How to Tell if Your Shop Towels Are High-Quality
- June 25, 2019
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- Recent News
- NorthStar Mat Services
Does the quality of your shop towels really matter? It’s easy to think that the kind of shop towels we purchase is negligible. They’re made for the grittiest, the filthiest, and the toughest of cleaning jobs and cannot possibly require anything more than the capacity to clean up stains, sop up the messes, and polish surfaces.
Surely, any shop towel can do that, right?
Unfortunately, that’s what many business owners get wrong. The quality of shop towels matters, and for obvious reasons:
– Durability. This is especially important if you own the towels you use for your business. The last thing you want is for your shop towels to disintegrate after a few hard scrubs or a cycle or two in the wash.
– Quality of Cleanliness. It goes without saying that better-quality shop towels will produce better-quality results. You know what to expect with flimsy, poorly-constructed (or poorly-maintained) shop towels – they are no match against the grease and grime of industrial businesses.
– Suitability for Cleaning Needs. The quality of your shop towels also affects how suitable they are for the cleaning surface on which they are used. Poor-quality shop towels can leave traces of dirt or lint, which could possibly cause unsatisfactory results, or worse, problems and damages.
Now that we’ve discussed the why’s of getting the right quality shop towels, let’s move forward to an equally important conversation on how to know if the shop towels you’re using are high-quality.
What Kind of Quality are You Getting?
While we are not looking for the long fibers and high thread counts for our shop towels, there are certain standards to keep and qualities to look out for when purchasing or renting shop towels:
– Consistency in size and shape. In purchasing or renting shop towels, a good measure of quality is the consistency in size and shape. This means that you’ll know exactly what to expect for every set that you receive – whether you’re looking to address general cleaning needs or more specific ones like grease, chemicals, or more delicate surfaces.
– Textural integrity. A lot of shop towels and rags available in the market are made of recycled fabrics – from old bed linens, towels, and even clothing. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with recycled-fabric shop towels, some poorly-made ones may contain pieces of plastic or metal (e.g. pins and buttons from old clothing) that could get in the way of your cleaning or cause damage on your cleaning surfaces.
– Material. While there is no single standard for the best type of material for shop towels, some fabrics are just better and more ideal for use in the kind of cleaning jobs they are normally used for. For cleaning jobs that involve a lot of moisture, terry and cotton might be your best choice. Huck towels are better for more delicate indoor cleaning, while microfiber is your best option for glass and other delicate surfaces like screens.
The Importance of Shop Towel Maintenance
The quality of the shop towels you use for your business is one thing, but the quality and method of their maintenance is another. Not only does this matter in terms of cost-efficiency and maintaining the durability of your cleaning implements, but more importantly, the level of maintenance can also ensure quality and safety, especially if your shop towels get exposed to toxic materials, which can pose health risks to the workers using them if they are washed and treated improperly.
Should you need reusable and laundered shop towels for your daily operations, you’ll require the help of a laundry service provider that not only has sufficient experience in handling and treating these industrial-use cleaning towels, but also excels in it.
For more information on high-quality shop towel supplies and maintenance, contact us at Northstar Mat Service! Our in-house experts will gladly guide you along and help you get the best options to suit your industry’s most specific needs. Call us at 1-800-994-9797 today!
