Micro fiber cloths - wash before first use?

I've never washed mine before using them. Haven't noticed any ill effects.

 

I have yet to get a microfiber towel that soaks up the water. I have tried a lot of them and have a garage full that I ordered. I still use cotton towels.

 

They're neither good at, nor intended for absorbing water. They're good at removing wax and polish with absolutely no swirl.

 

I bought many that claimed they were a drying towel. I do use them for removing wax.

 

Interesting!
Can you list some of the types you've bought? I've got a couple of cheap ones (kept in the car for quick wipe-ups, wipe-offs, etc), and have thought of buying some of the nice, high dollar ones. Ones that I certainly recall advertise their water absorbing abilities!
one of the expensive car care places that I'm sure I found through Fchat made a big deal out of the treatment of the ends of the fibers for absorption, said they'd never seen any from China that were done right, only stuff from Korea.

 

Hmmm.... Maybe they're "supposed" to dry, but I've had the same experience as you..... they are terrible at removing water.

I get the cheap ones form Costco, and they are great for wax removal. I also use them exclusively for Griot's Speed Shine, and they do a great job on with that product too.

 

I use mine with Griots Speed Shine as well and they work GREAT with that product. When drying I usually use a Cotton towell to knock of the majority and then go back with the micro fiber towels to do the finish work, seems to work well for me.

Griots also has a "Micro Fiber Wash" you use this instead of regular liquid detergents...I dont know if it made a difference since I have only used this to wash my micro fiber cloths. I can say however that they are great for some things like wax removal and detail work in the interior but certainly are not meant to totally replace cotton in my garage.

 

you guys should pick up one of these http://www.properautocare.com/bigbludryint.html
I can pretty much guarantee you guys can dry your ferrari's without ever wringing this thing out. Amazingly, it does work as advertised. I HATE drying my car, make one pass with and you're good to go. I use it on my m3. Good luck!!

 

This might be the problem, you're not suppose to dry it with any heat

 

Actually the tags on all of my Micro towels say dry with low heat???? And those arent the cheap towels either....

 

I washed mine but I think I used the "air dry" mode on my dryer- no heat. No problems-
(DO NOT USE ANY FABRIC SOFTENER)

 

I bought several of the big blue micro fiber towels and they didn't do it.

 

I purchased MicroGear Microfiber All purpose cleaning cloths (12 pk) made by a Co. called Intex. I think they were purchased from pep boys or something similar. I keep a couple packs around....

They work great - When I've finished washing the car with a chamios (sp?) I use three micro fiber cloths (14 in sq.)

I use one to soak up most of the water. When it's soaked, I wring it out and collect more water until I see just fine little water droplets. Then I use my "dry" micro fiber cloth to bring the surface to a full dry and keep that cloth relatively dry. When I see an area (like a little corner) that I might have missed with a little dirt, I use the third cloth so I don't get the drying cloths dirty.

Works great and the cloths do soak up water. I dry a half section at a time, right hood then left hood.......as an example.

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Oh, almost forgot about the thread topic -

I never wash the cloths.... they are very soft right out of the bag. If one gets dirty I usually use it as a rag until time to toss.
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Second edit:

The only thing I do to use the cloths is rip off the tag that I don't want rubbing against the car.

 

I bought some cheap ones; they got rough after the first wash/dry cycle, and didn't soak up water. I bought some from Griots and no problem washing/drying them (even with high heat) and soak up tons of water.

 

The Costco jobs work great and can be reused. They do absorb some water. Make sure you remove the little tabs. I find MF leave micro lint. I still like to use a shamy first then finish with the MF cloths if necessary.

 

I never wash before the first use and never reuse them. Once they get soiled, they go in the trash.

 

really! I used mine just this morning without an issue. That's strange. Is it the same one I linked to ? I know there area bunch of them that look similar but aren't the same thing. I had an "autozone" branded on that looked exactly the same way and simply pushed water and absorbed nothing. I even had a yellow one from Meguiars that was garbage also. The last one I ordered was the one I linked to above. I was very skeptical about it after experiencing the "other" drying cloths but it has been working well for me for about a year.

 

I think that's where I read the bit about the origin of the towels was properautocare.com Glad to see their products live up to the sales pitch.

The point was that none of the Chinese towels had some splitting procedure done on the fibers, so they wouldn't absorb water. I think this explains the difference in experiences between those that say they don't absorb water and those that do. FWIW, I've washed my two I have (both Korean manufacture) and they're still just fine. I don't recall what I did for drying.

 

That's exactly the way I do it with the cheap towels that I got from Target. They work perfectly if you just spread the towel completely open on a specific area and drag it slowly toward you by the two corners closest to you. Don't use pressure like with the terry cloth. I wring it out between passes and use a seperate dry towel for the final dry. Do this in sections and you are done in no time with much less work.

 

Dont throw them away....put them in a box and send them to me, PM me and I will give you my address. Of course I would pay for shipping and a little something extra for your trouble.

 

I use chamois to dry all my cars, it soaks up water and holds onto any dirt specs that were left on the car after washing or what the air dropped on the car between rinsing and getting your chamois.

 

I've used the Costco towels for years and have washed them many many times. I don't find them to be any rougher, but they do leave really fine lint after they've been washed. I didn't notice any lint whatsoever before I started washing them. They also suck for cleaning windows after they've been washed.

 

Never dry your microfiber towels with the regular towels, they pick up lint from the regular towels, then deposit the lint onto your car. Only dry them by themselves.