You have educated yourself by reading countless information about washing, waxing, polishing, cleaning, etc..  Now it’s time to clean up your towels and get them ready for the next detailing efforts.

General care: Microfiber towels are great but some of their desirable traits can be ruined if you treat them like other towels.  First, NEVER use fabric softener, sheets or liquid, as the towels will hold onto the chemical softeners and not release them.  Secondly, avoid hot dryers as the towels are really fine plastic threads and pilling or balling will occur over time.  Lastly, if you can make a goal to wash the towels all by themselves separate from other laundry, that is ideal. I even wash all my polishing towels separate from the waxing towels, as to avoid cross contaminate issues.  I have seen my heavy polishing towel hold onto an abrasive, and when I used it to remove wax, I scratched the paint!!! $%^&  You can be as OCD as me or learn what works best for your situation.

It is best to get your towels cleaning as soon as you’re finished polishing, compounding, or waxing.  I like to make a solution of pre cleaners in a 5 gallon bucket to pre soak the towels prior to washing.  I usually have lots of towels in my detailing of a car… the more the better as a clean towel works better.  This pre cleaner is 3 gallons of hot water, 1oz of   Optimum Power Clean, and a grit guard.  I allow the towels to soak for a few hours while I clean up the detailing area from the work.  You might want to only soak them for an hour…figure out what works best for you.  I then rinse off the towels, and try to remove the most grime I can.

It’s now time for the washer to help you out.  I have a front loader so my method is slightly different than a top loader.  I use some warm water, maybe hot, but never steaming and Micro Restore Microfiber cleaner.  Micro restore is an amazing cleaner, and so it CG Detergent.  I have pretty hard water here in Utah, and no soft water system, so I add some white vinegar to help with rinsing and washing.  I add it to the wash cycle, and place some in the container for rinse.  The cleaners work better in the presence of softer water as do most things.  I always double rinse the towels as well.  Of note: I had a buddy of mine, top quality detailer too, tried to use his washers super steam cycle, thinking more the better, but what we found over time is the towels balled/pilled much faster and seem to be more abrasive on paints.  Take the towels out of the washer, and either air dry or tumble on air dry in the dryer.

I store my towels in a trash bag after they are TOTALLY dry, placing the compounding, polishing, and waxing towels in different bags.  OCD makes me feel so much better; it eliminates stress on the next detail!  Again, figure out what works for you and love detailing!

Post up your ideas or questions, as this is not an end all article!