Nitrous115
New member
Do any of you know because according to david in the book he says to never use polyester but my microfibers say they are 60% poly
Are microfibers supposed to have polyester
- Thread starter Nitrous115
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Autopia member Leo (DFTowel) is the only vendor I know producing an all natural microfiber toweling product. I must say it is excellent, and probably the softest towel in my arsenal. That said, there are some other fine microfiber vendors on this site. Pakshak, MicrofiberTech, YoSteve (did I miss anyone?) who vend excellent quality poly blend microfiber towels. Most of the poly blend toweling I am familiar with are 70/30, 75/25, or 80/20 blends. The towels from the aforementioned vendors are well suited for your detailing projects.
Now, if we could get Leo to weith in, an expert in the textile area, he could probably add much more detail.
Now, if we could get Leo to weith in, an expert in the textile area, he could probably add much more detail.
Consider me "weithed" in... what's a weith? 
Anyway, most sites say to stay away from poly and other man mades because most of the time such material will damage delicate surfaces. HOWEVER, microfiber is mostly an exception to this. If the polyester and/or nylon are extruded properly into a microfiber yarn and, most importantly, woven or knitted properly then you have no problem. For example, a tightly woven poly microfiber will be less dangerous than one woven like a burlap sack! I've seen some of these towels in K-Mart and others that are so bad "you can pee through them and not get the threads wet" (my Grandfather's famous expression.)
As with any product, buy from a reputable dealer and check what others say about the product. Also, if it is of any concern, you can also do the burn test to see if the item is labeled correctly. http://www.autopia.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20801&highlight=burn+test
Anyway, most sites say to stay away from poly and other man mades because most of the time such material will damage delicate surfaces. HOWEVER, microfiber is mostly an exception to this. If the polyester and/or nylon are extruded properly into a microfiber yarn and, most importantly, woven or knitted properly then you have no problem. For example, a tightly woven poly microfiber will be less dangerous than one woven like a burlap sack! I've seen some of these towels in K-Mart and others that are so bad "you can pee through them and not get the threads wet" (my Grandfather's famous expression.)
As with any product, buy from a reputable dealer and check what others say about the product. Also, if it is of any concern, you can also do the burn test to see if the item is labeled correctly. http://www.autopia.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20801&highlight=burn+test
Weith, a regrettable spelling error. I try to limit myself to one a year, I am going to have to be on my toes for the remaing 8 months
Of course, I did mean "weigh in" 
Or was that a typographical error?I just want to throw my two cents in.....
First produced in Japan with the original demand coming from Scandinavian nations such as Norway.
-The Micro Fiber structure consists of two fibers; Polyamide (hydrophilic) and Polyester (hydrophobic).
-The yarn comes in two forms; Filament (which has a shiny / gloss look and is great for glass cleaning) and Drawn Texture Yarn or DTY (the non-shiny, more expensive and is great for removing wax). Boclay is a form of DTY that has been twisted with another type of thread and thus forms this knobby type, short pile weave.
-First the cloth is weaved then it is split. The splitting process consists of bring water and NaOH (I believe?) to a boil and putting in the cloth for upwards of 12 hours. This is where the Polyamide and Polyester split and Micro Fiber is made, not before. Korean Micro Fiber is known for 16 splits while Chinese Micro Fiber typically has 12, thus making it less expensive.
-Micro Fiber is classified by a thread having a dinear of .01 or less.
Currently there are 18 types of non-wovens.
First produced in Japan with the original demand coming from Scandinavian nations such as Norway.
-The Micro Fiber structure consists of two fibers; Polyamide (hydrophilic) and Polyester (hydrophobic).
-The yarn comes in two forms; Filament (which has a shiny / gloss look and is great for glass cleaning) and Drawn Texture Yarn or DTY (the non-shiny, more expensive and is great for removing wax). Boclay is a form of DTY that has been twisted with another type of thread and thus forms this knobby type, short pile weave.
-First the cloth is weaved then it is split. The splitting process consists of bring water and NaOH (I believe?) to a boil and putting in the cloth for upwards of 12 hours. This is where the Polyamide and Polyester split and Micro Fiber is made, not before. Korean Micro Fiber is known for 16 splits while Chinese Micro Fiber typically has 12, thus making it less expensive.
-Micro Fiber is classified by a thread having a dinear of .01 or less.
Currently there are 18 types of non-wovens.
Good info VIKING, thanks! :xyxthumbs
This explains why I've seen the polyamide/polyester blend being described as "absorbing/cleaning"
Kind of a weird way to label a towel, but...
I did a lot of reading on this stuff a while ago and also found out stuff like Microfill (sp?), Thinsulate, and Gore-Tex (?) were also based on MF.
This explains why I've seen the polyamide/polyester blend being described as "absorbing/cleaning"
Kind of a weird way to label a towel, but...I did a lot of reading on this stuff a while ago and also found out stuff like Microfill (sp?), Thinsulate, and Gore-Tex (?) were also based on MF.
Viking... where did you get that info? It seems quite outdated and odd that it requires two strands of man mades to create a micro denier yarn. It's quite inaccurate and misleading as it appears to say that micro denier yarns must be made of poly and nylon, which, of course, we know to be untrue.
Also, it says that microfiber must be .01 denier or less. This is also untrue, for a yarn, any yarn, to be called a microfiber it must be less than one denier. Silk for example is 1.25 denier, so ANY fiber of .99 denier or less is a microfiber.
"Denier" is the term used to define the diameter or fineness of a continuous or filament fiber such as silk or man-made fibers. Denier is the weight in grams of a 9000-meter length of fiber or yarn. The higher the number, the thicker the fiber.
Gets complicated huh? You know what, don't worry about any of this stuff, if you like the cloth you are using then use it! Don't worry how it's made or how many threads per sq inch it has, let the textile techs worry about that nonsense.
Also, it says that microfiber must be .01 denier or less. This is also untrue, for a yarn, any yarn, to be called a microfiber it must be less than one denier. Silk for example is 1.25 denier, so ANY fiber of .99 denier or less is a microfiber.
"Denier" is the term used to define the diameter or fineness of a continuous or filament fiber such as silk or man-made fibers. Denier is the weight in grams of a 9000-meter length of fiber or yarn. The higher the number, the thicker the fiber.
Gets complicated huh? You know what, don't worry about any of this stuff, if you like the cloth you are using then use it! Don't worry how it's made or how many threads per sq inch it has, let the textile techs worry about that nonsense.
Textile tech I am not, statistican maybe. However the information I recevied came from the president of South Korea's 2nd largest micro fiber producer while on a trip visiting his plant in Seoul. It is possible that there was a glitch in translation. Anyhow tell me again what is wrong with what I said in lay-man's terms. I just want to have somewhat of a grasp of this.