 Quick Steps for Washing Microfiber Cloths
- Sort your microfiber cloths by tasks/dirtyness.
- Make sure the washing machine is clean
- Set the washing machine to 30-40 degrees
- Pour 50ml of Shiny Garage Enzyme Microfiber Detergent into the washing machine
- Spin before taking them out of the washing machine
- Hang them to dry on a drying rack, or use a tumble dryer on low or no heat.
Read on and see the longer explanation and description for washing microfiber cloths.
Go to section on Washing Microfiber Cloths
- Quick info - Washing Microfiber Cloths
- What is Microfiber?
- Avoid fabric softener when washing microfiber cloths
- Divide your microfiber cloths by use
- Divide cloths into these 4 categories
- Downgrading microfiber cloths
- Never wash these microfiber cloths
- Detergent for microfiber cloths
- My microfiber cloths are very dirty.
- Washing microfiber cloths - with pictures
- How do I dry microfiber cloths?
Here at Bachs Bilpleje Shop, I certainly do not want to dictate what is right or wrong, and if you want my help, you are always welcome to write to me, via the live chat, at kontakt@bachsbilpleje. shop or give me a call.
Quick info - Washing Microfiber Cloths
I am very nerdy about microfiber cloths, and have also spent many years coming up with the right method that ensures that my microfiber cloths both work, stay fluffy, and don't break.
So here you will find all my advice for washing microfiber cloths.
Although microfiber and microfiber cloths are a material that is incredibly durable and made to be reused hundreds of times, it requires ongoing maintenance. This ensures that your microfiber cloths function optimally and are completely clean so that they can absorb or wipe away water, polish, wax or varnish sealer.
In order for them to do all this effectively, your microfiber cloths must be clean, and not least, treated correctly during both washing and drying them.
What is Microfiber?
Microfiber is a material, as the name suggests, made of a lot of small, fine fibers that grab onto anything it comes near and hold on to it incredibly well. This is also why microfiber is so incredibly effective at removing car care products or water.
However, the ability to both remove and retain dirt, water and car care products requires that they be maintained correctly in order to maintain their suction and wiping ability.
Avoid fabric softener when washing microfiber cloths
For God's sake, never use fabric softener when washing microfiber cloths. Some car care enthusiasts want them even softer, but fabric softener acts as a kind of silicone, which in short makes it feel nice, soft and smooth, but in return it repels dirt and water.
This is definitely not something you want, which is why you should keep fabric softener far away from your microfiber cloths. Even though they feel nice, they just don't work properly.
One of the reasons why it is so important to avoid fabric softener is that it is very difficult to get it out of the microfiber again, as it is so absorbent, so avoid using fabric softener in connection with washing as much as you can. washing microfiber cloths .
If you are in doubt or if you already know that fabric softener is used in your machine, we recommend that you clean the detergent drawer with lukewarm water.
Divide your microfiber cloths by use
Just as a sweatshirt and a jacket each have their own purpose, it is also incredibly important to divide your microfiber cloths before you start washing them.
Just as fabric softener can get stuck in the fibers of your microfiber cloths, car wax, paint sealant, and even dirt and grime can get stuck really well. That's why I also recommend that you divide your microfiber cloths according to what they are used for.
If you wash your microfiber cloths that have been used to remove car wax or paint sealant, and you wash them with your microfiber towels, you risk lifting it off the cloths that wiped the wax off and spreading it to your towels.
This means that they will start to repel water, leave streaks on the car's paint, and unfortunately, not function optimally. Therefore, it makes perfect sense to wash your cloths according to what they are used for.
If you have some cloths that are really dirty, you wouldn't wash them along with your lovely and delicious microfiber towels.
My recommendation is that you wash the items separately, divided into these 4 categories:
- Microfiber for car washing (applies to both towels and washing gloves)
- Microfiber for polishing, car wax and paint sealer
- Microfiber for interior
- Microfiber for very dirty areas (rims, engine compartment, etc.)
Downgrading of microfiber cloths before washing microfiber cloths
It is very natural that some of your microfiber cloths will sooner or later become either so dirty, or have accumulated so much car wax, paint sealant or even ceramic coating that they no longer function optimally.
When this happens, it's time to downgrade the cloths that have taken the ''damage''. There's no reason to throw away a cloth just because it has a stain or isn't as absorbent as when it was new, it can always find a place further down the line until it finally gives up.
If you have worked with ceramic coating before, you have also experienced that the cloths will no longer absorb as well, and although you can do many tricks, such as soaking them in water when you are finished with that cloth, they will never be themselves again, and I have always used them afterwards for very dirty areas, such as a very dirty door jamb, engine compartment or a floor mat that was very dirty.
NEVER wash these microfiber cloths.
- Cloths that have been used to remove tar stains
- Cloths that have been used to remove underbody treatment
- Cloths that have been used to remove oil, gasoline, diesel or similar
Detergent for microfiber cloths
After many years of maintenance and washing microfiber cloths , I have tried different things, and although you can easily use a regular neutral detergent, it gives you better durability and cleaning effect to use a detergent that is dedicated to cleaning microfiber.
That's why I also recommend that you use Shiny Garage Enzyme Microfiber Detergent, which is designed and manufactured to remove residue from polish, wax, paint sealant and many other car care products. You only need 30-50ml for one wash.
I do not recommend using washing powder, as the microfibers grip the powder really well, and if it is not completely broken down, you may have residue in the cloths, which acts like a lot of small, fine grains of sand that can scratch your car's paint.
My microfiber cloths are very dirty.
If your microfiber cloths are very dirty, you can always use a pre-wash. You can do this by filling a laundry bucket or tub with your cloths, and pouring lukewarm water and microfiber detergent into it.
Here it is recommended to use 50ml of microfiber detergent together with 1 litre of water.
Washing microfiber cloths - with pictures
Now you've got a lot of info about how to divide and a lot of information about why I wash this way. So now we're finally going to start washing microfiber cloths and I've chosen to include pictures so you avoid the hassle.
Start by sorting your cloths by how dirty they are and what tasks you have used them for. Go to the section on sorting microfiber cloths.
Make sure the washing machine is clean to minimize dust, lint and dirt from your everyday clothes.
Set the machine to Easy Iron or Delicates/Silk.
If you have a smaller load of laundry, or the cloths are not very dirty, you can set it to a shorter time program. Many machines have a button that changes the duration of the selected washing program.
Adjust the heat down to 30 or 40 degrees.
Also select spin, as this forces as much moisture and water out of the cloths before they are hung on the drying rack or placed in the dryer.
Pour microfiber detergent into the detergent drawer
How do I dry my microfiber cloths?
There are two different methods, and one is a drying rack, which is quite simple and does not require any machines, while the other uses a dryer.
My preferred method is actually to use both, first a trip in the dryer on low heat, where the machine measures the moisture, unfortunately it does not make them completely dry, which is why I use a drying rack afterwards.
If you have watched videos about this on YouTube, you will quickly learn that many of the videos are from the USA, where it is possible to choose degrees. Unfortunately, it is my experience that very few Danish dryers have this option.
On the other hand, we can choose how dry it should be, and after measuring many times, to avoid my cloths breaking, I can strongly recommend that you choose the one that dries it the least.
If you have a cold program, or can choose the degrees, of course, just do that instead.