This guide covers what the research says, what makes a good cloth, the three-cloth routine that gets glass and stainless steel streak-free, and how the cloth and the concentrate work as a pair. A good cleaner only does half the job. The other half is what you wipe with, and a bottle of ADVANAGE 20X mixed at the starter strength costs about $1.25 from a quart, so it is worth wiping with something that finishes the job in one pass.
If you are starting from scratch, the 20X Intro Special in Clear/Odorless pairs a quart with a free mixing applicator.
At a Glance: Microfiber vs. Paper Towels
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Microfiber cloth |
Paper towel |
|
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Lifts soil |
Fibers hold dirt, dust, and grease |
Absorbs and often smears the rest |
|
Lint |
Lint-free |
Can leave lint, especially on glass |
|
Streaks on glass and stainless |
Low, with a dry buff |
Common |
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Reusable |
Washable, rinse out,t and dry |
Single use |
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Cost per use |
Pennies over its life |
Paid every time |
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Best for |
Counters, glass, stainless, floors, dusting |
Raw meat juices, pet accidents, truly nasty messes |
Are Microfiber Cloths Better Than Paper Towels for Cleaning?
For hard surfaces, usually yes, and there is independent evidence behind that. A hospital study published in the American Journal of Infection Control compared four cleaning materials: microfiber cloths, cotton cloths, sponge cloths, and disposable paper towels. In the cloths' new condition, microfiber showed the best results at reducing microbes on a test surface, with the cloths used dry or wet.
The same pattern shows up on floors. In a University of North Carolina study of 24 hospital rooms, a microfiber mopping system used with a detergent cleaner removed or inactivated 95% of microbes, compared with 68% for cotton string mops.
Those are hospital settings, and your kitchen is not an operating room, but the lesson carries over. The tool you wipe with matters as much as the product you spray.
Why Microfiber Lifts Instead of Pushing
Advanage's Microfiber Cloths contain millions of fibers that act like tiny hooks, lifting and holding dust, dirt, grease,e and spills. Microfiber is made of extremely fine strands, and the best cloths split those strands even further, giving the cloth far more surface to grab than a smooth paper sheet. The cloths are lint-free with no need to re-wipe, and each one absorbs eight times its own weight in liquid and dries in half the time of regular cotton.
That matters for a concentrate. ADVANAGE 20X's emulsion agent is designed to lift grease away instead of letting it smear. A cloth that then picks up and holds the lifted soil finishes the job, so you use fewer passes and less product to get a clean surface.
What Makes the Best Microfiber Cloth for Cleaning?
Look for five things.
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Weight. GSM, or grams per square meter, measures how dense the cloth is. Advanage's cloths are 300 GSM and described as heavy-duty.
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Size. A 16-by-16-inch cloth folds into quarters, which gives you eight clean wiping faces before you need a fresh cloth.
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A non-abrasive finish. Advanage's cloths will not scratch painted or other surfaces.
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Lint-free performance. This is what keeps glass and mirrors clear.
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Washable and reusable. Advanage's guidance is simple: rinse out and dry.
Advanage Microfiber Cloths are $6.95 and are made to work with the Wonder Cleaner. The product page lists shower doors, stainless steel appliances, countertops, blinds, windows, glass, mirrors, granite, and marble among the surfaces to try for streak-free cleaning.
The Streak-Free Setup: Three Cloths, Three Jobs
Streaks come from two things: too much product, and a cloth that is already carrying yesterday's soil. This three-cloth routine fixes both.
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Cloth 1, the cleaner. Mist this cloth, not the surface, with a general mix. Advanage's chart gives 20:1 for stainless steel and most counters. Wipe in sections.
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Cloth 2, the buffer. Keep it dry. Right after the first pass, buff the surface until it shines. This is the cloth that removes the last trace of moisture.
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Cloth 3, the glass cloth. Keep it separate and use it only for glass and mirrors, with the glass mix of 32:1, which is one cap of concentrate to 32 ounces of water. The chart advises wiping as you spray and never cleaning glass in direct sunlight.
