How are you guys storing your CLEAN rags?????

[WILD-BILL]

We all know the best/proper way to store dirty rags but How about the clean ones?

I have 2 bags that I can't seem to find a home for. I keep moving them from place to place and would love to see what you guys have done to Keep them accesable and realitivly clean.

 

[sselander]

I keep them in milk crates.

 

[AZ Pete]

folded and stacked in square plastic "kitty litter" buckets.

 

[WhoWhatNow]

On the roll of blue shop towels.

It helps with storage of the dirty ones too.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Folded and stored in Rubbermaid plastic containers. Shop is a dirty place, bugs, spiders, dust and such, so I keep them closed up. Three containers, one is extra clean for waxing and polishing the car and similar duties, one is for general light oily use, and one is older torn, worn and such for grunge. I clean them till they are useless and ditch them. I also have a box of old T shirts and socks, etc for really bad stuff, plus paper towels. Never leave anything in the trash inside that could ignite (spontaneous combustion).

Thread on cleaning shop rags

Lets see your shop rags thread

Charles

 

[1/2 Cup]

I store them in plastic tubs with lids ( as above ) used ones generally get binned so there is no chance of cross contamination. I usually have one at hand on the bench to clean up spills and wipe the bench surfaces down with. A roll of paper towel is handy to have as well.

 

[WILD-BILL]

Charles, thanks for those links. I didn't see them (or anything else) when I tried searching. Then again, I may have messed that up too LOL.

I think I may have come up with something though. I grabbed a few out of the bag and folded them up and out them in easy reach and then tucked the rest of the bags in the cabinet under my Bench lathe.

Still easy to get at but at least out of the way of normal day to day working.

 

[bullnerd]

Card board boxes oil comes in, nice and cozy for the mice.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Charles, thanks for those links. I didn't see them (or anything else) when I tried searching. Then again, I may have messed that up too LOL.

I think I may have come up with something though. I grabbed a few out of the bag and folded them up and out them in easy reach and then tucked the rest of the bags in the cabinet under my Bench lathe.

Still easy to get at but at least out of the way of normal day to day working.

I have 532 pics/attachments uploaded. I go to my control panel (cp link at the top of the screen) and select attachments, and then click "show thumbnails" and then wade thru all of them to find the one I'm looking for. The thread link and the post link also show so I can easily find those old threads, and any links that were posted in them.

So don't feel bad, searching for something like that is difficult at best. I have a little advantage.

Charles

 

[92GreenYJ]

I cut a piece of scrap particle board and made a little shelf below my utility sink. I keep clean shop towels folded up on that.

 

[creativecars]

In the bottom of my GF's purse...

 

[wrench409]

I keep mine in a:

I throw the used ones away.

Reason: Got the above barrel and rags for free.

I rarely use them though. Those little metal curls cause too much damage to skin and finishes.
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[EJM02]

Mine are usually old t shirts or towels that I cut up so folding them neatly is not really worth the effort to me.

I'm planning on getting a large diameter PVC - 6" or so - and attach an end cap with a hole cut out of the center on one end, leaving the other end open. Mount the pipe vertically on the side of the cabinet above my bench and pull rags as needed from the hole in the end cap. Stuff new rags down from the top once in a while.

Sort of like an industrial tissue box, but upside down.

 

[youshouldatappd]

I get mine free from work in a 10kg plastic bag. Used ones go straight into the bin.

 

[Always_Thinkin]

Mine are in a box on a lower shelf of my workbench.

 

[nolimits76]

My wife keeps me a fresh stack in our bathroom. Although she usually gets all pissy after I take one. The dirty ones I keep on my work bench. Rinse & repeat.

 

[Kevin54]

Gladiator overhead cabinets for clean ones, flip lid trash can for dirty ones

 

[ATC]

I don't like actual 'rags'. I use these...and they come in a nifty box to hold them!

The rags that I do have, are stored in a cardboard box on one of my shelves. They are a backup if I run out of the others or if I need something RFN and I'm within reach of them...

 

[ChevyEFI]

Plastic bucket. They're on a shelf that's easy to reach from both usual work areas. And they're going to get greasy, oily or get dirty or chips in them, so I don't worry about them getting dusty ahead of time.

I do however, like this:

I'm planning on getting a large diameter PVC - 6" or so - and attach an end cap with a hole cut out of the center on one end, leaving the other end open. Mount the pipe vertically on the side of the cabinet above my bench and pull rags as needed from the hole in the end cap. Stuff new rags down from the top once in a while.

Sort of like an industrial tissue box, but upside down.

 

[IONH]

The plastic bag they came in. I cut a slot in one side and pull it out, careful not to fully break open the bag. After a few, they come out without effort.

We mistakenly bought two packages of non-select-a-size Bounty at the wholesale club so I get to use those in the garage till I run out. IMO, this makes a lot more sense for anything automotive with a lot of fluid than rags do... e.g. coolant, oil, transmission fluid, etc.

 

[Kevin54]

Folded and stored in Rubbermaid plastic containers. Shop is a dirty place, bugs, spiders, dust and such, so I keep them closed up. Three containers, one is extra clean for waxing and polishing the car and similar duties, one is for general light oily use, and one is older torn, worn and such for grunge. I clean them till they are useless and ditch them. I also have a box of old T shirts and socks, etc for really bad stuff, plus paper towels. Never leave anything in the trash inside that could ignite (spontaneous combustion).

