Lint free shop rags?

[Bennylava]

Up until now I've been using those standard red colored shop rags that you can get at any autozone. But I like to use them for all kinds of stuff, and they leave behind a lot of lint. Which in some cases, has to be cleaned off before I can move on.

Is there something like those, that leave a lot less lint? Or maybe no lint. What would you recommend to replace those old mainstays, the red shop rags?

 

[southalabama]

Scott's towels in a box or the Scott's blue towels. Disposable and very little lint.

 

[FigureItOut]

I use micro fibers from Wal-Mart, there's 4 blue ones and 4 white for $5 and I have sort of an informal rotation system. White stays pretty clean, blue for dirtier chores. They get washed separately from clothes and I generally know where to grab an older one or a newer one depending on the task at hand. They get tossed without too much hesitation.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337Z using Tapatalk

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

Scott's towels in a box or the Scott's blue towels. Disposable and very little lint.

+1

We used to have shop rags and have Cintas come every few weeks to exchange with clean ones… Anyway, we switched over to paper shop towels on HUGE rolls. Not sure if the cost is any different, but their much more convenient and you actually can wipe up oil.

At home, I just use Scotts blue shop towels from Walmart… a 2 pack roll is a couple of dollars and I buy a few every month. Cheap, convenient and versatile. They aren't totally lint-free, but for most work they are good enough (wouldn't use them on glass or paint, given a choice to use newpaper or MF towels). For lint-free I use micro-fiber towels or Kimtech wipes.

 

[matemike]

Microfiber = T-shirt
They are pretty lint free

 

[bushmechanic]

If you thoroughly wash them beforehand, and set them in the dryer on the longest hot cycle available, most of the lint will go away. You'll find that filter will have a quarter inch of **** covering it up.

Same goes for terry towels used in detailing. Wash them and dry them like you really mean it, and they'll be in wonderful shape. Nice and soft, and lint-free.

Don't wash any rags with clothes, though. The colors might bleed over.

 

[Wamsutta]

Flower sack kitchen dish towels. Walmart.

 

[unslow1]

I use stained white cloth napkins and tablecloths from our restaurant. Try asking at a local one that uses cloth ones. We ruin a 10-20 a week. They work very well and have almost no lint.

 

[anndel]

Scotts blue shop towels from Costco. I also have those red rags from WalMart and use those rarely as the blue shop towels are disposable.

 

[CristineS]

Hi there, you can use Caldrea lint free rags. They are actually good.

 

[BUDSVTX]

For real lint free cleaning, look up oxygen part cleaning procedures. After it is cleaned, you must black light the part and keep cleaning until there is NO lint on the part. If you think it is clean, clean it 2 more times, black light it, then clean it again.

BUD

 

[NUTTSGT]

You want lint free, find some of those blue surgical towels.

 

[martin666]

You want lint free, find some of those blue surgical towels.

Had a shop years ago in Iowa and bought blue surgical towels from the local hospital, they were great. I'm back in new Jersey now and unfortunately can't find a hospital to sell them to me. If you can find a source they can't be beat

 

[nh_yota]

Had a shop years ago in Iowa and bought blue surgical towels from the local hospital, they were great. I'm back in new Jersey now and unfortunately can't find a hospital to sell them to me. If you can find a source they can't be beat

They're called huck towels and you can buy them over the internet or from Amazon.

 

[johninct]

I use to get a paper roll from an auto body supply place but they became very expensive. They worked great!!!!!

 

[tarbellb]

Bump, interested as well.

I my experience "micro" towel anything usually ***** unless drying a car.

My old tshirts are the best lint free rags I have. Would be nice to find a better source.

 

[ttpete]

Bump, interested as well.

I my experience "micro" towel anything usually ***** unless drying a car.

My old tshirts are the best lint free rags I have. Would be nice to find a better source.

When I was buying wipers for our shop, I used a wiping cloth company and bought new 100% cotton T-shirt fabric ends and offcuts in 100 lb. bales. Many different colors, but who cares. Most big cities have these companies.

