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Cleaning best practice
The short answer
Microfibre works by mechanical capture, so fabric softener, bleach and high heat destroy it long before the cloth looks worn out.
A microfibre cloth traps soil in split fibres finer than a human hair. Anything that coats or melts those fibres ends the cloth's working life while leaving it looking perfectly usable.
How it is done
- Never use fabric softener: it fills the fibre and turns the cloth into a smear machine.
- Wash apart from cotton, which sheds lint into the weave.
- Keep the dryer low or air-dry; high heat fuses the fibres.
- Retire a cloth when it stops squeaking on glass, not when it looks grey.
Why it matters
Most complaints about streaky glass and dull surfaces trace back to tired or softener-treated cloths rather than to the product being used on them.
questions
Asked about this
A good commercial cloth managed this way lasts several hundred washes. The same cloth run through softener is finished in a few dozen.
For dust and light soil on hard surfaces, largely yes with water alone. Grease, sanitary areas and disinfection still need the right product.
references
Background reading
- Microfiber — Wikipedia
- Textile — Wikipedia
External encyclopaedia entries for the underlying concepts. They explain the science; the practice above is how we apply it in UAE properties.