Welcome back to the Proje’ blog!
This week, we’re going to take a look at microfiber. What is it, why should you use it, and how do you make sure you make the most of your purchase?
What Is Microfiber?
Scientifically speaking, microfiber is a blend of polyester and polyamides, so it’s synthetic. This means that it’s been made for a specific purpose; in this case, to be super-thin. The “micro” in microfiber relates to this. To be classed as microfiber, each thread must have a diameter of no more than ten micrometers. To put that into perspective, it would take at least five microfiber threads put together to match the thickness of a single human hair. If you add that up into the size of a standard microfiber towel, that’s a hell of a lot of threads!
Why Should I Use Microfiber?
Because microfiber is synthetic (manufactured), it can be designed to do specific tasks. You can make the fibers thicker, rougher or smoother during the design process. At Proje’, our microfiber is designed specifically to work on the surfaces of your car. That means every single individual thread is made exactly to a specification that guarantees no scratching, no streaks and no tiny bits of dirt left on your vehicle. For this, we went all the way to South Korea to find the very best microfiber towels for your car.
What Does GSM Mean?
You will often see GSM (grams per square meter) ratings when you’re looking at towels and other fabric-based materials. Simply put, the higher the number, the thicker and heavier the towel. A 900 GSM towel is much heavier and more absorbent than a 450 GSM towel, for example. This is also something we have taken into account at Proje’. For example, our standard Redpro, Bluepro and Whitepro towels have a 480 GSM rating, making them more lightweight, for buffing and spreading sprays across surfaces. You don’t to use a higher GSM for this job and have your towel absorb your sealants before they can protect your car. And for jobs where you need a more absorbent towel, you don’t want that extra weight either, so we use a special kind of fabric weave, called a terry weave, on our white intensive 2-sided interior towel. When you’re using this towel on the interior of your vehicle, you can use one side for dust, and the terry weave side for absorbing every last drop of liquid. Standing water inside your vehicle can cause damage to your electronics, and issues with mold and then those resulting odors, so this is perfect for ensuring that none of that occurs.
Looking After my Microfiber
When you take care of your microfiber towels, they can last for years. They’re machine washable and effective over long periods of time. Here are three tips for extending the life of your microfiber towels.
- Grouping
Group your towels by task. Why? Well, the stress that you put through each towel is not the same, depending on the job you’re doing. Paintwork is not the same as a tire or glass and the pressure you put on your towels isn’t the same either, nor is the residue that comes off different parts of your vehicle. So, group your towels into the kinds of tasks that they’re being used for – interior, exterior, wheels, glass, waxing. Wash them separately, store them separately. Simple! And if you want to be really clear, color match. Use our red, blue and white towels and keep them for specific tasks.
- Correct Usage
It’s important to treat your microfiber like the bespoke product that it is. This means that you should stay away from the same washing detergent that you use to wash your clothes. And as much as your microfiber towels look and feel soft right now, fabric softener is the worst possible thing you can use; it damages the fibers and ruins their super-absorbent condition. You need to use a microfiber-specific washing solution, which is specifically designed to remove dirt softly from your microfiber towels, causing no damage to the fibers and not ruining their effectiveness when absorbing fluids.
When you come to actually put them in the wash, you want to go for a hot wash so that all the contamination is released as the fibers open up. A hot wash at a medium speed will be absolutely perfect.
And once you’re done, you’re going to want to machine dry the towels wherever possible. Now this time, don’t use a high heat. High for washing, low for drying – simple, right? Drying on a high heat will burn the base material of the towel, which will make it really stiff and hard. Ultimately, this could lead to you scratching your paintwork when you next use it. If you’ve got any towels that are stiff after hot drying, just throw them out and get some more – it isn’t worth the risk.
- Storage
If you just leave your towels out in the open, dust in the air will eventually collect on your microfiber, meaning that you’re then rubbing tiny contaminants on to your vehicle as you clean it when you next use them. So, keep them in a clean, dust-free place like a plastic container. Fold them too, so that the minimum amount of microfiber comes into contact with the air. And remember our earlier tip about separating the towels out – put them in separate tubs for separate tasks, perhaps using that delightful mix of colors in the Proje’ range.
Follow these three tips and you’re going to save time, money and effort. And that’s what we want for all our customers at Proje’!
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading this week’s blog – stay tuned for more tips and tricks next week. We’re going to feature more of our kits each month too, so keep an eye out for more great all-in-one deals and some incredible discounts!
If you have any questions about any of the techniques or products that we’ve mentioned in this post, just add a comment below and we’ll post a reply! Remember that we stock only the best auto detailing supplies, so why not click some of the links in this blog post, or visit our products page to find out more? From all of us at Proje’, Enjoy the Process!