How to clean a Dirty Great White Drying Towel?

[Goatman06]

Hello, i was just wondering how to properly clean a GW Towel, you know how sometimes you wipe to low and get a smear of dirt or some matter on a towel and it leaves a stain. well i just wash them in detergent with no fabric softner and i let them air dry. My question is that is there anything that you can use to try to safely remove the stain without affecting the performance of the towel? thanks alot Bob.

[Goatman06]

You do realize the date of this thread, and that based on his profile the Bob you're addressing hasn't logged into the forum in over a year, right?

Im here from time to time reading sometimes just not logged in, i greatly appreciate his detailed response. I have also recently purchased a gallon of the adams microfiber wash to help with this situation. I was using Micro restore, it worked well i hope the adams cleaner is better. I have used it once but not on overly dirty towels. Thanks again.

[Goatman06]

Here is the write up Corners posted up.

 

 

First of all, I'm not a big fan of the GWT's. I have about 18 just sitting in my shop in a big rubber maid box so at least they don't get any dust on them. Long story about them but won't go into it.

 

With the other towels, when I got a pretty good dirty spot on them, I'd put them in the washer and then the dryer. Before I did that I would spray the bad spots with APC. They were simply not coming out clean.

 

I tried everything to get the stains out but to no avail.

 

About six months or so ago while detailing a large pick-up, I was going through a lot of towels. When I was done with one and it had a lot of grime or gunk on them, before I put them in a pile, again I would give them a shot of the APC. Still stained.

 

Having 7 of the wash buckets, I've devoted two of them for nothing but dirty towels. Whites in one, WW towels in the other. I now fill each bucket with warm ~ close to hot water because I know it won't take long for the water to cool down.

 

I then take a gallon of APC and without measuring it, I put roughly 1/4+ of that gallon in each bucker. Toss in the dirty towels and continue working. When I have three or so in the bucket/s I take a simple paint stirring stick and swirl them around for about 30 seconds to a minute and then go back to detailing. I stir them around more than once ~ probably around every 20 minutes.

 

When I'm done detailing the vehicle I again swirl them around while I am cleaning up other stuff. I then empty the water outside my shop and wring them out. Take them into the house and standing by the kitchen sink, I check every towel to make sure it's clean. So far I have never had another dirty towel or a stained one using just this first method. Then I put them in the washer/dryer and when done, their nice and white or blue and soft.

 

When I am done using foam pads I bring them into the house and put them in one section of the kitchen sink. Turn on the cold water and when the sink is half full, again I just take a gallon of the APC, pour in an unmeasured amount of it and then start stiring them around and squeezing them. I'll then take each one, and put that in the second section of the sink, check them and if they are okay I put them in another Adam's wash bucket. If I come across one that is still fairly dirty I then use the APC spray bottle and give it a couple of shots and using my fingers I work the APC into them. I get a lot of foam from the APC but when I'm done working with one I put it under the cold water and let it run down on half of the pad until I see clear water and flip it and do the same thing. I then wring them and into the bucket they go.

 

I found, with both towels and foam pads, if I let them dry in the sun they are not soft as I would like them to be. So I take those out to the shop and lay them on a long metal (moveable) bench. I first put a thick towel down. With this weather, the inside of the shop is usually 80+ degrees. It takes about two days for them to become thorough dry. Then they go into seperate rubber maid drawers.

 

Yes, I'm using a lot of the APC but in the long run, it's better than paying for new towels and foam pads.

[LDM]

Well I guess I was wrong and apologize to Bill for the assumption I made. I guess sometimes bumping ancient threads is relevant.

[Corners]

I got your response, thanks for the detailed write up. Ill do as you mentioned for my towels going foward.. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

 

No problem Bob. I guess the only thing I could suggest, using my method, is to keep stirring the very dirty rags in the bucket with APC. Keep me posted if ya don't mind on how they turn out.

 

The MF Restore is a good product for keeping your towels white/blue. However based on my experience with it, it's just for normal dirt one would get on their towels, not a real dirty section such as making a mistake and wiping down the rocker panels or other extremely dirty areas.

Edited August 2, 2012 by Corners

[Corners]

Well I guess I was wrong and apologize to Bill for the assumption I made. I guess sometimes bumping ancient threads is relevant.

 

Appreciate it but no apology necessary Len.

[Corners]

Still good info and appreciate the detailed response.

 

Tks Tim!

[Fit08]

I've had good luck doing this, then letting them soak for a while in a bucket before putting them in the wash.

 

 

What does the collective think of this idea.

 

Using a bucket with grit guard, place a fish aquiaum airator (sp) long tue style that air comes out of all around in the bottom tie wrap to the grit guard top. This will great (hopefully) an adjetor (sp) of sorts. May help lossen dirt.

[Corners]

What does the collective think of this idea.

 

Using a bucket with grit guard, place a fish aquiaum airator (sp) long tue style that air comes out of all around in the bottom tie wrap to the grit guard top. This will great (hopefully) an adjetor (sp) of sorts. May help lossen dirt.

 

I hope I'm following your train of thought here. Are you suggesting doing this so when you put your wash mit in, it may help loosen dirt?

 

IF?? I got that right, it would appear to me that you have all this air moving the water around ~ but ~ at the same time you are also moving all the "dirt" around.

 

I can't say it will work until I've actually tried it. However I don't want to take a chance and have this loose dirt landing in my wash mit.

 

BTW, are you talking about doing this in the bucket with the soap suds or the cleaning bucket?

[LDM]

I think he's talking about the bucket of dirty towels that are soaking in APC, not the wash or rinse buckets for the car.

[Corners]

I think he's talking about the bucket of dirty towels that are soaking in APC, not the wash or rinse buckets for the car.

 

Len: If that's what he's talking about, this is just my .02 but do think that it will take an awful lot of air to get the water moving fast enough to thoroughly reach every towel, depending on how many towels are in the bucket.

 

Even with just a few towels, as I originally posted, I still take a simple paint stirring stick and swirl them around for a minute or so. When I have a bunch soaking, I will even move the ones from the top, to the bottom.

 

Haven't tried it yet but with all the APC I put in the soaking bucket, perhaps I wouldn't have to stir them period. The main point is to simply ensure that "all" of them soaking good enough to get the real dirty stains out.

[Chobbs]

Interesting thread! Personally, I will not subject my towels to hot water. Also, rarely do I get my drying towels dirty. As I am very thorough with the wash. But if I did get a black spot on my towel, I would just spray with APC and throw it in the washer with woolite. My towels are still in very good condition after almost two years of use:) and I dont see why one would ever have to boil the GWDT. Mine only gets used to dry the car so there is no opportunity for wax or other things to build up in the fibers, or so I think?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Nascar36]

I have 4 Adams buckets with lids in my garage. I add 2 oz Adams microfiber to about 3 gallons of water. 4 buckets for 4 different colors of towels. After using a towel, I put it in one of the buckets and let them soak. When I run low on towels, I wash them in cold water with Adams microfiber soap in the washing machine, dry them and put them into storage containers with lids. All my towels look new, no stains. I think soaking them after each use it the key.

[LDM]

What's the longest you've let a towel soak? I wonder if it's possible to over soak a towel.

[Nascar36]

My guess would be about 3 weeks in the bucket before washing. I have also wondered if them being in water all the time would damage them in the long run over time. Maybe someone from Adams would give me there thoughts.