A little common sense before washing towels

[Eldorado2k]

It’s raining today, so it’s a good day to finally wash all my microfiber towels. Reason I haven’t been in a rush to do so is because I’ve recently been guilty of leaving my dirty towels separated in several plastic bags in the backyard, which leads to the worst possible situation in regards to dirty towels.

I did the bare minimum and at least tied some of the bags, and 1 of the bags containing my “good” batch of Kirklands I did stuff into a bucket and loosely covered it with a lid [not airtight to prevent mold]

But what I usually wind up doing in this case before washing them is going through the tedious task of nitpicking almost all the the leaves & twigs off prior to tossing them into the washing machine because my OCD simply doesn’t have enough faith in them coming out of the machine completely clean if I don’t.

But today the lightbulb finally came on.
Why not just try to quickly rinse them off 1 by 1 with the hose nozzle and see if I can get the debris off that way. It worked. Why didn’t I think of this before?

Does anyone else run into this situation with their towels? Or and I guilty of breaking a commandment of detailing by allowing twigs to occasionally get on my all purpose microfiber towels? Lol.

But hey, the important part is they get clean.

[UncleDavy]

Good idea. I have always hosed off my wash mitts but not the towels. The ones that end up falling on the ground usually go through a process of picking debris out of the fibers, much like gorillas picking bugs out of each other's hair.

[Rsurfer]

Didn't know Costco had good MF's..I would rate them fair for grunge work.

[fly07sti]

Twigs & leaves?!?! I almost dropped my phone in disbelief.

[Eldorado2k]

Didn't know Costco had good MF's..I would rate them fair for grunge work.

My waterless wash towels could easily qualify as most peoples “grunge” towels if you saw how dirty they wind up after each time I wipedown my car.

I have “premium” towels, but I would never use them for anything that’s considered cleaning. They’re strictly for polish & compound removal.

Twigs & leaves?!?! I almost dropped my phone in disbelief.

Allow me to clarify. Just about all the towels I’m referring to are my grade C towels aka interior/metal polishing towels. They wind up too dirty to put away next to nicer towels so they wait outside in plastic bags until it’s time to wash them.

It sounds worse than it is. Here’s 1 of the bags.



Here’s another. You can see what I mean as far as the debris that can wind up on them even though I tie the bags closed.



Underneath the top layer they’re not so bad. But still, none of these towels ever see exterior paint.



These are the twigs & leaves on what right now I’d call a metal polishing towel.






But most of the time they wash up fairly well enough to remain worthy of cleaning dirty interiors i.e. more than capable of using to clean grimy cupholders on a vehicle that’s never been detailed before.

I don’t use these towels on my own interior.
Only thing I’d use them for would maybe be for door jambs.

Here’s a towel that’s been used with metal polish/trunk jambs. Once it’s washed it can certainly do that again.



Another bag with the same type of towels with leaves & twigs on them.




But that doesn’t mean my Grade B towels [towels used for waterless washing] get super special treatment. They also wind up in bags, but I do my best to keep them covered [in a bag then inside a 5 gallon bucket w/lid] but because they’re usually soaking wet & really dirty after use they must remain outside. I’m not keeping grimy soaked towels indoors. Not a chance.

My Grade A towels are Meguiars Ultimate Wipes. They never get wet so they remain indoors even the dirty ones.

I hope that clarifies.

[chilly]

I have 2 buckets that everything goes into as it’s used




I wash up after every job unless I know it’s a multi day job and as long as I have enough towels I will wait until the job is done

The one time recently I forgot and left some towels in the bucket they got really rank in a week or so

It took multiple vinegar soaks and baking soda washes to get the smell out

If anything hits the ground it’s separated and monkey picked prior to washing separately and carefully gone over after drying


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Eldorado2k]

If anything hits the ground it’s separated and monkey picked prior to washing separately and carefully gone over after drying


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That’s where rinsing with the hose nozzle helped out today. The more I think about having to monkey pick through most of the towels, the longer it takes me to get around to washing them.

I’ve got a Big Red Sponge, but I can’t seem to embrace rinseless washing. It’s too bad because the sponge would alleviate alot of the wet & dirty towels I accumulate.

I guess in my mind once I have to drag out a bucket to fill the convenience goes out the window. For me waterless washing is super ideal, I just hate the stack of wet towels afterwards.

[chilly]

That’s where rinsing with the hose nozzle helped out today. The more I think about having to monkey pick through most of the towels, the longer it takes me to get around to washing them.

I’ve got a Big Red Sponge, but I can’t seem to embrace rinseless washing. It’s too bad because the sponge would alleviate alot of the wet & dirty towels I accumulate.

I guess in my mind once I have to drag out a bucket to fill the convenience goes out the window. For me waterless washing is super ideal, I just hate the stack of wet towels afterwards.

Honestly, I enjoy washing up towels and mitts and stuff after, and inspecting and folding them out of the dryer

It is kind of zen for me

Now, cleaning up pads?

Not so much fun...

[Eldorado2k]

Honestly, I enjoy washing up towels and mitts and stuff after, and inspecting and folding them out of the dryer

It is kind of zen for me

Now, cleaning up pads?

Not so much fun...

My inner El Cheapo could never run the washer that frequently. You’re talking to a guy who’s favorite toothpaste is Aqua Fresh, mainly because I can get it at the 99 cent store.

I geek out on saving a few bucks. If I can save $40 on cat food, I’ll buy $200 dollars worth. Lol.

[Bill D]

My local dollar store is now $1.25. Sad times.