Microfiber towels are a popular household cleaning item that is most likely in your home already. Microfiber towels are a beloved choice for cleaning because they have teeny threads that latch onto dust particles and remove them easily. However, these same fibers can cause environmental damage.
How to Wash Your Microfiber Towels
The main aim in cleaning microfiber towels is to avoid too much abrasion and agitation. The best thing you can do is to hand wash them. An eco-friendly way to wash your microfiber towels is to gently hand wash them in cold water. Soak the towel in water mixed with detergent for approximately 30 minutes. Rinse them with cold water and then gently ring them dry with your hands. Once done, air dry the towels, and they will be like new.
Can You Machine Wash Your Towels?
If you’re in a real hurry, you can machine wash your microfiber towels. However, you should think about investing in a laundry bag that catches loose microfiber strands that will be released in the washing machine.
You should also avoid using dryer sheets and fabric softeners while washing microfiber towels. Fabric softeners increase the chances of the fibers becoming loose, and ultimately, the towel will become less absorbent.
How to Keep Your Microfiber Towel in Good Shape
If you notice your microfibers towel has fibers clumping together, is becoming rough, or flattening, it is a sure sign that the towel is starting to degrade. In order to keep your towels intact, make sure that you are using your microfiber towel sparingly. You can leave the larger messes to mops and sponges that are made with more durable materials.
Another way to extend the longevity of your towels is to rinse them with cold water and hang dry them between washes so any extra debris is eliminated from between the fibers. Being as gentle as possible is also vital to extending their use.
The Downside of Microfiber Towels
The microfibers that are present in your towels are made by blending synthetic polyamides and petroleum-based polyester. Both the materials are held together because of the presence of an electrostatic charge. In other words, your microfiber towels are not woven together, but they stay together only because they have been entangled.
Because of this, microfiber towels are very sensitive to wear and tear. When the synthetic microfibers are shed, tiny microplastics are released. Microplastics are invisible pollutants that carry some harmful toxins such as oil and heavy metals that eventually reach the ocean.
You can’t really avoid the shedding of these pollutants, but you can definitely take utmost care of microfiber towels to keep the threads intact for as long as possible.
Microfiber towels require extra care to keep immaculate but make for excellent cleaners. Make sure to choose a high-quality microfiber towel, like the ones at Home City Inc., available here.