The best way to do this is to get some friends that also want some and split a bale among yourselves.

 

[Bennylava]

Scott's towels in a box or the Scott's blue towels. Disposable and very little lint.

I already use those, for paper towel type usages. They're not strong enough for rag duties though.

I like the idea washing the red rags on hot in the washing machine first. Seems like that would work. I also like the cheap walmart kitchen towel idea too.

The reason I want these things to be cheap, is cause it seems to me that when I'm done using a rag, its pretty much ruined. Covered in motor oil and engine grease and grime. Not really something I want to regularly run through my washing machine that we use to wash our clothes. So it would be really nice to find a cheap source of bulk lint free (or at least low lint) rags.

 

[WWShop]

I use the Scott's blue towels and also the red shop rags from HF. I haven't noticed any lint from the HF towels.

 

[OkRider]

Cloth diapers work great with Plexis on the windscreen on my KTM and the helmet visor. No lint. No scratches. When they get dirty, throw them in the washing machine.

 

[sberry]

I wipe up grease and gunk, used red rags back in the day but don't mess with it now and buy paper towels from Sams a couple cases at a time. There is not much we work on would need to be very lint free. I don't want greasy rags around, paper is clean every time and there isn't a temptation to try to re use something that may have been contaminated.
A bonus is you can see **** on a white background, wipe it and tell if its clean.
Same for coffee cups, 23$ a thousand for 12 oz Not messing with it.

 

[paulm12]

+1 on old t-shirts, they work well, and I feel better knowing they are getting a 2nd life before being tossed. And good idea sourcing from t-shirt company.

When I was buying wipers for our shop, I used a wiping cloth company and bought new 100% cotton T-shirt fabric ends and offcuts in 100 lb. bales. Many different colors, but who cares. Most big cities have these companies.

The best way to do this is to get some friends that also want some and split a bale among yourselves.

 

[nh_yota]

+1 on old t-shirts, they work well, and I feel better knowing they are getting a 2nd life before being tossed. And good idea sourcing from t-shirt company.

I save my old white undershirts and cut them up for rags. They're not lint-free but they're better than paper towels.

 

[winlinmac]

This one looks good,

From Cripe,
http://www.ebay.com/itm/3m-70202280...h-25pcs-USA-/390968614161?hash=item5b078b9d11

 

[ZRX61]

They're called huck towels and you can buy them over the internet or from Amazon.

Yup, they come in different colors & last for years.

 

[thefoobag]

https://parts.cat.com/en/patten/267-6535

we use these for all engine rebuilds, I've use scotts blue and while good, the cat rags for 7 bucks a box cannot be beat!

 

[NUTTSGT]

They're called huck towels and you can buy them over the internet or from Amazon.

Thanks, I'm passing that information along to a buddy. Now that his wife doesn't work in the OR any more, he has lost his supply for assembling engines.

 

[G_P]

If you thoroughly wash them beforehand, and set them in the dryer on the longest hot cycle available, most of the lint will go away. You'll find that filter will have a quarter inch of **** covering it up.

Same goes for terry towels used in detailing. Wash them and dry them like you really mean it, and they'll be in wonderful shape. Nice and soft, and lint-free.

Don't wash any rags with clothes, though. The colors might bleed over.

The red part is very important. Most of the shop rags will bleed huge amounts of dye when washed the first time and everything in the machine will be the same color.

Some laundromats have dedicated machines just for washing shop rags. Its a cheap alternative to a pissed off GF/wife!

 

[pilotman81]

I do a ton of work on large engines and we always go with low-lint or lint-free rags that you can get in the paint section of just about any hardware or big box store.

 

[CutterFarms]

I use the Scott's blue towels and also the red shop rags. Like the towels the best.

 

[PelicanPines]

Medical supply ... surgical rags ... much higher quality... you can even buy slightly used/laundered ones on EBAY.