[Conquistador]

Originally Posted by ainarssems

This may be a dumb question but how do you make them last? First I have to confess I never bought one for £20+ because they seem like single use items for me. Instead I have like a lot of small ones. I do know the basic rules not to use fabric conditioner and not to tumble dry and to use mild detergent ( whatever that means). As far as my experience goes cheap microfibre towels/cloths vary a lot in absorbency when they are new from pretty good to not good at all. I find the ones that are marketed for glass/windows to be best. but after single use they are either useless or very impaired.

From what I gather I wash car with a shampoo containing wax, dry it with microfibre cloth, most of this wax ends up in cloth and normal washing does not remove it so next time instead of being water absorbent it is water repellent.

Do you all use shampoos that does not contain wax? and then wax/polish after drying?

They never seem to be as fluffy as they are brand new, and it's advisable to wash them before first use but in reality, nobody ever does because they feel so big and fluffy out of the bag. It's best practice to wash them on their own and a splash of white vinegar in the drum doesn't hurt, but don't ever use bleach or washer powder.

There's a lot of polyester in the big microfibre towels which why it's not a good idea to tumble dry them using heat. Ideally you want to spin dry them in the washing machine but because they are so heavy when wet, it can unbalance a machine

A good way to tell if the microfibre cloth/towel is ruined is drip some water onto it. If the water gets absorbed then it's good, if the water runs down the towel then you might as well throw it away. If you drop the towel on the floor you should probably throw it away too, unless you're going to sit with some tweezers picking out every single particle of grit.