Minor staining on MF towels

On the microfiber towels that I use for buffing off waxes/sealants, I've noticed some mild staining. I believe that has come from using them on my parent's cars, which I didn't have time to clay before I had to wax them. How would you advise me get these stains out? I'm using the CG Microfiber wash currently, but they're not washing out. Is there any way to spot treat the towels that show this staining? The only APC I have at the moment is Megs...

You can see it here on this one.



Oh, and how stained is "too stained" for MF's that you use to do nasty stain removal and things like filthy door jambs, gas doors, leather, etc.? I've got a bunch of permanently stained Costco MF's that I use for all my grunge work, but is there a point where I should just pitch them and start with unstained ones again? I wash them after every use of course. I keep thinking that I should throw them out but then I have to clean up something like dried yogurt or clean the disgusting leather on a minivan and I realize they might still have a purpose...

Thanks,

Clark

 

Don't understand what claying has to do with staining your mf's. Try soaking them in some apc over night. Just because they are stained doesn't mean they aren't clean. Use the cheap Costco yellow devils for grunge work and then toss them.

 

RustySuper - I have heard that sometimes, if you throw in a little Distilled White Vinegar into the washing cycle, it will help clean the microfiber towels better.

I dont know how much to use, etc., perhaps someone who has tried this can post up ?

I believe the makers of the microfiber wash say to soak really dirty towels in a solution of their product, before wsashing; perhaps that will help ?

Maybe its just me, but I cant really see the stains you are referring to in your picture.

As far as using stained microfiber towels, I think as long as the fibers are soft and not hardened, and as clean as possible, they will always work, until they fall apart or dump off a ton of lint - then, I would consider throwing that towel away.

Also keep really good ones separated for sealant/wax/etc., removal, and have a set of different sizes of cheaper ones for the "dirty work".

Have never used the yellow Costo ones, because they seem to be too "scratchy" to me, but than again, that is just my humble opinion..

Dan F

 

I don't think it matter that much if they're stained a bit. As long as they don't scratch, you're golden.

 

I wouldn't worry about that as long as they feel clean and don't scratch. In all honest that's hardly anything. Most my towels are like that if not worse after some use.

 

I scrub my towels in the sink with microfiber cleaner to clean the stains.

 

This thread reminds me a bit of that David Allen Coe song...

 

Thanks for the input so far! The towels still feel very soft so I'm not worried about anything.

I don't use Costco microfibers on the paint--they are strictly for things like door jambs and interiors. I use separate towels for drying and have different ones for things like buffing off waxes.

The staining resulted from sealing my mom's '08 Mercedes with 40K on it, it's never been clayed before so some of the contaminants on the paint came off on the towels. That's when I noticed the staining anyway, after I did her car.

 

I spot treat the towels with Zep citrus degreaser or CG all clean 3:1. Then I do a warm wash with pre-soak with liquid tide and zep citrus degreaser. Then extra rinse cycle with distilled white vinegar. If small load, air dry, if medium or larger load, then tumble dry with 2 tennis balls on low-no heat.

 

Not trying to give you a hard time about the stains, but the MB has clear coat. As the title says clear coat..meaning no color. So unless the paint was still dirty before sealing no color should have been transfered to your towel. Another thought..if the sealant was not fully dried before buffing that could have caused some color transfer.

 

It wasn't from the paint itself--it was contaminants bonded to the paint. As we had not clayed the car some of the contaminants came off on my wax applicator (took forever to get out too) and some on my towels. And my dad helped and I think he wiped down the roof rack stuff with one of them...that might have done it too.

 

That would do it. Next time Dad only gets the yellow devils.:thud:

 

This might sound like overkill, but this is what I do with mine from time to time. I treat the stain with Shout, allow to dwell for about five minutes and then wash with unscented, dye free soap in conjunction with about half to one ounce of mf detergent in warm water. On the second rinse cycle I'll add about half to one cup of distilled white vinegar.
I'll then dry them using low heat for about five to ten minutes and finish drying with no heat at all. Do not use high heat, fabric softeners or drier sheets. Instead toss in some drier balls ($5 at Walmart) and you'll be good to go.
For heavily soiled towels I'll do a combo of Shout and APC, rinse in sink, repeat if still soiled and then machine wash. However, I'm getting tired of doing this so what I think I will start doing is simply throwing them away. This is a huge time consuming task and sometimes not worth the effort.

Hope this helps.

 

It should be about 1-2 tablespoons of vinegar in the RINSE cycle. Some use more, otherwise have noted too much and you'll lose out on its effectiveness acid wise. The vinegar helps to loosen any leftover detergent or waxes/etc in the fibers. Vinegar is an old school way of basically softening your laundry.

Color staining can happen, stubborn residue wise I'd boil em for a few minutes to really release dirt.