At a Glance
Eight types of microfiber cloth, what each one is built for, and where each one stops being the right choice. Jump to any section below:
Microfiber has revolutionized cleaning with its versatility, durability, and superior performance. But what exactly is microfiber, and how can you choose the right type for your cleaning needs?
In this guide, we’ll dive deep into what microfiber is, the types of microfiber cloths available, and how to select the best one for your tasks. Let’s unlock the cleaning potential of this remarkable material!
Microfiber refers to any fiber with a thickness of 1 denier or less. To put that into perspective, this means microfiber is about 1/100th the diameter of a human hair or 1/20th the diameter of a strand of silk. A typical microfiber towel contains approximately 200,000 fibers per square inch, offering an exceptional cleaning surface.
Microfiber used for cleaning is typically a blend of polyester and polyamide (nylon). In high-quality cleaning products, the fibers are split during manufacturing to create tiny spaces within each strand. These split fibers, which resemble an asterisk under a microscope, trap dust, dirt, and liquid efficiently. Lower-quality microfiber, such as that used in clothing or upholstery, is not split because absorbency is not desired in those applications.
Different cleaning tasks require different tools. Microfiber cloths are no exception. Here’s a breakdown of the eight main types of microfiber cloth, what each weave is actually doing, and where each one stops being the right choice:
Scrubbing microfiber is the only type on this list that adds friction on purpose. Every other cloth here is built to lift soil without resistance. A scrubber is built the opposite way: a textured scrubbing face bonded to a standard microfiber face, so one cloth takes the stuck-on mess and then wipes the surface down behind it.
The material is the whole point. The scrubbing side is polypropylene, not mineral grit and not steel wool. It beats dried food and grease, and it stays scratch-free on the surfaces a green scouring pad ruins within a few uses — nonstick and Teflon pans, glass cooktops, stainless steel.
The argument for switching is a cost one. A cellulose sponge is a consumable that starts smelling within a week and goes in the bin. A microfiber scrubber goes through the wash with the rest of the load and comes back, which on a recurring job is a line item rather than a preference. The 10” x 10” Buff™ Home Microfiber Scrubber Dish Cloth is the size most crews start with.
All-purpose microfiber is what you reach for when you don’t need a specialist. A terry weave in a split-fiber polyester and polyamide blend, it handles dry dusting, damp wiping and general surface work without lint and without needing a chemical to do the lifting.
It is the highest-volume cloth in most operations for a straightforward reason: competent at nearly everything, and the best choice at almost nothing.
The detail worth acting on is colour. Because this is the cloth used everywhere, it is the one that carries cross-contamination risk. Buying all-purpose in several colours and assigning each to a zone — restroom, kitchen, general — is the cheapest infection-control measure available to a cleaning operation, and it costs nothing extra. It is why the 16” x 16” MW Pro Multi-Surface Microfiber Towel comes in close to twenty colours rather than three.
A glass cloth is a tight, smooth knit with no pile, and that is the entire trick. Nothing sits on the surface to leave a trail, so the cloth drags dissolved soil off the glass instead of redistributing it. A terry cloth has pile, and pile is what leaves the haze.
Use two cloths, not one. The Microfiber Glass Cleaning Pack is built around a method worth adopting whether or not you buy ours: a damp cloth to clean, then a dry cloth to polish, with water only and no product. Most streaking on glass is not dirt. It is residue from the cleaner someone sprayed, and taking the cleaner out of the job takes the streaks out with it.
One way to ruin a glass cloth permanently: wash it with fabric softener. Softener coats the fibers, and a coated cloth smears from then on. No amount of rewashing brings it back.
Waffle weave trades softness for surface area. The high-low grid gives the cloth more edges to catch soil and far more room to hold water, which is why it both scrubs harder than a flat weave and dries faster than one.
The underrated use is streak-free drying. A waffle holds enough water to keep absorbing long after a terry cloth has given up, and the texture breaks surface tension instead of leaving a film. The 10” x 10” Microfiber Waffle Weave Cloth is the kitchen and counter size; the 16” x 24” is the drying size, and it is the one detailers buy by the case.
Polishing cloths are defined by pile depth, not by weave. A long, dense pile — coral fleece, or a heavy plush — holds the hard backing of the cloth away from the surface. Whatever the cloth picks up is carried up into the pile instead of being dragged along the finish, and that is the difference between buffing something and scratching it.
GSM is the number that matters here. Grams per square meter is the cloth’s density, and on a polishing towel density is the safety margin. The 16” x 24” Buff™ Detail 400 GSM Microfiber Towel is noticeably heavier than a general-purpose cloth, and the extra depth sits exactly where a scratch would otherwise start.
