Washing microfibre cloths

A microfibre cloth holds water because its fibres are split, which gives them an enormous amount of surface. Anything that settles on that surface destroys exactly that property. So the most important rule is a prohibition.

What the manufacturer requires

For our drying towel, 42 × 48 cm at 1000 gsm, the manufacturer names three points: no fabric softener, no bleach, no hot wash. That is its instruction, and it appears in the table on the product page in the same words.

What is common practice

The points below are not a manufacturer's statement about our items. They are what has become the accepted way of handling microfibre, and we label them as that.

• Wash separately from cotton. Cotton sheds fibres, and they lodge in the microfibre — after which the cloth leaves behind exactly the lint you bought it to avoid.
• Use little detergent. Residue behaves much like fabric softener.
• Keep interior cloths apart from cloths used on wheels or in an engine bay.
• Dry them in the air. A tumble dryer on high heat welds the fibres together.

And the small cloths?

For our pack of five at 30 × 40 cm the manufacturer gives no care instruction at all. So we invent none. What is written above as common practice applies to microfibre generally and is the most honest guidance we can offer for those cloths.

When a cloth is finished

When it stops taking water up and starts pushing it along instead, the fibre is flattened or coated. Washing rarely brings that back. That is exactly why five cloths come in the pack: it is better to change the cloth than the method.