10 Reasons Why You Should Be Using Microfiber to Clean

| By Mandy Peterson

Microfiber cloths:

  • are non-abrasive: Looped microfiber is ideal for gently "buffing" dirt off from delicate surfaces such as glass or screens.
  • are lint-free (in most cases).
  • give a streak-free clean. The average "normal" cleaning rag pushes dust and dirt around, causing smearing.
  • do not scratch surfaces.
  • grab dust/grime particles.
  • soak away liquid (even oil) with fantastic wicking action.
  • become electrostatically charged, which also helps attract/remove dust, hair, and little "fuzzies."
  • dry quickly because of their special loop weave. In fact, this material dries in one-third the time of ordinary cleaning cloths.
  • are absorbent. Microfiber holds up to seven times its weight in liquid. With a couple of firm wrings, this impressive material is ready to mop up until the mess is gone.
  • are washable and reusable (washable up to 500 times).

Flat weave versus looped weave:

Microfiber is a blend of two synthetic material types: polyesters and polyamides, and there are two different ways that microfiber is woven together. One is the "flat" weave and the other is a "looped" weave.

Flat weave: This weave repels water and is used in the textile industry for making water-resistant clothing and accessories such as watchbands. This type of microfiber – and any other type of fabric which is similarly woven –  is not ideal for use as a cleaning cloth since it will only push particles around and not absorb them.

A super-magnified view of flat-woven microfiber.

Looped weave: To be useful for cleaning, microfiber must be separated during processing. This method consists of splitting the polyester (the scrubbing fiber) from the polyamide (the absorbing and quick-drying fiber). Once the microfiber is split, the fibers are woven into a fabric. The percentage of material normally consists of 70% to 80% polyester and 20% to 30% polyamide, depending on the style of fabric construction.

The polyester and polyamide are then combined during weaving to create hundreds of thousands of microscopic "loops." This web-like formation of "loops" grabs dust, grime, dirt, and oil and traps it within the weave, making this material one of the safest cleaning tools to use.  

A super-magnified view of looped weave microfiber.

What makes loop-weaved microfiber so superior for cleaning?

Microfiber cloths are green and eco-friendly because they can be re-washed with a mild detergent in the washing machine and can even be placed into the dryer. Fabric softener should never be used with microfiber cloths because it weakens the static charge of the filaments and reduces the effectiveness.

Also available on the Photodon website:

Sample Cloth Packs for trying a few microfiber cloths without a large commitment.

Silky Microsoft Cleaning Kit

Promotional Microfiber Cloths

Photodon offers many different weaves of microfiber cloths. From cloths to clean lenses and smaller screens to cloths for cleaning larger screens like computer monitors and TVs, there is a microfiber cloth for every purpose. There are also general-purpose cloths that work great on other surfaces.

You can contact us at 847-377-1185, M-F 9:00a.m – 5:00pm EST, or email us at [email protected] for more information.