Recommended Department Towel System

Built on Tradition. Designed to Perform.

Every fire department operates differently, but one thing remains the same—having the right towels available when you need them keeps your apparatus looking its best and your crews operating efficiently.

After months of field evaluations and real-world testing in active fire stations, we've developed the following recommendations to help departments establish a dedicated microfiber towel system. These recommendations provide enough towels for routine apparatus washing while maintaining a rotation of clean towels for consecutive wash days and normal laundering.

Recommended Apparatus Drying Towel Quantities

Why We Recommend Rotation Towels

Fire apparatus are often washed multiple days in succession. While microfiber towels dry quickly, keeping additional towels in rotation ensures your crews always have clean, dry towels available while previously used towels are drying or being laundered.

As a general guideline, we recommend maintaining approximately 50% of your primary towel quantity as Rotation Towels. This simple rotation system extends towel life, improves readiness, and helps maintain a consistent apparatus care program.

General Purpose Towel Recommendations

Our General Purpose Towels are designed for the everyday cleaning tasks that don't require an Apparatus Drying Towel.

Recommended uses include:

• Interior cab cleaning
• Equipment compartments
• Hand tools
• SCBAs
• Storage areas
• Diamond plate
• Door jambs
• Hose beds
• Shop equipment
• Around the firehouse for everyday cleaning tasks

Using dedicated towels for different applications helps reduce cross-contamination while extending the life of your microfiber system.

Recommended starting quantities: We generally recommend one General Purpose Towel for each Apparatus Drying Towel in your department's towel system. As additional specialty towels become available, these recommendations will continue to evolve.

Building the Maltese Microfiber System

The Apparatus Drying Towel is the foundation of the Maltese Microfiber System.

As our product line expands, we'll continue developing recommendations for dedicated microfiber products throughout both the apparatus bay and the firehouse.

Future products will include:

• Apparatus Drying Towels
• General Purpose Towels
• Glass Towels
• Specialty Interior Towels
• Additional firehouse cleaning solutions

Our goal is simple—to provide departments with a complete, color-coded microfiber system engineered specifically for the fire service.

Department Towel Management Program

Your towel inventory is an investment in your department's maintenance program.

Based on our ongoing field evaluations, most departments can expect approximately 18 months of normal service before evaluating replacement of their primary Apparatus Drying Towels. Actual service life will vary depending on department size, washing frequency, laundering practices, and overall usage.

To help departments maintain a reliable towel system, Maltese Microfiber will send a courtesy email approximately 18 months after your purchase.

During that follow-up, we'll invite you to review your inventory and determine whether you'd like to:

• Reorder your current quantities
• Increase or decrease inventory based on operational needs
• Add newly released products to expand your Maltese Microfiber System

Departments are welcome to reorder at any time. Our 18-month follow-up is simply another way we support departments long after the initial purchase.

As the Maltese Microfiber product line grows, we'll continue updating our recommendations to help departments build a complete microfiber system—from the apparatus bay to the interior of the firehouse.

Questions?

If you'd like assistance determining the best towel package for your department, we're happy to help.

Contact us through our website, and we'll work with you to build a towel system that's tailored to your apparatus, fleet size, and operational needs.