On stainless steel, wipe in the direction of the grain. On glass, use straight passes, top to bottom. For the exact mixes, the Cleaning Tips chart lists them all, and our walkthrough on how to dilute a concentrate covers the measuring.
Beyond Cloths: The Microfiber Cleaning Tools Set
For floors and high shelves, the Microfiber Cleaning Tools set is $59.95. It includes a microfiber mop with an aluminum telescopic handle and a swivel frame that turns corners and reaches behind furniture, a microfiber High Duster for hard-to-reach places, and two heavy-duty microfiber cleaning towels. The mop works wet or dry on kitchen floors, tile and hardwood, and Advanage says it is more effective than disposable cleaning pads and better than sponge mops.
Floors are where this pays off fastest, especially in a home with kids or pets. Our guide to pet-safe and child-safe cleaning explains why floors deserve the most attention, and pairing the mop with a light mix is a simple way to keep them clean.
If you run a business, the same logic scales. Our look at how one cleaner handles fleet, foodservice, agriculture, and facilities shows how one concentrate covers very different jobs, and the same towels and mop move with it.
Making a Cloth Last: A Five-Step Care Card
The studies back up the reuse side of the argument. A 2022 follow-up in the American Journal of Infection Control found that microfiber cloths and mop pads laundered 200 times kept removing microbes about as well as new ones when laundered according to CDC parameters. Care is what keeps that going at home.
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Rinse after use. Advanage's care instruction is as simple as it gets: rinse out and dry.
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Wash microfiber separately. Lint from towels and clothing clings to microfiber and can cut its absorbency, according to Bob Vila's guide to washing microfiber.
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Use gentle detergent. No fabric softener and no bleach, which coat or weaken the fibers.
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Air-dry or tumble on low heat. Empty the lint trap first if you use a dryer.
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Keep a clean stack. Fold finished cloths into a dedicated drawer so the glass cloth stays a glass cloth.
The Per-Use Math
A $6.95 cloth laundered 200 times costs about 3.5 cents a use. That is an illustration, not a promise, because your cloth will have its own life, but it shows why a reusable cloth is a different kind of purchase from a roll you pay for every week. Paper towels have to be bought again every time they run out, and EPA data on the paper nondurable goods category, which includes tissue paper and towels, shows landfills received 10.8 million tons of it in 2018.
Pair the cloth with the concentrate and the whole system gets cheap. At the starter mix, one 20-ounce bottle costs about $1.25 of concentrate from a quart and about $0.78 from a gallon.
When a Paper Towel Still Wins
Microfiber is not the answer to everything. Reach for a paper towel when you are dealing with raw meat or poultry juices, pet accidents, or a truly nasty mess- anything you would rather throw away than wash. Use microfiber for the rest of the house, and you will use far fewer paper towels overall.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do microfiber cloths scratch surfaces?
Advanage's cloths are non-abrasive and will not scratch painted or other surfaces. The one thing that can scratch is grit trapped in any cloth, so shake the cloth out or give it a quick rinse before you wipe something delicate, and keep a dedicated cloth for glass and mirrors.
How many microfiber cloths do I need?
Most homes do well with about six. One each for kitchen counters, the bathroom, glass and mirrors, and dusting, plus two spares so you are never short while a cloth is in the wash. Households that clean often, or offices and shops, will want more, and the Cleaning Tools set adds two more heavy-duty towels to the stack.
Can I use microfiber cloths on granite, marble and wood?
Advanage's product page lists granite and marble among the surfaces to try for streak-free cleaning. On finished wood, follow the maker's care instructions and keep the cloth damp rather than wet, then dry the surface right away.
Built to Work Together
ADVANAGE has made this concentrate since 1980 and designs its cloths and tools to pair with it, so questions about which setup suits your home or business go to the people who make it. You can contact Advanage directly, or browse everything under accessories.
Ready for the streak-free setup? Shop Microfiber Cloths ($6.95) and the Microfiber Cleaning Tools set ($59.95). Add a gallon of 20X ($99.95) to the tools set, and the cart is $159.90, which ships free on orders over $150.
