Storing and Organizing Towels

[b18cya-T]

DrJones, how do you personally keep your towels organized & stored?

do you have separate towels for drying, polishing, waxing, wheels, etc., etc.? how do you keep them separate & clean?

How do you remember which ones are used for each task?

How do you store them to prevent them form getting dirty?

Do you ever wash them, or just replace them when they get dirty? if you do wash them, what detergent do you use?

[b18cya-T]

also, where do you buy your towels from? i tried to find genuine 3M microfiber towels, & i couldnt find them anywhere.

[Bedlam]

We sell the 3m towels at Target of all places...but they are pretty small. Personally, I just keep them in nice organized stacks, the towels that I can use for non-paint surfaces are together, and the fresh clean ones are in another stack. Most towels that I have for anything use are freaking filthy anyway..but I guess you could maybe mark the corner with a black sharpie or something just to be sure.

I've seen his place..he has STACKS of towels everywhere..and they all look clean. Dirty ones were in a box I think..sure he has some 'system' to it.. :)

-Bedlam

[Kwando]

I keep my new towels in sealed bags.

Dirty ones goes in a bucket for washing, after washing the dirty towels I use them for cleaning the wheels, wiping oil, etc.

I buy my terry cloths from Costco.

[DrJones]

well.. lets see... if i had to esimate i'd say i probably have around 150 towels.

~35 Good MFs for removing polish/wax/etc (you'll be seeing that acronym a lot now.. stands for Microfiber) from pakshak.com
2 big blue waffle weave MFs for drying
~40 retired MFs who have been through the dryer one to many times. Mostly used for intererior and stuff
~8-9 of a new style detailing towel (the autopia store sells them) Used for quickdetailing and when i clay
~10 cotton ones from checker, fairly good quality also used for intererior
~50 of the white cheap ones from checker, used for the messy stuff like underbody, polishing tailpipes, trim, etc
1 MF with a hook pattern specifically for glass
~12 of cut up cotton bath towels


That's all i can think of right now. As you can see most have a purpose. Though they are mostly in groups. Use the really good soft ones for the finish, and the older ones for tasks that don't require the softness.

They all have different colors, (I usually buy in bulk, all the same colors) so for instance all my 'A class' mfs right now used for most of the polishing stuff are all blue, my older now demoted mfs are all green.

I don't have specific ones for different products, but that is because you really shouldn't be using them that often. If i'm removing something it usually takes 1-2 towels to buff it off. After those are used, they are tossed into the dirty pile. If i'm QDing i use one for each time I QD. It's common for me to go through 20-30 doing a single car. After every other car (sometimes every car) I take the dirty ones and wash them. Then they go back into the clean pile.

To wash them it's best just to put them in the washer with warm water and a liquid detergent (like tide). No fabric softner (it stays in the towels and gets onto your car) or anything else. Then to dry you can air dry, or put them in the dryer. But if you machine dry them make sure and use a low heat. Especially for the MFs. After a few times to the dryer at a higher heat they really start losing their softness.

You really have to keep those things in good shape. In general if one hits the ground, and the ground has dirt, that one is trashed. Don't want that dirt to start scratching the clearcoat when i'm buffing something off.

I don't have a really fancy storage sytem right now other than my boxes. As soon as I start upgrading my work area i'm going to get some of those plastic bin things I can keep them in.

If you want some good MFs check out pakshak.com His are top quality and not all that expensive compared to most. He runs a really great business.

[JasonC8301]

I'm with Dr. Jones on this one. I love my PakShaks. I have around 50 or so MF's and 5 Fieldcrest Charisma terry bath towels for buffing paint (have 5 reserved for glass) and a big blue waffle weave for drying cars. For the dirty jobs I use those 14X17 cheapo terry cloth towels from Wal-mart, K-mart, Sam's club, Costco and the like. I use them, they get really dirty (engine work, polishing metal, wheel wells, and tires, interiors) then I chuck them. I usually throw out 5 or 6 per car. I use around 10 MF's a car. Guess My hands hold on to MF's well and I dont drop them. I wash my MF's in the regular cycle with no fabric softener and add in a second rinse, then dry them in the dryer at medium/delicate setting (use only Tide regular liquid.) I do the same for my cotton towels but dry them at the high heat setting for cotton.

Here is how I keep my stuff organized.

http://www.autopia.org/gallery/data/500/12towels.jpg
http://www.autopia.org/gallery/data/500/12order.jpg

I also like to keep my applicators and small sample bottles in these rubbermaid bins. The blue bin and Meguiar's tote are filled with other goodies.

http://www.autopia.org/gallery/data/500/12thisis.jpg

A new addition would be the attached pads tote. I keep my rotary and PC pads in there. I really like the Lake Country Mfg. pads. I had two white polishing pads last for 2 years before they got sent to the crapper (lots of use in those 2 years) the black, yellow, and lambswool ones you see are still going, even after 2 years. I had a few Meguiar's pads (softbuff 6.5 inch) and they crapped out on me in about 2 months,

[tsitim]

damn orgnized! huh I'm jealous

[Kwando]

what a collection of cleaning products JasonC8301. keep up the good work.

[Deltron_3030]

holy crap thats alot of towels

[DrJones]

Originally posted by Kwando
what a collection of cleaning products JasonC8301. keep up the good work.

you should see some of the cars he's done

[JasonC8301]

tsitim - Those rubbermaid bins are pretty cheap, I got the 12 qt and 18 qt. ones I think. Less than $2.50 each at Wal-mart.

Kwando - Thanks, love you're avatar!

Deltron_3030 - Dr. Jones has more.

Dr. Jones - Thanks, just a hobby, most of the pictures you see are for fun! Thanks for introducing me to this site (and for the comment), what are the standings on the Hawk Brake pads?