Double Bass Microfiber Cloth washing?

[letrabass]

HI guys!
I've been using a microfibre cloth to clean my bass and strings for sometime. I've collected a couple of them that I've been told could be washed and reused, but I'm very wary of throwing these rags full of sap into my washing machine. They are sticky and dusty, full of Pop's residue.
Does anyone have an idea on how to wash these, so I can use them again. They are perfectly fine otherwise, I would be very sad to declare them as rubbish and contribute to further pollution with plastic...
TIA

 

[Don Kasper]

Here is what I do:
Boil a bowl of water in the microwave. Add some laundry detergent. Add the cloths. Let them "cook" for 30 mins, and re-boil the water if necessary.
Then, using an old toothbrush (or, your current toothbrush, if you're feeling adventurous!), scrub the visible rosin stains...as best as possible.
Then, dump the soapy water, and re-boil some clean water. Add the "scrubbed" cloths and rinse.
Then, rinse/repeat all in cool water, ring out and hang up to air-dry.
This usually removes 90% of the rosin remnants. IMFE.
NOTE: Be careful - HOT Water is HOT!
Good luck and good laundry.
Thx.

 

[letrabass]

Here is what I do:
Boil a bowl of water in the microwave. Add some laundry detergent. Add the cloths. Let them "cook" for 30 mins, and re-boil the water if necessary.
Then, using an old toothbrush (or, your current toothbrush, if you're feeling adventurous!), scrub the visible rosin stains...as best as possible.
Then, dump the soapy water, and re-boil some clean water. Add the "scrubbed" cloths and rinse.
Then, rinse/repeat all in cool water, ring out and hang up to air-dry.
This usually removes 90% of the rosin remnants. IMFE.
NOTE: Be careful - HOT Water is HOT!
Good luck and good laundry.
Thx.

Thank you so much!

 

[Ryan in PDX]

Wash them separately from anything that isn't microfiber. They will pick up the fibers from everything else, which will cause them to lose effectiveness. Never use bleach or fabric softeners, or heat above "extra low" to dry them.

If it's a small number of towels, just hand wash them. Soak 'em in a small bucket or bowl with a drop of detergent (no scents or fabric softeners, ideally) for a while. I'll occasionally add washing soda (sodium carbonate) to up the pH of the cleaning solution, which will aid in breaking down organic solids.

Use the hottest water the label allows for - tap hot is generally fine for blends up to 25% polyamide. I would not recommend straight boiling water even on the cheaper 10% polyamide blends.

I agitate them against themselves to dislodge stuff. If anything is super stuck on there, I'll use a toothbrush.

Rinse well and hang dry. If you use the dryer, do it without heat, and realize they will grab on to every speck of lint in the dryer.

 

[TeeSee]

If it's the odd one or 2 then hand wash at low temp in the sink with a little washing detergent, rinse and wring then hang out to dry.
If like me you have quite a few of them when you're detailing your car (like polishing products and for buffing) then I wash them in the washing machine on a low temperature 40degC or less then use a quick cycle if your machine has that, normal amount of washing detergent to shift the wax etc.
Both methods if you have good quality microfibre will return the cloth to as good as new.

 

[Bassamatic]

You could use some Turtle Wax Bug and Tar remover to dissolve the sap and then wash them. Chemical Guys has a wash additive that helps restore the microfiber in washing. I use a lot of these towels for my cars.

 

[AGCurry]

Citrasolv. I have used it to wash rosin from bow hair; it's very quick and effective. There's no reason it wouldn't work on microfiber cloth.