When you are detailing or washing cars you will go through lots of towels and wash mitts.
In this article, we will try to tackle the question of how to wash microfiber towels for detailing. We also cover the wash mitts and the obvious need to dry them. Proper care of your gear will help you wash better and spend less money.
Quick note, do not use fabric softener any stage of the process since it can just mess up your towels in the long run.
Different Microfiber Towels For Different Jobs
Let’s first get some not obvious facts out on the table.
Not all microfiber towels are the same. They have a rating to them that has to do with the density of the fibers and how think they are.
This rating is called GSM (grams per square meter).
Towels with a low GSM are usually thinner. These microfiber cloths are best used on glass, mirrors, and delicate surfaces since the low pile do not have to soak up as much.
Towels with a high GSM that are thicker and plush are great as a drying towel and applying spray wax.
Since you are using different towels for different things they will have different chemicals on them and it is best to keep them as separate as you can.
You should also be keeping interior towels and exterior towels separate.
Detergents For Washing Microfiber Towels
We try to keep all of our laundry detergents dye and fragrance-free. We even do this for our own clothes since we feel if we wanted to smell we will just use cologne.
If you are somebody reading this just to clean up your car at home you would probably be okay with the same clothing detergent as long it is dye and fragrance free.
If you are somebody that does auto detailing and washing for income then you probably have lots of nice drying towels. In that case, you should use a liquid detergent that is detailing towels specific, gentle, and made for microfiber.
Washing Microfiber Towels
Again, if you are just doing this for your own car and there will not be high usage of all of the chemicals then maybe you can just use your home washing machine… maybe.
Just remember that there are lots of different chemicals and waxes that are used in the process of detailing and washing a car so be careful, maybe run the machine twice to clear out residue.
If you are running this as a business then you need another way.
Washing by hand is an option but it will take quite a bit of time to get all of the stains out. Really all that you would need is a 5-gallon bucket, something with texture to rub against like the old-fashioned grates, water, and detergent.
We would go for one of the below two options. Along with a good presoak and light hand wash that will help break down the grime before you even start the washing process.
Cleaning Microfiber Towels Pro Option 1:
Buy a used washing machine as part of your business equipment. The hardest issue with this will be having the hookups. You can get a pretty good deal on used machines off of your local craigslist that will get the job done and be cheaper than going to a laundry mat.
Cleaning Microfiber Towels Pro Option 2:
They do sell small portable washing machines that can get the job done. The benefit to these is that they will not need all of the same hookups and you could get light loads done in different places. You will just pour in some warm water and let it wash then change out the water to rinse.
Washing Wash Mitts
Most of the time these are really similar to microfiber towels. The only exception that we really see come up is with lambswool mitts.
Lambswool mitts are a little more delicate and should be hand washed to keep them in good shape.
Drying Wash Mitts and Microfiber Towels
Before you get to drying make sure that there is not anything attached to your towels like paper. Things like these can bind on to the material in the dryer and ruin your towels.
Also if there are still any grease or wax stains it is best to try to get them off first before putting them in the dryer since this is where it can really spread.
In the long run, you are better off throwing away anything that you can not get mostly clean or it could ruin the whole batch.
Also, we continue to have towels that were used for different things separate here.
For anything that we really want to take care of we either use no heat or very low heat on our dryer depending on how delicate the material is. High heat can break down and shrink your towels.
And no dryer sheets!
Usually, since we are in a sunny place we have some time where we can just lay out the towels in the sun. but, to do this you need to have a pretty clean surface or be able to hang them.
With microfiber, we usually use a low heat dryer since we have not seen any deterioration while doing this and it really speeds things up.
Storing Clean Microfiber Towels For Detailing
After we have our towels clean and dry then we look toward the most convenient way to store them to keep them clean and ready to use again.
Since we might have 3-4 details in a day we usually get some clean mostly clear bags that can hold how many towels we will use on 1 job. This way we can load our trunk for the day and not have to worry about it.
Simple processes like this help us save time and money in the long run along with letting us fit in more work in the little middle times.
Final Thoughts
Thanks for visiting our Every Detail SLO blog. Whether you are a pro detailer or just doing this at home in your driveway we hope that you learned how to wash microfiber towels and wash mitts. The better you can take care of your gear the less money you need to spend so if you are in business you will have a higher return on investment (ROI).
If you are in a pinch but need a clean car give us a call and we can probably schedule you in pretty quick and have a mobile detail or carwash wherever you are.