washing shop rags

[NJHandyGuy]

interestingly enough it cost me $41.00 last week to wash all my towels microfibers sponges chentile wash mitts and rags

uniforms carhardt and dickie pants

i wonder what i would spend to replace them all

 

[flat350]

If their too dirty/greasy I pitch them,the others get washed at home.All of my shop rags/towels are a nice shade of pink now,keeps them separated from anything used on the cars for cleaning.

 

[6768rogues]

I used to take mine to the laundromat. I would wash them, dry them and then put them in a nice neat pile before taking them home. Then someone gave me a spare washer and I put it in the basement for rags. It died so now I just toss them out because I am too lazy to go to the laundromat.

 

[srmofo]

I throw them in a bucket with some oxy clean and a gentle degreaser like simple green or purple power. let em soak then let em air dry.

Toss the heavily soiled or greased up rags

 

[Okie Pete]

I soak mine in a 5 gallon bucket of gas. Back up 5o feet tie one on a arrow light it and send it in to the pile . Cleans them right up.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I generally wash mine in a nice big commercial washer with some Simple Green and a little Dawn. After they are done, I wash an empty laod with Simple green to clean the washer.

 

[jwillis]

I don't think many people use cloth diapers anymore. I had them growing up in the early 80s and even then that was "behind the times"

Still, kids poop their pants once in a while. I'm sure you've have a skid mark or two in yours. Am I right?

 

[jwillis]

I don't have to wash them that often anyway. Between my son and I, we wear enought socks and T-shirts out to have plenty of rags. Most of the time, if I don't wash them, I just throw them away.

 

[Varkwso]

If their too dirty/greasy I pitch them,the others get washed at home.All of my shop rags/towels are a nice shade of pink now,keeps them separated from anything used on the cars for cleaning.

I toss the really trashed shop rags and wash the rest at home with my shop tshirts, work pants and shop towels.

 

[bdkruger1]

I find that cases of Brawny paper towels last a while and are cheap. Car detailing stuff goes right in the washer.

 

[Falcon67]

Am i the only one that uses the blue Scott shop towels? I just use and throw away..

I also use those, buy them by the 12 or 15 pack at Sams.

 

[medicwarrior]

I take mine to the laundry mat all the time. The people at the laundry mat have given me the stink eye a couple of times but they have stopped me from coming in.

 

[Ender-DI]

Someone on here a few months back told of how a linseed oil soaked rag went up and totalled his boat IIRC.

Just had a story in the local news about a home that went up in flames due to a bucket of rags soaked with linseed oil.

 

[JC23]

+ 2 for what Kevin54 said.

And I check the washer real good for metal chips afterward. Not always from me but sometimes in the swap meet rags I buy. But I am leaning towards buying new ones from here on out...

 

[DCarr]

Our Washer devoloped a slight knock in it so the Wife went out and bought a new Washer. The old one is going down to my shop just to wash rags.

 

[71Datsun510Wagon]

Go to several laundromats. I found one that had a washing machine dedicated to oily/greasy items.

This is what I do. Wasn't hard to find. Both laundromats I've used are quite happy for the business and had machines dedicated for oil use.

I can wash/dry/fold a load of about 60 rags and my coveralls in about 75 minutes. It cost about $3. It gives me enough time for a double-double from Timmies and read a car rag or two !


For safety, I bought a fireproof rag can at an auction for $35. Something like this:

 

[KarlsGarage]

Although I am on several different forums for different things (sport bikes, sport bikes, old trucks, etc.), I don't think that I have come this close to spitting beer out of my nose for a long time.

As for the poster that washes the shop rags, then the dog bed, then the coveralls? Really? you aren't married are you? I can't even wash the dog bed without the wife freaking out and I have to do 3 cycles afterwards to clean it out.

I use the red shop towels for mild stuff, the Scott's towels for that stuff that just needs to be disposed of with the utmost of care (while wearing nitral gloves...), and if neither of those seem up to the task, I dig in my 30 gallon barrel of old t-shirts, socks, towels, and sheets (there are no underwear in there...that is just wrong) to find something that will work.

I have a couple of stacks of red shop rags and microfibre cloths in various stages of "dirty" that I can pick from. I am still working on a new bag of red rags and when I get a suitable stack of rags to wash, I will decide whether to wash or throw away.

 

[Shadowdog500]

My wife wont let them near the washer, But years ago I had a friend with a speed shop who's wife actually washed his shop rags. I was a friend of the family so she did mine too.

My wife would kill me if she knew I had the gas tank off my old Harley in the dryer with a comforter stuffed in to hold it from flopping around while it spun with no heat for an hour while a couple handfuls of nuts and bolts knocked the rust from the inside of the tank.

Chris

 

[bsaint]

whoops. they are already in the washing machine.

 

[Groovy]

I take a five gallon bucket with warm water and dish soap sometimes I use simple green if it supa funky. I throw my rags and mechanics gloves in there and do the lil house on the prairie wash tub action. Dump that put in cold water rinse sometimes use that to clean my wheels on my cars.

I tried using a drywall mudd piant mixer paddle on my drill but flung rags everywhere. I hang them up on a line I have strung up to hang parts that I’m spraying with the ol rattle can. I do it every couple months. Wifey would put the pimp hand on me if I used her fancy Maytag front loaders besides I would never want her to know I know how to work that thing.

There is a cool hand washing machine that they use on cruisng boats I was looking for but found this link pretty cool looks like it would fall aprt quickley but a great size for a shop.

http://dealnay.com/748750/portable-mini-washer-washing-machine-aptrvboat-size-3.2gallons.html

 

[Auzivision]

I've done it several times at home with rags I didn't think were too dirty. Ended up spending a bunch of time cleaning up the washer afterwards. I think I'll just start thowing them out since they really don't cost that much at Costo.

 

[mikester]

I only wash microfiber rags in my washer. They usually have a little bit of wax or polish on them or maybe some dirt from cleaning something with whitewall cleaner. I have a 5 gallon bucket in my garage and when its filled, in they go. I use a cup of soap and pour in a few cups of bleach. Nothing with grease or heavy soil. If they come out perfectly clean I'll use them to polish stuff again. If theyre stained they go up by the workbench to use as a shop rag. I get about 4 washes before they get tossed.

 

[TheKid760]

How would rags suddenly just light up? I know at work we have to put the rags in a red can with self closing lid, but I just figured it was some OSHA b/s more than anything.

Oil soaked rags can self ignite by a process know as spontaneous combustion. It occurs when a substance is heated enough to reach its ignition temperature. Oil soaked rags that are balled or piled up can oxidize causing them to heat up, the heat is trapped and eventually causes them to ignite.

I found a good explanation online:

http://www.westmetrofire.org/index.cfm?main.page=article&catid=15&detailsid=86

The same spontaneous combustion can happen to many differnt materials such as: oily rags, compost piles, hay stacks, manure piles, ect.

It is best to either put the rags in an air tight container (such as the red cans in shops) or lay them out individually to let them dry and dissipate any heat.


Sorry long post but an important subject. I'm new to the board btw, I'm Mark.

 

[Alaric.H]

I think I will restore one of these or buy this one for 50$

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_cbH83lhL6o8/T...kgBGk~$(KGrHqYOKpwEy+jC0Ql3BM5D3g0c9g~~_3.jpg

 

[oldwino]

Interesting post...shop rags are so cheap I usually just toss them if they are oily or ? just grungy I will put out in a bucket of simple green to rehabilitate. With a septic system I don't want to put anymore **** into the tank than necessary