Two things to check before buying any plush towel: the edge and the corners. A stitched polyester edge is the single most common cause of scratching, so look for satin piping or a laser-cut edge, and rounded corners stop the corner curling over and digging in.
MWipes sit between a cloth and a paper towel, and that is the point. They are a nonwoven microfiber wipe, 10” x 12”, packed in a pop-up box. You pull one, use it, and then make a call a woven towel never lets you make: bin it, or put it through the wash and use it again.
That decision comes after the job, not before it. It is the difference between committing a good towel to an unknown mess and keeping the option open, which is why they turn up in hospitality, healthcare and kitchens, where some jobs come back and some very much do not.
They come in four colours, which matters more than it sounds. Colour-coding is the cheapest cross-contamination control there is, and most disposable options give you one colour and no way to zone them. The MWipes™ Reusable Microfiber Cleaning Wipes come in black, blue, red and white.
Same idea, bigger, and built for the jobs you would not put a good towel near. At 16” x 16” these are towel-sized rather than wipe-sized, and they are cheap enough to use once — but tough enough to rinse out or launder if the job turns out kinder than expected.
This is the paper towel replacement. MW’s own measure is that they are more absorbent than standard store-bought paper towels while still cleaning like microfiber, and they soften to something like a chamois after a wash.
The real cost comparison is not against a towel, it is against paper. If a job is currently eating a roll of paper towel, the 16” x 16” MWipes™ Disposable Microfiber Towels are the swap that pays for itself.
Suede is the only cloth here with no texture at all, and that is exactly why it belongs on coated optics. Where a glass cloth is a tight knit, suede is a napped face with nothing standing proud of the surface. On a camera lens, a pair of glasses or a phone screen the coating is the thing you are protecting, and a weave fine enough for a window is still a weave.
They are machine washable, which is the whole argument against the sachets of single-use wipes most people reach for. The range runs 6”, 8”, 10” and 14” — the 8” x 8” Mwipes Microfiber Suede Lens Cleaning Cloth is the one that fits a bag, and the largest covers a monitor. They can also be printed with a logo, which is why they turn up as branded giveaways.
Three questions settle it: what the surface is, how stuck-on the soil is, and how much the finish will punish a mistake.
| The job | Reach for | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Baked-on food, grease, soap scum | Scrubbing | A polypropylene face cuts the deposit and still leaves nonstick, glass cooktops and stainless unmarked |
| Dusting, damp wiping, everyday surfaces | All-purpose | Split fibers hold a static charge, so dust leaves with the cloth instead of moving around |
| Glass, mirrors, chrome, screens | Glass | No pile means nothing on the cloth to leave a trail |
| Drying, spills, light scrubbing | Textured | The high-low grid keeps absorbing long after a flat weave has saturated |
| Wax, polish, paint, silver, finished wood | Polishing | Deep pile carries grit up away from the finish instead of dragging it along |
| Light and medium jobs where the cloth may not be worth recovering | Reusable MWipes | Bin it or wash it — the decision comes after the job instead of before it |
| Paint, auto repair, engine work, heavy grease | Disposable MWipes | Cheap enough to throw away, and still microfiber rather than paper |
| Eyeglasses, camera lenses, phone and tablet screens | Suede | No texture at all, so nothing can mark a coated surface |
Two things to check on the cloth itself. Split fibers are the difference between a cloth that lifts soil and one that pushes it around — under a microscope a split fiber looks like an asterisk, and that edge does the work. Cheap non-split microfiber looks identical in the pack. On anything that touches a finish, check the edge too: a stitched polyester border is the most common cause of scratching, so look for satin piping or a laser cut.
One rule outranks all of this. Match the cloth to the surface, then give each zone its own colour. A cloth that cleaned a restroom should never reach a kitchen counter, whatever its weave.
If you’re unsure which microfiber cloth you need, start with a Variety Pack of Microfiber Towels. This lets you explore different types and find the best fit for your cleaning routine.
Unsure of which microfiber is right for the job? Try a variety pack to sample our range!
SHOP NOWMicrofiber is an indispensable tool for anyone looking to clean smarter, not harder. Its unique composition, versatility, and variety of options make it suitable for every cleaning task. Whether you’re wiping down surfaces, polishing precious items, or tackling tough grime, there’s a microfiber cloth for the job.
Explore the world of microfiber and elevate your cleaning game today!
A multi-surface towel does the bulk of the work. A glass pack finishes anything reflective, because a cloth that has been near a counter will streak a mirror. And a mini duster reaches the carved, slatted and fiddly places a flat cloth skates over. Three cloths, three jobs, and none of them doing another’s work.
