Whats your go to Microfiber Detergent right now and why?

[Dogfather]

I use laundry soap and I sprinkle in some of that Snappy pad cleaner.

[SameGuy]

Monica, again, are you adding the vinegar to the wash water, or the rinse? Adding to the wash actually reduces the effectiveness of your detergent.

[kevincwelch]

I use Wolfgang or Charlies soap.

Both work well; one's a lot more expensive than the other. (I'll let you guess.)

I don't think there's a big difference in outcome, but most of my towels are reasonably clean when they get washed.

If a towel is really soiled, it gets washed and then demoted to the inside of the hood, jambs, and trim.

If it's tremendously soiled, it meets the garbage can.

[bulldog shine]

Also, don't forget the quality of your water has to do with the effectiveness of the soap. Even city water can be down right horrible.

[DetailKitty]

Monica, again, are you adding the vinegar to the wash water, or the rinse? Adding to the wash actually reduces the effectiveness of your detergent.

Excellent question.... I think I'm adding it to the wash water.... Next time I will add it to the rinse! Thx!

[SameGuy]

It'll work great! You'll start adding vinegar to all your laundry loads for the rinse, it's a better softener than the commercial brands, and because it's helping dissolve any residual detergent and soils bonded to fabric fibers, it actually reduces static electricity buildup in the dryer. You'll wind up not using Bounce sheets for regular laundry, and will definitely notice less static in your MFs. Your bath towels will be softer than ever.

Buy a small bottle of either Ecos or Green Earth HE liquid and try that out, see if it does a satisfactory job on your regular laundry. While most MF detergents are biodegradable, most commercial laundry detergents -- even the "free and clear" type -- are not.

One more thing to try if you want to go even greener, get some dryer balls. I use both Merino wool balls for regular mixed laundry, and the spiky blue plastic balls when I do household towels or MFs. The spiky ones really fluff up looped terry towels, at the expense of only a bit more static than the wool balls.

[Hermes1]

Microfiber has so many uses other than auto detailing, but auto detailing is the only industry that heavily markets these "special" formulations. Why? Probably because enthusiasts will pay for that extra assurance that they're going the extra mile. Frankly, Tide (free and clear prefereably) is probably the most proven cloth cleaner on the planet so that's what I use. Even it can't get out stubborn stuff like brake dust, though.

Anyhow, I have recently started using Griot's mf and pad cleaner and I think it works amazingly well to clean my pads by hand. Stains and product residue come off fast with a little brush agitation. Because of this, I have started using it along with Tide to make sure all that polish/wax residue comes out of the fibers, but I don't expect it to, nor does it, remove more stains.

You make a good and valid point. My understanding is the only problem with laundry detergent is many have softeners & bleach as part of their formulation and both are detrimental to micro fiber. All Free & Clear & Tide's version of the same do not contain fabric softeners and bleach, so it comes as no surprise to me that both these products work well. I have washed mine in both All Free & Clear and Griot's Garage product with the same excellent results in that my towels are very clean retaining the like new softness.

[~TumbleWeed~]

A mix of All Free & Clear, Blackfire MF Cleaner & Restorer, and Vinegar~

Air Dry~

[SameGuy]

Note that MFs are still made from polyester and polyamide, like many other synthetic laundry fabrics, polar fleece, t-shirts, athletic wear, etc.

The other main difference is that synthetic fibers used for clothing fabrics get soiled with common organics such as sweat, common dirt and proteins and as such, household detergents are formulated with fairly precise combinations of alkyds and surfactants to dissolve or break down these soils. On the other hand, synthetics used for car care get soiled with fairly unique compounds, and frequently most of these ad hoc compounds are made up of generous amounts of alkaline cleaners and whatever soils they were intended to remove from the car.

MF-specific detergents are targeted specifically to clean synthetic fiber fabrics that are used with cleaning agents. MicroRestore itself was not created with the auto-detailing industry in mind, it has been marketed to pretty much the entire cleaning industry. Auto detailing, though, is where the market for these specific detergents blossomed, because of the precise requirements of detailers working like high end jewellers. A ISO-9002 cleaning company that uses MFs to clean thousands of offices every night doesn't really care if its cleaning rags are slightly stiffer or less absorbent after laundering them. I'm the same, my Costco-bought 3M ScotchBrite dishwashing cloths and towels get thrown in with the regular laundry, as they only get used for dishes and wiping up the countertops.

But everyone on here is so AR about topping LSPs, how many coats of this or that, spending money hand over fist to get the best possible products to baby their cars... Does it not make sense that when buffing out a clear coat that's just a few microns thick, you might want to go that extra yard?

"My regular laundry detergent works just fine for cleaning my Ultra Plush MFs" sounds to me an awful lot like "my regular Great Value dishwashing liquid works just fine for washing my Maserati." /headscratch

[DetailKitty]

It'll work great! You'll start adding vinegar to all your laundry loads for the rinse, it's a better softener than the commercial brands, and because it's helping dissolve any residual detergent and soils bonded to fabric fibers, it actually reduces static electricity buildup in the dryer. You'll wind up not using Bounce sheets for regular laundry, and will definitely notice less static in your MFs. Your bath towels will be softer than ever.

Buy a small bottle of either Ecos or Green Earth HE liquid and try that out, see if it does a satisfactory job on your regular laundry. While most MF detergents are biodegradable, most commercial laundry detergents -- even the "free and clear" type -- are not.

One more thing to try if you want to go even greener, get some dryer balls. I use both Merino wool balls for regular mixed laundry, and the spiky blue plastic balls when I do household towels or MFs. The spiky ones really fluff up looped terry towels, at the expense of only a bit more static than the wool balls.

Awesome! Thx
I actually don't use anything in the dryer.