Towel Questions

[PT3]

Hello -

 

How do you know when to change towels?  When is it too dirty?  Besides the obvious...  Example: Your car is 'clean'... you use a double soft to apply DS.  You apply DS and of course the 'application' side is pink with DS...but the drying side is still pure white.  

How many times can you / do you use this towel?  Do you use it until all sides show signs of dirt?

 

Second question... how many towels do you have?

 

Glass?

Single soft?

Double soft?

Blue edgeless?

Waffle weave?

 

How often are you washing your towels?  I'm doing 1 load per week.

Edited May 18, 2015 by PhilT3 2014 BMW M5

[Ricky Bobby]

Lot of questions in one thread Phil lol.

 

Phil if I stopped using a towel every time it got stained or tinged slightly I would be throwing all my towels out after one use.  Yes all those pics on the AP website show crisp white towels but after one wash with anything other than ALL WHITE towels in it, they will have a slight color change.  However, doesn't effect performance.  My Double/Single Softs are now slightly off-white and still work amazing.

 

My double/single softs are used the most infrequently since I only use them for wiping down clay residues, polish residues, or sealant residues.  I have my own towels dedicated to rinseless washing and just general spray and wipe duties, etc.

 

Glass Towels I have 8

Single Soft I have 2

Double Soft I have 6

I have none of the Blue Edgeless

Waffle Weaves I have one great white and 20x40 korean waffle weaves from another vendor, 16x24's as well which are a great in between size, total I have 8

I also have 3 of the Uber Super Dryers from Phil @ DD (think the ultra plush jumbo towel Adams was selling recently)

 

Then I have about 20 towels dedicated to rinseless washing on paint and wheels/tires.  And about another 40 general purpose/all purpose towels ranging in GSM from 300 to 600, and ranging from dual plush (both sides) to short nap on both sides.

 

I have a small laundry basket attached to my garage shelf which I toss used towels in, once the bin is full the towels are cleaned.  I just did a load this past week and it was probably 3-4 weeks since I did a load.

 

I have a top loading washer and I have enough towels to do a Medium load, but I put the water on Large load.  So I probably wash 25 towels at a time or so.  Basically if you could pick up a load of clothes from your floor and wrap your arms around them and walk downstairs and toss them all in without dropping anything, thats about the size of the MF load I wash each time.

 

(I also am washing the all purpose towels - cheapo's - that we get from Costco but just use in the house for general dusting, cleaning, scrubbing etc)

 

Probably around 70-75 towels currently total, between 2 of the 12 gallon flip top totes from Home Depot

 

 

You know your towels are past their usable life if they stop feeling soft, get embedded contaminants you are unable to remove (NOT stains), they don't absorb, or lint excessively on the surface.  I have some towels in rotation for 3 years now with no problems other than they don't look so great from past stains.

Edited May 18, 2015 by Ricky Bobby

[TheBurninator]

I change towels when I feel the need. It all depends on the task at hand, and the towel type, and the product used.

 

If a towel gets too saturated with product I will generally switch to avoid streaking.

Again dirtiness of a towel really depends on task at hand. Cleaning rubber trim? I'll use most of the towel until it is black from the oxidized rubber. If I am doing a detail spray wipedown or drying the car, I will check the towel after every panel or large section for dirt, flip to a clean side as necessary

 

I don't keep track of how many towels I have. Not everything I have is Adam's either.

 

Towels get washed as needed. More towels means less laundry for me.

[Kingsford]

I live by... You can never have enough towels. I have a wide assortment of probably 15-20 drying towel, 10 single softs, 15 edgeless blue, 10 edgeless orange, 5 edgeless gray, 10 double soft, 10-15 glass towels, 10-15 utility towels and a few odds and ends.

 

Thats just an estimate though, numbers may be higher.

 

I only wash as needed. If I wash a vehicle I wash the towel, otherwise they just sit in a rubbermaid container thats sealed.

 

Edit: Expanding on your question....

 

How many times you use a towel is kind of dependent on what type of towel it is. A polishing towel can only hold so much polish before it starts smearing more polish that it removes. I usually judge that by the feel of a fresh towel vs the feel of a used towel, it generally starts to feel sort of chalky I guess. Drying towel gets one use (too wet to continue to dry). Utility towels get used for whatever their purpose is that day. If I used a utility towel for rubber trim all I use it for is rubber trim, it gets washed after I'm finished doing what I'm doing, its too wet or the performance decreases.

Edited May 18, 2015 by Kingsford

[Team Adam's]

How its used, how much dirt, and how particular you are is all a part of the equation - but treat each side as a surface and once its been dirtied its no longer to be used.

[PT3]

Good stuff! Thanks guys!