Cleaning Wash Mitts And Drying Towels

[BLM]

Would like to hear some others take on their routines. I do both rinseless washes and traditional 2 bucket contact washes depending on which vehicle and other factors. For the rinseless washes I use the sponge and for the traditional shampoo washes I prefer wash mitts. For both methods I use drying towels and sometimes a leaf blower again depending on what vehicle and wash.
On all my washes I use a drying aid that has a bit of wax in it. I have several mitts and drying towels so I can use a mitt and put it aside till I have used all my mitts and then wash them together. But I have gotten into the habit of washing my drying towels after each use rather than setting them aside to dry and then waiting till I've exhausted my supply to wash them. This is mostly due to my concern of having the traces of wax in the drying aid and then allowing that wax/drying aid to dry in the towel.
I do wash both mitts and towels in non scented detergent,etc. But it seems like a big waste of laundry water,soap, electricity,etc, to do a load of wash for just a couple towels. Like to hear opinions on allowing any trace of products to dry on towels or mitts for days or weeks verses laundering them as soon as one is finished using them.

[chilly]

I only hang onto dirty towels waiting for a larger load if I just grab one or two to deal with a bird bomb or something, and then I store them in a bucket with a gallon or two of water and a splash of APC until I do a full load

I learned my lesson about leaving them too long and a week is my limit during the warmer months, after that it doesn't matter, they are getting washed regardless of load size although it is rarely more than a week before I have a full load

I use a multi mitt method for bucket washes and a multi towel method for rinse less washes, and usually one large drying towel and half a dozen smaller towels for jambs, drying aid, etc and they get washed every time because it's enough to justify a load

Any towels that contact sealants, waxes, etc go into the APC bucket for a pre-soak before washing

With 10-12 mitts being washed I feel justified in washing them separately

When I do a load of mitts I always put it on the rinse and spin cycle first to get all the excess car shampoo out of the mitts and then do a full cycle with a pre-wash and extra rinse, using free and clear Tide and an ounce of microfiber detergent, and always a vinegar rinse

I do the same on my load of towels, again with the extra rinse and spin first if any of them were in the APC bucket

It all goes through the gas dryer on the second to lowest setting, mitts on their own, and towels on their own

I have towels that are quite old that are still working fine

[BLM]

Just a follow up to the questions. Do you wash all your towels in one load? By that I mean your smaller microfiber that you may have used during the wash with your drying towels? In the past I have washed separately microfibers that I have used to remove polish from those that are used with shampoo, detailer, waxes or sealants. My reason for this is those that are used for polish have abrasive residue in them and don't want to contaminate the towels that dont.

[chilly]

Just a follow up to the questions. Do you wash all your towels in one load? By that I mean your smaller microfiber that you may have used during the wash with your drying towels? In the past I have washed separately microfibers that I have used to remove polish from those that are used with shampoo, detailer, waxes or sealants. My reason for this is those that are used for polish have abrasive residue in them and don't want to contaminate the towels that dont.

No, towels used during paint correction don’t get washed separately although I have read this a few times in the past

My thinking is if the correction towels are getting clean, any towels with them are getting clean

If you can’t get them clean then you have a problem in your laundering process and any towel you ever use for paint correction or any mitt that got dirty should be demoted to junk status immediately

In my world that’s not sustainable


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[chilly]

Just a follow up to the questions. Do you wash all your towels in one load? By that I mean your smaller microfiber that you may have used during the wash with your drying towels? In the past I have washed separately microfibers that I have used to remove polish from those that are used with shampoo, detailer, waxes or sealants. My reason for this is those that are used for polish have abrasive residue in them and don't want to contaminate the towels that dont.

This would be a good experiment for someone with a really powerful microscope

Before and after washing just to see if abrasives are left in the towels


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[briarpatch]

Wash them all together using All Free and Clear. Use the 'rinse and spin' cycle to get as much out of them as possible. They go into the dryer for 30 minutes on 'air dry' and then hang until completely dry

[Coatingsarecrack]

Probably gonna get flamed but I wash all my towels together. If it sees a sealant (don’t use wax and coating towels get tossed) or used to polish I will soak in Rags 2 Riches for a couple hours.

I mix F&C laundry detergent and a MF wash and drying towels are absorbent, paint towels still soft.

My twisted loop drying towels are four years old and still perform like new.

I have 4-7 new twisted loop waiting in wings. There been there for 2 years because old ones won’t quit.


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[Setec Astronomy]

Ha--here we go, nobody does this the same way.

I keep all my glass towels separate, because I don't want to get them contaminated (with lint etc).

I keep my drying towels separate, because they are generally the least "dirty" (of course the glass towels are not usually very dirty--but see above), and I don't want to transfer anything to them that will reduce their effectiveness.

I keep my bird poop/waterless towel separate, because they are the most...gritty?

I keep my wash media separate because I use mostly pads that have sponges in them and that makes it tough to see if all the soap is out, which I care about for towels but not so much for wash media.

All the other towels, wax, polish, interior, I wash together. I have a bazillion towels etc. so I can take my time to accumulate a load for each category.

I agree with Chilly that if your process is good everything should be clean and wash everything together and no worries...but I still separate based on above.

[oneheadlite]

I do another variation:

I also keep glass towels separate.

From there it’s split to “nice” and “the rest”.

Nice includes (body) wash mitts and any towels that touch paint.
The rest is door jam towels, wheel mitts, and interior towels.

To combat the not-enough-for-a-load-o-laundry, I hang them until dry and store until I have enough to justify a load, or I just need them.

[chilly]

I don't separate glass towels although the reasons given here are certainly valid, but I should have been more specific about towels, I also split them into "touches exterior paint" and general towels for interiors, jambs, etc

I have black towels for "dirty" jobs and they go in with the mitts, although when I still dried wheels with towels they got washed separately as did my wheel mitt

I have never done a coating so I don't have those towels to toss or contend with

The one thing I wish I had a better bead on is microfiber wheel "brushes" (woolies, etc) and what you really should be doing to keep them cleaned after a session

Mine don't have the covers that come off so you can't launder them

I blast them off with the pressure gun and leave them upside down in a bucket to dry