Use and Care of Microfiber Cloths

Paper towel people, lend me your eyes (and ears if you choose to listen): Stop using paper towels to clean. It loves to leave lint. Paper towels aren't very absorbent. They easily spread germs. They can scratch surfaces like mirrors, glass, finished furniture, and coated metal. It can't polish anything. And paper towels are expensive! 

There's a better alternative and that's microfiber cloths. 

We've been using microfiber cloths for well over 25 years. We fully adopted them after a client wanted to pursue a new green building certification and part of that requirement is that we had to use them. We created a new process within our company and have been hooked after ditching our own paper towel and rag options. 

There are several benefits to using microfiber cloths:

• They can be used and reused over and over and over again.
• They are super absorbent and can hold up to 7X-8X their weight in liquid.
• A good microfiber cloth does have electrostatic properties which makes it easier to pick up dust and lint.
• Sometimes you can use it without the use of any chemicals whatsoever. 
• It won't tear or perforate like a paper towel can.
• It reduces streaking on surfaces.
• Microfiber cloths are hypoallergenic.
• Damage is unlikely while using microfiber.
• You can limit your chemical usage by using microfiber.
• Microfiber cloths are easy to clean and reuse.

Microfiber cloths are great. We use them on desks, furniture, glass, mirrors, for bathrooms, spot cleaning floors, and so much more. They come in different colors, which comes in handy for avoiding cross contamination.

We follow industry best-practices in using red, yellow, blue and green microfiber cloths. We use red microfiber cloths for high risk areas in restrooms only like on toilets, urinals, on partitions, and on floor areas around the toilets. We'll also use red for contaminated surfaces, like biohazards, and we'll toss those afterwards. For yellow, we use on medium risk surfaces like bathroom sinks, counters, dispensers, door handles, and similar. Blue is low risk, and we use this color most everywhere else like desks, cabinets, chairs, mirrors, glass, water fountains, door handles, and more. Finally, we use green microfiber on food prep areas like sinks, counter tops, appliances, and so on.

Caring for them is important too. After use, we'll shake out and hand rinse and let them air dry. We keep the colors separate to avoid cross contamination. In the event they need to be washed, we'll wash in cold water only without any additive-base detergents and we never use fabric softeners, and then we air dry. Heat on microfiber will permanently damage the fibers, so ironing or drying on heat will make them no better than a rag. Soaking them will also damage the fibers. After 3 washings in the washing machine, we will toss them or repurpose them for dirtier cleans. After washing them 3 times, they lose their electrostatic properties making them ineffective. You need those electrostatic properties to pick up dust and germs. 

If you care for them, you'll get a lot of mileage out of them and save a lot of money in the long run, over paper towels. 

Next on Deck: Scams Commonly Found on Facebook that Impact Cleaners and How to Spot Them (coming 10-23-2024)