How about this for a mundane topic…

Mark-drinks-coffee

So forget the debates over conical v flat burrs and DB’s v HX, I feel the real topic we need to dive into is what kind of cloth do you use on your espresso machine?!

For those that didn’t get a branded one in the box from the retailer, it’s a minefield of microfibre v cotton v sponge v tea towel (although surely that is ruled out on branding grounds) … is there any consensus on what type of cloth people like to use?

I can’t wait for the first post detailing how the cotton count or the micro-ness of the fibres impacts the extraction in their espresso.

(Tongue partly in cheek but also partly checking if I’m missing anything by buying the first result on Amazon that won’t look too scruffy sat on/next to my machine.)

LMSC

Mark-drinks-coffee No expensive ones. This from Amazon does the job for me!

Pompeyexile

Tea Towel or kitchen roll at the moment. But, my other half is looking at these Nanoscale cloths on Amazon that look like fish scales as they are very absorbant and lint free… apparantly.

DavecUK

Pompeyexile Tea Towel or kitchen roll at the moment. But, my other half is looking at these Nanoscale cloths on Amazon that look like fish scales as they are very absorbant and lint free… apparantly.

I might check them out because in my experience Microfibre Clothes leave…well microfibres as lint once they have had their first wash in line with instructions, some do it from new. The important thing is something that doesn’t scratch, especially with very high mirror finish e.g. Quick Mill machines.

I just checked the zon and some of them have heavily stitched edges, so that’s a slight concern.

Pompeyexile

I found these ones larger than most advertised, they don’t appear to have thick stitching on the edges. As for the lint free bit, I’m always warey of seller’s claims but if they don’t turn out to be as described, my other half said she would use them to dry out the shower anyway.

-Mac

I’ve learned the differences between types of microfibre while cleaning my motorbikes and helmet visors over the last 20 years.

For general cleaning duties, I use something like this. I wouldn’t use on my visor as they can still scratch occasionally if they trap some dirt.

For my visors or mirrors, I use something like this:

For drying bikes after washing, I use these (from Costco - £11 a pack):

Stay away from kitchen paper towel unless you want scratches. I used it on my visor for a couple of years. Couldn’t see that it made a difference until I bought a new helmet and discovered that the old visor had gone cloudy/milky compared to the new one.

LMSC

-Mac and for coffee machines? 😊

Elcarajillo

,Many clothes and probably these cloths are stitched with nylon thread, particularly labels.

-Mac

For cleaning the (burn type) steam wand , I use a Joe Frex cloth with an insulated backing because I’m not good with hot surfaces on my skin (I have to steam milk with a thermometer since I suffer pain at just 35 degC).

DavecUK

I always rip the labels out as well….

DavecUK

LMSC and for coffee machines?

I always rip of the stupid hot label they seem to want to put on E61 groups…do they think we are 5 or something. Or perhaps they simply like etching it into the group after a few years.

Even the manuals, don’t immerse the machine in water…or put it in the dishwasher…like we all didn’t see the toaster in the bath thing before we turned 14.

Pompeyexile

After steaming milk, I wipe the wand and any splashes on the machine with a damp dish cloth made from bamboo which are quite soft.

Doram

DavecUK I always rip of the stupid hot label they seem to want to put on E61 groups…do they think we are 5 or something. Or perhaps they simply like etching it into the group after a few years.

Even the manuals, don’t immerse the machine in water…or put it in the dishwasher…like we all didn’t see the toaster in the bath thing before we turned 14.

Probably a legal thing or conforming with some sort of regulation, covering their back side, isn’t it? Otherwise we would all bathe with our electrical appliances and line up to sue them because they didn’t warn us. ⚠

Pompeyexile

I wondered why my bath water was always turning brown…coffee residue from bathing with me Gaggia! :)

SiblingChris

Like “don’t put your dog in the microwave” …somebody once will have actually done it!! 🙄

On the microfibre cloths, I’ve struggled to find ones that are so absorbent as the one that came with my machine. Standard Tesco ones don’t seem that great although I do use them for car polishing/buffing. I looked at the material content of the one that came with my Lelit machine and I can find others on Amazon that match but they seem different in thread count and thickness….so far I’ve ended up not buying anything and just wash the one towel I have more regularly…it being black helps 🤫

As above though for polishing the mirror finishes a glass cleaner type cloth seems much better to me and not likely to trap dirt that might later be wiped across the finish and create irritating scratches (however light). Like swirl marks on car paintwork, they drive me mad even if others don’t notice!

Is there any way to “watch” a thread here?…

Gagaryn

I’ve got a $hit load of Meguiars microfibre cloths that were sent to me about 10 years ago. A friend used to run a car club and asked them to sponsor some prizes for a car show. They intended to send us a box of 24 cloths and ended up sending 24 boxes of 24 cloths - I notified them of there mistake but they weren’t fussed. They are excellent, thick, no labels, no stitching and are still going strong. They made the same mistake with tubs of carnauba wax. :-)