Shop rags

[dlcwent]

How do you guys deal with your shop rags.

I have a separate washer and dryer that I use to clean mine. Dawn and hot water. About three cycles and it's amazing how clean they get.

What do you guys do? Buy disposable? Have a cleaning service? Just curious.

 

[Ray-CA]

I use about a half-cup of Simple Green per load. One washing and they're clean enough for me.

Ray

 

[sqaurelizard]

10 euro for a 20kg bag so no way im cleaning them

 

[dlcwent]

I'll have to give that a try. I've always used Dawn. I tried regular laundry detergent, but it doesn't seem to get the grease out as well as Dawn. And no, I'm not trying to sell you guys on Dawn. I don't own stocks in the company.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

No cloth rags in my shop...

Tommy

 

[dlcwent]

No cloth rags in my shop...

Tommy

I use paper towels also, but a lot of those "surgical rags" I think they are called tucks???

 

[bobcatdan]

I use both paper and cloth rags for what I feel suits said job better. Paper rags are used until junk then burned. Cloth rages go into a 5 gallon bucket until almost full. Add a cup a Bang laundry soap and fill with water. Mix it around by hand then let it soak. After awhile I hang them on the line to dry.

 

[HOTFR8]

Once mine get to filthy to use any more I burn them for heat in the wood heater. Greasy and oily rags are not worth trying to clean. Dust cloths get a soak in hot water and detergent in a bucket for a few days.

 

[wrench409]

I take 'em back to work and get clean ones....aka hidden benefit.

 

[waterss]

I have always used pine-sol in the washer with normal laundry soap. the pine-sol is made to cut nasty build up off your floor. Wash my work shirts like that as well. They come out quite clean and the oily smell is gone too.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

I use paper towels also, but a lot of those "surgical rags" I think they are called tucks???

I thought Tucks were a hemorrhoid treatment...

Tommy

 

[MoparTrucks]

I buy the bag of rags and just chuck them but for some rags Ive made from old Ts and stuff I wait til the wife is gone and wash them with Oxyclean. I dont wash oily or fuel soaked rags but for cleaning and general dirt the Oxy works pretty good on cotton.


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[lotsoftools]

Mostly disposables here. When I have actual cloth rags, I chuck them in the trash when they are dirty. It's all cheap enough that it isn't worth cleaning to me.

 

[papavolume]

I used to use disposable or old towels and just chuck them when done but recently I bought a huge bag of the red shop rags for home use. At the shop I used to manage we would have them swapped out weekly as part of our uniform service but at home I haven't used enough to need to clean them yet. So far I have just been piling them on the side wondering what to do, throw them out or clean them.

My wife will probably kill me if she sees me throw them in our new washer but this gives me some ideas so good idea for a thread! Since they are so cheap it sounds like what I will probably do is toss out the really nasty, dirty, greasy ones and just use some of the tips above to wash the ones that aren't so bad. I don't want the nasty ones to mess up the washer or potentially have stuff end up on my regular clothes and I certainly don't have the room for a dedicated washer for this stuff yet!

 

[Cypherian]

I used to use disposable or old towels and just chuck them when done but recently I bought a huge bag of the red shop rags for home use. At the shop I used to manage we would have them swapped out weekly as part of our uniform service but at home I haven't used enough to need to clean them yet. So far I have just been piling them on the side wondering what to do, throw them out or clean them.

My wife will probably kill me if she sees me throw them in our new washer but this gives me some ideas so good idea for a thread! Since they are so cheap it sounds like what I will probably do is toss out the really nasty, dirty, greasy ones and just use some of the tips above to wash the ones that aren't so bad. I don't want the nasty ones to mess up the washer or potentially have stuff end up on my regular clothes and I certainly don't have the room for a dedicated washer for this stuff yet!

Piling them in a metal can with a tight lid would be a good idea spontaneous combustion can happen. I toss mine in a plastic trash barrel and some dishwasher soap use a clean paint paddle mixer and then rinse with clean water and hang up.

Cypher

 

[bob15]

These work just fine for me:

And yes, I do have the old cotton T-shirts....but, the Brawny's are the go-to towel.

 

[txvwnut]

I piggy back on a service for the good ole red shop rags, when I'm out of those I use rag on a roll. I used to buy them by the bag from Sams club but they were only good for light use and a couple of washings. I friend of mine lived in an apartment so we would use the laundry room to wash them. It would take about three machines to get them clean as we used Tide since we didn't know about using Dawn.

 

[dlcwent]

I used to use disposable or old towels and just chuck them when done but recently I bought a huge bag of the red shop rags for home use. At the shop I used to manage we would have them swapped out weekly as part of our uniform service but at home I haven't used enough to need to clean them yet. So far I have just been piling them on the side wondering what to do, throw them out or clean them.

My wife will probably kill me if she sees me throw them in our new washer but this gives me some ideas so good idea for a thread! Since they are so cheap it sounds like what I will probably do is toss out the really nasty, dirty, greasy ones and just use some of the tips above to wash the ones that aren't so bad. I don't want the nasty ones to mess up the washer or potentially have stuff end up on my regular clothes and I certainly don't have the room for a dedicated washer for this stuff yet!

Do not take the chance of washing them in the same washer that your wife uses. There will be some residue from those rags that get on her clothing. And you will not only hear about it, you'll be buying her some new blouses.

