Though my hands are now strong enough to wax with any kind of applicator, i remember in the beginning i used to have aching hands for days after long detailing sessions. Ive had the pleasure to use All kinds of applicators in the last few years since i have started doing this the right way. One of the biggest problems in the beginning for me was that an applicator wud only be fresh and work right the first time i used it. after that it seemed it just didnt feel right or work in the quite the same manner. Then i searched for information on the internet and found that yes that is true because most people do not completely take the wax out of the applicator after using it. Around the world there are different methods in use which involves the use of harsh chemicals and render ur applicator useless in few sessions because most folks out there do this for a living and frequent use of new applicators and throwing em away isnt a problem for em. For me in a country like Pakistan this sounded a very very expensive and inefficient way of handling it. I then started experimenting on my own and found out that the most basic steps can work for u and give u the NEW applicator experience every time. This holds good for applicators as well as microfibre cloths.
1) Prefer not to try different waxes, compounds with the same applicator. I keep my set of things separate for different tasks. For example my applicators for applying waxes is separate from the set which i use for applying compounds. Similarly a totally different set for tires and another one for rims and another separate set for the interior which consists of 3 subsets depending on which part of the interior they are going to be used on. Not only do these sets have applicators but they have microfibres as well. So all in all a separate set for any type of task.
2) After use i let the applicators lay in luke warm water for a bit. This makes the chemicals in em softer for subsequent removal. I never mix the applicators together, so lets say if ive 4 applicators with different materials in em, they all go in separate pots, lotas etc. The one by one, very painfully, keep clutching it under running luke warm water until it no more produces the milky white water when squeezed. After that rub some Ariel into it and try to make foam(jhaag) by rubbing it inbetween ur palms then pour some water into it and again rub it. U will not see any foam for the first few tries and u may think WTF but then in the 4th or 5th attempt u will see foam and by the 6th or 7th time the applicator will have proper foam. This is the indication that allll the chemical in it has been washed away. This is not the end my friend becoz ariel itself takes another 6 or 7 times of plain water rubbing to take out so that the foam can now be gotten rid of. Frankly it used to take me about 7 to 10 mins for each applicator to bring it back to totally clean state but then for next use it was as good as new.
3) Remember that to dry it u shud do it indoors and not outdoors otherwise it will get dust in it and even after drying keep it in a drawer or cupboard wrapped in plastic preferably so that dust cant get into it.
I hope this somewhat answers ur question, the other easier methods like chucking everything into a washing machine and running it for 2 hours will still not ensure 100 percent removal of product nor detergent used and it also decreases the applicators life. Doing it by hand and with the method described ensures best results and as evidence i can show u applicators in my collection that are almost 7 years old now and u wont believe the number of applications they have done so far but theyr still in very good shape.