Thread on cleaning shop rags

Lets see your shop rags thread

Charles

Do the blue rags small like the red shop rags. Sort of a kerosene smell? All of my shop rags are white, or used to be and no smell to them. I had a large bag of red ones and finally tossed them. Along with the odor, the wife wasn't too pleased with washing them as the dye comes out each time.

 

[IONH]

The red rags that I have which are similar in texture to the blue ones above I don't think smell. I treat them as disposable by the time I'm done with them. That's why I don't use them on fully liquid gas/coolant/oil as they don't have much absorbancy and would be throwing out a lot of them.

 

[mikec35]

I use a file cabinet. You can get one from Habitat store for about $20. Also use it for sandpaper, owners manuals and other misc stuff.

 

[wrench409]

Along with the odor, the wife wasn't too pleased with washing them as the dye comes out each time.

Who among us hasn't incurred the wrath of the spouse for leaving a red rag in a pants pocket?

And who wants to get caught in a pink t-shirt and undies by co-workers, docs and nurses, ambulance driver, etc?




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[NUTTSGT]

And who wants to get caught in a pink t-shirt and undies by co-workers, docs and nurses, ambulance driver, etc?

We're wearing pink t-shirts this month at the FD.



I have some rags on a cabinet shelf. I don't use many (blue paper towel user) but if I did, I'd have a small wall cabinet for them.

 

[jeffmoss26]

Bundled up in a file cabinet drawer in the back (furnace) room.
I also keep spray paint, brushes, scrapers, and sandpaper in that cabinet.

 

[doctordave]

I keep them in these old shirts, the wife put some elastic into the bottom so you can just reach into the bottom to pull one out at a time.

Just load it up from the top and off you go.

 

[HTGTS350]

Rag bin, made from a 44gallon drum.

 

[Shadowdog500]

I use Brawny paper towels in the shop.

I used to use the red shop rags, but had the red ink run a couple times and it is hard to get out. I've also had them pick up a serious "made in china" stink even after being washed.

I also stopped using the blue paper towels when I realized I was paying twice the price for a quality towel that I would use for 5 or 10 seconds before throwing it out.

I do use go-Jo wipes which work darn good.

Chris

 

[Chris83]

At work I just keep the clean rags in the bag they come in either behind my main box or stashed in one of the drawers.

At home I just used the blue shop towels.

 

[rshadd]

My clean rags are stored in a steel can...

 

[dan.oneufer]

Somewhere where my teenagers can't find them!

 

[gregtwojeeps]

A 24" wide x 30" tall double door wall cabinet keeps the dust out.

 

[Bookworm]

I struggled rags for years. I tried cut up clothing, washable shoprags, blue paper rags on a roll, white paper rags in a box.
This is my current iteration of the shop rag.




Cut a piece of leftover 1/2 ply, primed and painted, then bolted it up to the side of the shelving. Working so far.
As an aside, until the end of this December, you can go to the Kimerly-Clark website, go to "promotions", & downlaod a form to get the dispenser free (with purchase of 2 rolls of product)
I got the rolls from Zoro Tools, about $47 each, shipping included.
I e-mailed the form, the dispenser shipped straight to me within 2 weeks.

 

[Danglerb]

No real "rags", but I have a couple big clear plastic bins to store all the different types of clean shop towels and microfiber wipers.

I prefer the big bins, the Toughbox from Home Depot, black with yellow lids that hold and stack with hundreds of pounds of stuff, but unless I put frequently used stuff in the smaller clear bins I can never find what I want easily enough to prevent just buying more, hence the two big bins of shop towels etc.

Anything really messy and I use old newspapers, both under the project and as throw away wipers.

 

[ckucia]

For a few years now, I've been using these...

Home Depot carries them for about $10/box.

They did change them a few years back - not nearly as durable as they used to be.

They last me awhile. I tend to keep small pile of lightly used ones and use them to soak up oil spills. They're surprisingly absorbent if you give them time and they'll also go through the wash intact if you leave them in your pocket.

This way, my wife doesn't have to put cloth rags through the wash.

I do keep some microfiber towels specifically for waxing/polishing, but anything dirty, oily or greasy gets the paper ones out of the box.

I've found, when I used to use recycled cloth rags, I never knew what might be left on them. Sometimes I'd find a stray wire from the wire wheel, a bit of grit, or silicone residue. I know when I pull a towel out of the box - it's clean. It's also pure white, which sometimes is really helpful - you can see virigin oil on it or small dirt particles. When I'm working on the inside of an engine, or transmission, it's a big plus knowing I won't be putting contaminents in from my rag.

 

[great white tj]

Rag bin, made from a 44gallon drum.

Nice idea...

 

[creativecars]

I keep them in these old shirts, the wife put some elastic into the bottom so you can just reach into the bottom to pull one out at a time.

Just load it up from the top and off you go.

That AC/DC shirt should be wore with pride and listening to "Who Made Who"

 

[IlliniBone]

I buy packs of these with a 25% off coupon:
http://www.harborfreight.com/pack-of-50-15-inch-x-13-inch-all-purpose-shop-towels-46163.html

And store them in the 99 cent "shoe box" storage bin from Home Depot.

 

[Hephaestus29]

I just use paper towels. I didn't want to worry about washing nasty rags in the washer & I also don't have to worry about spontaneous combustion. I just use a regular paper towel rack.