Have a lint issue with some Adams single and double soft towels... help!

[joeybsyc]

I have about a half dozen (maybe more) Adams towels that have this issue and I've tried just about everything i can think of to stop it.  When I wipe my black car i can see thousands of tiny fibers shedding from the towel and clinging to the body.   My paint is smooth, and I don't have this issue with other towels, nor do I have it with ALL of my Adams towels.  The towels are not stained or worn, I've tried washing them in woolite, Tide, and even plain water... I've tried treating and pre-treating them with Adams revitalizer, tried boiling them for 10-15 min at a time,  tried air drying them, drying them on low heat in the dryer, and even hand washed them, but whenever they dry out and i use them again, i get the exact same issue with the "micro-lint" that seems to static cling to my car and needs to be removed with a different towel.  I'm using them with detail spray, and they have never been used for waxes, chemicals, or anything else that would degrade the fibers prematurely.

 

To clarify this post, I'm not "bashing" Adams products, as i DO have some towels that work fine with no special treatment, but for the life of me I can't seem to get about 6 or 7 of them to stop shedding.  They've done this since new, and as noted above, they still DO look like new, as they've only wiped about one panel before I notice the lint and proceed with the next wash/lint removal attempt.   I'm betting I'm not the only person who's ever had this issue, and am hoping there's an easy fix to it that I'm missing.   Is there a known bad batch of these, or is there a simple solution?    Any help would be appreciated!  -Joe

Edited June 12, 2013 by joeybsyc

[07RS4]

Yeah, I know what he was referring to...but polish and wax is actually removed very easily with a little pre-soak in a bucket....it will all be separated when it's done soaking.  Now, grease and oil, there will be some residue left in the towels after a good soaking....a little bleach, hot water and soap should clean the washer up nicely.  I've used the Tide cleaner before...the powder, but you would have to convince me with ingrediants that that stuff is anything more than another gimick.....kind of like dishwasher cleaners?  You can make on your own for about .25.

 

Our Dads went home and washed their dirty coveralls in the washer well before EPA and a kindler gentler world....my parents washing maching lasted 30 years

[BRZN]

Has anyone besides me got into a regular pattern of using washing machine cleaner?

Yep, once a month.

Again, do my towels lint anymore? Nope...

[07RS4]

Dave, if your towels don't lint because you use Tide Washing Machine cleaner....I'll buy you a beer.   

[BRZN]

Dave, if you put it that way;

I owe the total succes of my non linting towels to Tide Washing Machine Cleaner!

 

Please send Beer!!!

[07RS4]

Bwahahaha...Dang, what do you have in your neck of the woods?  YuengLing?  Consider it done!

[LaSHOOOOSH]

Interesting thread.. Me need to get me some of this! Thanks guys!

[JBlack151]

I see this topic come up from time to time. Everyone handles there towels in a different manor. I for one have a huge stock of all kinds of Adam's microfibers with single softs being the most used I can honestly say I've only had 2-3 of them begin linting on me out of my entire collection. From there I boiled them for a brief amount of time with some vinegar. I got some more uses out of them. THen they were retired from paint uses and applied for different areas. I just keep them labeled in a bag now so they don't get mixed in with the good ones.

 

All my towels get used over and over all week and always get cleaned in the wash with some Microfiber Revitalizer & Brightener. Keeping them separate from utility towels or anything else that was used with aggressive cleaners/dirty areas. Most of the time I even keep my GWDT away from them in the washes just in case they picked up any heavy soiling. 

 

I may try out some of that washing machine cleaner though, just because it gives me a new satisfaction of cleaning something to help my OCD. 

[THE Mook]

Hey NorCal Dave, I hear Denver Dave likes Budweiser Tall Boys.

 

[Team Adam's]

The challenge comes in that it only takes 1 towel going out to take a bunch with it. The lint could be just 1 towel in your whole collection, but when they're washed together that fiber finds its way into all of the ones in the load, those fibers are then deposited on your car. 

 

So when you say you have 20 bad towels, odds are you have 1 or 2 that have started to fail, but b/c they're washed with the other 18 they're all going to give you issues until you identify and eliminate the 'problem towels'. 

Edited June 13, 2013 by Dylan@Adams

[Green Machine]

Makes sense Dylan perfect sense but if it could happen to one it could happen to twenty. I have one that left some lint on my black car so now its on the side so we will see with the other ones!!!! More than likely it is just one or two!

