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Microfiber Towel Storage And Organization

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Microfiber Towel Storage and Organization

Microfiber will probably be the largest purchase you make aside from power tools or very high end waxes, so it is important to take steps to properly care for them. We have already learned how to care for your microfiber, so whats next? After properly washing the towels, you should spend some time to fold them, and organize them, preparing them for their next job, whenever it may be. Proper storage will keep your towels clean and dry, extending their use. Organization helps you keep a tighter inventory, and makes it quicker and easier to grab whet you need when you need it. Spending time up front organizing lets you save time during your detailing routine.

The most effective way to organizeย cleanย MF towels is by their function or use. For example, the towels used for removing polish should be separate from the towels used to clean the interior and leather, and these separated from the ones used to clean the wheels.

Typically you will have 4 types of towels:

Drying

General Purpose

Polish Removal

Final Wipe and Quick Detailing

Depending on how many you have and how much space you can dedicate to the towels, get an appropriate sized plastic bin with a tight fitting lid. Transparent bins are good, as you do not have to open them to see what is inside. Also, an easily closing top is paramount, or you will end up leaving the top off as you work on your car permitting air-born particles to come to rest and contaminate your towels! The top does not need to be airtight, but use your judgment if you have an extra dusty garage or live on a dirt road or close to a volcano (ash) or a beach.

We use various bins for mobile detailing. But for the shop and back up inventory we use these, found at WalMart for about $49 each:

Plastic Drawers for MF Towels

They work great; smooth sliding, strong construction, stackable. So good, we bough 2 more to store things like brushes, tape, etc. The good thing about non-transparent bins is that they hide any messy drawers. So we will only open the MF ones ๐Ÿ˜‰ Here we had just gotten back from a photoshoot, and were not finished getting supplies out of our car. The used plush towel will go into the hamper, plush towel compartment. After washing with only similar towels, they will go into the “clean plush MF drawer” for storage and usage.

side by side

For a more mobile system, use something smaller, like these:
small MF drawers

Towels should be folded as soon as you pull them out of the dryer or off the drying rack. Make it a quick fold. Folding adds much value. As you fold do the following:

Inspect for debris โ€“ look over the towels for things stuck in the fibers. Pull the debris out if possible, or toss the towel into the lower echelons of microfiber society.

Inspect the edges โ€“ Look at the edges for runs and loose threads.ย  Towels that are not tidy get tossed into the lower echelons of microfiber society.

Identification โ€“ if you go to grab a towel and there are 2, one folded, the crumpled up towel has been used already.

Identification โ€“ If you have 2 types of towels the same (or close enough) color, fold them in different ways. This helps identify them quicker. Once you find a good fold strategy, try to always use the same folding method.

For towels with two naps, fold onto the longest nap. For towels with special marking or edges, fold to reveal the details. Basically, think of ways to use folding as part of your organization. Sometimes you will have to use various folds to fill up the form of the drawer they are stored in.

Do not store other materials with Microfiber. Applicator pads, polishing pads, brushes are not meant to live in the microfiber palace. Keep them out of contact. Any dirty towel needs to be tossed into a dedicated hamper, never back into the microfiber palace. When tossing into hamper, keep them separated. This makes it easier to divide into wash bundles. We will talk about washing in another article.

Here are our drawers. Even the lowest-level MF towels get folded. The folding is not as perfect as the nicer towels, but folded nonetheless:

general towels in drawer

Other drawers:
One of the drawers that hold MF drying towels:

drying MF towels

and another with plush towels:

plush MF

and some new towels that will get washed in the next “new towel” batch (which is why they are together with clean (new) sprayer bottles. At least the bottles will not cause lint of get the towels dirty):

polish MF

The same applies for the smaller drawers:

smaller drawers

smaller drawers

Drawers also work great for smaller items like special brushes and products:

leather brushes

Here is a inexpensive collapsible hamper that is easy to carry around and carries about 2 cars worth of dirty towels. Drying towels are separate from general purpose towels which are separated by plush and polish removal towels.

hamper

Caring for your microfiber should be a major part of your detailing regimen. Organizing them makes you more efficient while detailing, and reduces mix-ups. Using the correct towel, and making sure it is clean, makes your detailing safer for your finish. Organized bins or drawers also look good. And everything about detailing should look good!

Marc Harris and Jacob Bunyan
Auto Lavish
Rochester, MI

12 comments on Microfiber Towel Storage And Organization

  1. MrCLRider says:

    Very nice cabinets, I love the look of the $49 dollar ones from Wal-Mart. I honestly thought everyone already did this, if not hopefully this will give them the nudge to start.

    • Marc Harris says:

      Sounds like an outstanding idea. Keeping your towels clean and away from dust & dirt is a must. Hopefully this allows some viewers the chance to brain-storm what will work best for them. G/L MrCLRider and happy detailing ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. Great Article Marc! I have a very similar set up in my shop too with some of the same storage bins and divided hamper. ๐Ÿ™‚

    Rasky

  3. Don says:

    Thank you so much for this article. I am the most disorganized person in the world so it is nice to see how someone else does their thing. It will be a big help. I know that the Container Store, and either Target or Walmart have the smaller three to four drawer bins in different colors. I thought that might be a good way to keep towels together. I believe they have green, purple, while, and I think I have seen gray at the Container Store.

    • Marc Harris says:

      Not a problem – thats what we’re here for! I hope this helps to give you some ideas of one way to get things done. Everyone will have to adapt their set-up to fit their settings, but keeping organized makes caring for your vehicle more time effective, which in return allows you to take better care of your expensive automobile. Hard to beat that!

  4. Edward says:

    Awesome article! I will definately use an organizing system from now on as I’m on the hunt for more MF towels! However I did notice a few towels with their tags still attached ๐Ÿ˜‰

    • Marc Harris says:

      Edward,
      Thanks for the kind words and I hope this will help you out when it comes to better caring for the tools, equipment, and products you use on your car. We always have some towels with tags still attached: that’s our sign for “This is a brand new never used yet towel” which helps to track our inventory. I can assure you that all tags are removed prior to use on any car, but good eye – the sign of someone that likely takes good care of their vehicle ๐Ÿ˜‰

  5. Max says:

    I love this. I am OCD about storage and this help alot.

    Thanks ๐Ÿ™‚

  6. Tim Worley says:

    Really like the Wal Mart units. What does Wal Mart categorize them as ? What product or line name ?
    What section or department can they be found in ? Wal Marts are routinely enormous, sparsely staffed and I’d like to know specifically what the correct name of what I’m looking for is and approximately where it should be located in the event staff are elsewhere.

    Great article, many thanks in advance.

    Tim

  7. […] important when dealing with soft JB paint to know how to properly care for microfiber and keep them properly sorted and organized. __________________ DetailedImage.com – Your source for auto detailing supplies | 10offG35 – […]

  8. kyle says:

    I place all my microfiber towels in ziplock bags. at least 3-4 per bag. if i had your collection i could not afford to bag all of mine lol.

  9. Compared with traditional towel, the dust and dirt that we cleaned on the towel surface will be easy to wash rather than directly absorbed into the towel inside and different to clean. We only have to wash it by a little water after we use it.

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