I'm talking from experience. That's why I use a separate washing machine.

 

[Ad13]

Started using shop towels a few years ago, haven't really needed rags since.

 

[dlcwent]

Oh yeah. Tampa, please don't talk about your shop rags, nobody wants to know what you do with them.

 

[srmofo]

I but the worn out rags from the cintas man for $1/lb.

I toss them out when filthy

 

[SweetD]

I buy the bag of rags and just chuck them but for some rags Ive made from old Ts and stuff I wait til the wife is gone and wash them with Oxyclean. I dont wash oily or fuel soaked rags but for cleaning and general dirt the Oxy works pretty good on cotton.

+1 Oxyclean works well. And also waiting for the wife to be out of the house works well.

Dave

 

[NUTTSGT]

I generally use blue Scott paper towels too. I do have a few regular shop rags, the blue ones go to a buddy as he pays for the service along with his uniforms. The red ones go to work and get tossed in the extractor washer with Simple Green. When they're done, they get hung up to dry and I run it again as an empty load to clean the machine.

 

[Shootingblanks]

I had a buddy tell me he used a can of coca cola in his load of wash to clean oily rags. Haven't tried it yet and wife doesn't allow me to use our one and only good washer. I go to laundry mat for shirts and pants. If a rag is really bad I toss it.

 

[SLYDIT]

u use good old toilet roll for those small jobs and i buy a huge bag of chopped up old industrial hand towels (the ones that go on the roll machines)

 

[ABADWILLYS]

I have the "fringe benefit" of using them from work as well, and i never have to clean them!! ..at the track, working on my car, I use the Scott shop towels, they work pretty good too!!

 

[coljar]

Always used blue paper ones when I had my auto shop business in the 80's and there was none of this tacking on an extra charge for shop supplies ****, either. I still use paper.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35178

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55571

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=77062

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=267699&page=2

 

[matt_i]

If you live on a septic system, I feel the last thing you want to put in the system is more grease. Granted its built to accept some oily material, but the risk to the system and maintenance are expensive enough for me to want to steer clear. Same thing with PineSol. I do not want that in my septic system.

City sewer, no issues

 

[dlcwent]

If you live on a septic system, I feel the last thing you want to put in the system is more grease. Granted its built to accept some oily material, but the risk to the system and maintenance are expensive enough for me to want to steer clear. Same thing with PineSol. I do not want that in my septic system.

City sewer, no issues

I specifically asked the owner of a septic pumping company about that. He told me that only household grease is a problem, such as bacon fat, etc. He said grease from auto's do not hurt the septic system. I do not know , I'm just repeating what I was told.

 

[sberry]

POM paper towels from Sams by the case. I want the mess gone.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I use both blue paper towel (buy the big bag at Sams) and "red rags" (my most frequent purchase at HF. The rags go out in the trash once they will not absorb any additional grease/oil.

 

[wingnut_1]

i take 'em back to work and get clean ones....aka hidden benefit.

LOL

 

[KEH]

I don't know if it was mentioned on one of the links, but a member on here a few years ago said he went to yard sales at the end of the day and made a deal on all the left over clothes. Then he could cut them up if necessary for rags and toss them when dirty.

KEH

 

[JonnyMac]

Cloth rags. Ive found that many thift shops will cut and package all the stuff they cant sell or is damaged. My local place gives me a bag with something like 30lbs in it for less than $10.
They get tossed after use.
for storage ive got an ikea tub thats got a half flip top lid.

 

[gungatim]

I used to wash mine outside in a wash bucket, degreaser, soap, etc. Last time I did it, I decided it just wasn't worth it...50 pack for <$10 is actually cheaper than what I spent on degreaser, so I just toss them when they are too greasy to use anymore and buy new.

 

[nehog]

10 euro for a 20kg bag so no way im cleaning them

Right, same here, they are too cheap to bother washing. Too dirty to use? Into the trash.

 

[dutchgray]

Get rags from the local industrial laundry, all the worn out stuff from catering use. Use until full of oil and then burn.

 

[zmotorsports]

I used to have the same company we used at work to launder my red cloth shop towels. I would bring a bag of 100 or so in and they would charge me I think $10.00 but that has been 10+ years ago. We then underwent a management change at work and that was no longer allowed.

Since then I have been using paper towels and to be honest I think I prefer the paper towels to the cloth and having to launder them. I have a system down to where I have two categories of soiled towels, depending on the "degree" to which they are soiled. I have a fairly clean one or very lightly soiled that I keep tucked in my shop apron for cleaning my hands and tools. Once they get "mostly" greasy/dirty I have a small box under a bench that they go in for a really dirty job of cleaning up something really greasy or a spill on the floor. Once they perform that duty they hit the trash can.

I have a round wall hanging dispenser that I keep Kimberly Clark X80 blue towels in.

I also keep a stock of the Kimberly Clark X80 Red Crew Cheif shop towels in the pull top box that I keep on my workbench and on my service cart that are within easy reach. I don't have a picture of them though.

I like the paper/fiber ones as they seem not to leave the lint behind that the red cloth shop towels do. I find that especially important on jobs like this where you don't want lint floating around.

Mike.

 

[TractorJeff]

I take the red rags into work at my real job. The Janitor gives me left over paper towel rolls also.