[man5011]

Any idea what causes the towels to lint to begin with, assuming we are washing them properly? If we can avoid something we may be doing wrong that would help. Do you think it is washing machine related? I had a brand new towel i just used for the first time 1 week ago, washed it with my other single and double softs and it linted on me two days ago. Not sure if I can use it anymore. Can I get it to stop linting if I identify which one(s) are goners and causing it to spread?

[THE Mook]

I think first and foremost Mike, you need to ID which towel(s) are doing this.  Then re-wash the ones that aren't and see if that stops.  If you ID them and are able to remove them from your arsenal, then Dylan's statement comes to light in that one bad apple may not be ruining the bunch any more.

 

A Microfiber towel's life has variables to how long it will stay alive for.  Clearly, the more care that's taken for it will help.  If one particular towel is getting used more frequently than your others, say maybe it's coming up in the rotation more often, then you should expect the life of that towel to not be as long as the other ones.  Sure, a bad towel is bound to be out there from time to time also.

 

Mook

[joeybsyc]

Wow, i just came back to this thread to see if anyone else ever had these problems and see i'm not alone! You guys who claim the linting only occurs after years of use and many washings.... I can tell you with certainty this is completely untrue of my towels. The ones that lint have done so since day one, and are not years old. The ones that don't lint never did, and it seems apparent to me that the ones I have that lint are always going to lint regardless of how I attempt to eliminate it. What I am trying to do now is separate the good from the bad. The idea that one towel is contaminating the rest and making them lint doesn't seem to fly either because I have washed some Adams towels together and when i try them directly afterwards, some will leave a zillion flecks of microfibers clinging to my paint with a single wipe, while the "good" ones don't leave anything behind. I have a stack of towels that are brand new and have never been used nor washed, I need to determine if they are linters or if they're ok. Once I have the good and the bad separated I will call and see what Adams can do, either by exchanging them or refunding me for them or whatever. Thanks for offering to make it right, as I spent quite a bit of cash on these and hate the fact that I can't use some of them without leaving lint stuck to my car.

Edited June 15, 2013 by joeybsyc

[IrishCurse]

Fingers crossed bro, I boiled, vinegar washed, R&B washed, Washed in hot water, dried in dryer, did the hokie pokie, had my local shaman do a ceremony at my place, Etc...

[camaro2ssblack]

Wow, i just came back to this thread to see if anyone else ever had these problems and see i'm not alone! You guys who claim the linting only occurs after years of use and many washings.... I can tell you with certainty this is completely untrue of my towels. The ones that lint have done so since day one, and are not years old. The ones that don't lint never did, and it seems apparent to me that the ones I have that lint are always going to lint regardless of how I attempt to eliminate it. What I am trying to do now is separate the good from the bad. The idea that one towel is contaminating the rest and making them lint doesn't seem to fly either because I have washed some Adams towels together and when i try them directly afterwards, some will leave a zillion flecks of microfibers clinging to my paint with a single wipe, while the "good" ones don't leave anything behind. I have a stack of towels that are brand new and have never been used nor washed, I need to determine if they are linters or if they're ok. Once I have the good and the bad separated I will call and see what Adams can do, either by exchanging them or refunding me for them or whatever. Thanks for offering to make it right, as I spent quite a bit of cash on these and hate the fact that I can't use some of them without leaving lint stuck to my car.

Your spot on. That has been my experience exactly.

After doing a little research, it seems the lint is caused by towels with a high pile or a broad weave using a fiber split that’s inappropriate. The high pile or loose weave allow the fibers to break off, creating lint. Its almost as if they are too soft with fragile fibers if that makes more sense. Since Adams does not disclose the specific blend and density of the towels like all other manufacturers, it's difficult to pinpoint the issue. Good thing is that they will honor the guarantee so your good to go.

[GerryC]

One aspect that will accelerate linting is using them on paint or glass that hasn't been properly clayed. The contaminants will actually grab and pull fibers from ANY towels, not just Adam's. If you have linting and the loose fibers appear to be "stuck" onto your surface, this is likely the case.

 

In my experience, it is more likely that newer towels will lint, as there is bound to be some residual fibers leftover from the manufacturing process. This concept exists in other forms of manufacturing, where cast-off particles are still present within the item and should be removed prior to first use. Washing brand new towels first will help alleviate this issue. 

 

For the record, I wash all of my towels by hand, in cool-to-warm water, in a clean bucket, with about a teaspoonful worth of Woolite and a capful of Adam's Microfiber Revitalizer & Brightener. I fill up the bucket with water, add the Woolite, and agitate with my hand for about a minute. I dump out the dirty water, fill it up with clean water and add the Revitalizer, then let them soak for a while. Dump again, rinse, lightly wring out the excess water, and hang dry. Once completely dry I give them a good shake to fluff them back up and they are as good as new.

 

I have many towels that have seen dozens of uses and washes and do not lint. Are there going to be some towels out there that will lint no matter what? Of course. A 0% failure rate is pretty much impossible with anything. Proper care and use will prolong the life of the towel, and you always have the Adam's guarantee if you run into trouble.

[joeybsyc]

One aspect that will accelerate linting is using them on paint or glass that hasn't been properly clayed. The contaminants will actually grab and pull fibers from ANY towels, not just Adam's. If you have linting and the loose fibers appear to be "stuck" onto your surface, this is likely the case.

 

 

Nope, that's not the case either.  My cars are clayed, are completely polished and smooth.  They are detailed and stored inside always, so there's nothing like sap, fallout, etc. on the surface...  The towels glide across the surface as smooth as silk, they just leave a zillion lint particles anywhere they touch.   This is also proven by the fact i can use a different towel on the same car/same surface and not get any of the linting.

 

   On my black '32 Ford the lint shows very easily.  On my Aqua Blue Camaro and Forest Green Nova you can't see it quite as easily, but it's there just the same.   I appreciate the help and suggestions, but I assure you the problem is not with the surface of my cars' finish, the problem is with the towels themselves.  I agree with camaro2ssblack that it seems the fibers aren't properly woven into them, and easily pull out/shed.  If that is indeed the case, no amount of washing or variation in washing technique is going to be able to fix this.

 

Edited June 15, 2013 by joeybsyc

[GerryC]

That wasn't directed towards you in particular, it was just in general as I have seen linting on my own windshields where the fibers appeared to be wrapped around a raised speck of junk that was still stuck on the glass. 

 

My doublesofts shed a bunch when they were brand new (shook them indoors and saw fibers fly out). I washed them and the linting stopped.

 

Just offering suggestions based on my own experiences. Obviously there is no solution for manufacturing defects.

[joeybsyc]

Just to follow up on this issue...For the past couple weeks I have been trying to separate the towels I have that leave lint from those that work as they should.   I will say that it turns out most of the Adam's microfiber towels I have (which is quite a few!) seem to work fine, with no linting, however  I did end up with a handful that I determined were the linting culprits. 

 

 

  I called Adam's and actually spoke to Dylan personally yesterday.  he was very helpful in assisting with my problem.   I told him that buy all of my Adam's stuff through GPC (Grabiak Performance Center) in New Alexandria, PA.  and he suggested it may be easier to return/exchange my defective towels there, rather than dealing with shipping back and forth to them.   So today I took a ride to GPC and they were super in an immediate and hassle-free exchange for new Adam's microfibers.   The whole staff at GPC are great guys and have ALWAYS been first-class whenever i stop by to shop, and I can't say enough good things about the guys there.  

 

So i just wanted to give kudos to both Adam's  AND to GPC for standing behind their guarantee and for getting me fixed up with some new microfibers.   While I was there I also picked up a bottle of the new Paint Correction and Paint Finishing polishes, and hope to try them out with my new Flex polisher in the near future.   Thanks again for resolving the issue.

Edited June 28, 2013 by joeybsyc

[THE Mook]

If you didn't put your left foot in...

[joeybsyc]

If you didn't put your left foot in...

 

 

 

What's that mean??

Edited June 28, 2013 by joeybsyc

[BRZN]

See post #40. You'll need to do the hokie pokie!

[joeybsyc]

See post #40. You'll need to do the hokie pokie!

 

So that's what it's all about!

[Rich B.]

On the towel linting issue. Is this normal due to the small fiber pile of the towels shedding or is this a case of disintegration of the small loops due to cleaning and washing of towels?

 

Maybe they've been doing this right along but lint always catches or ends up where you don't need it. Use to hate when you'd snag a rag under the corner of a chrome piece and couldn't get the threads out from under it.

 

Noticed years ago lambs wool bonnets would lint and shed also, stopped after using for awhile. Same thing with those red shop rags but they're just cheap (don't use to polish). Guess the towels are best to use to date though....

[joeybsyc]

Don't know what causes it, i believe it's in the manufacturing, because the ones that do it will do it from day one.  What I do know is that if you end up with any that you aren't happy with the Adam's folks will exchange them without a hassle.