what do you guys do about shop rags?

[LooseNut]

hey all!

this may seem like a strange question, but....
i used to work for a shop in phoenix, and we had a uniform service that would also take care of our shop rags. what do you guys do about rags? disposable rags seems like a waste, and there are warning labels all over washing machines about washing things soaked in something flammable. also, i can't imagine how bad this would be for the environment if the washing machine drained into the regular drain system. i don't go through t-shirts that often, so i would be at a loss there

take it easy,
brian

 

[v8eater]

SOCKS. They work great. Not talking about your slick, silky, sunday church socks, but your tube/work socks. Between my Dad, wife, and my self I have an endless supply. Just slip them over your hands like gloves and wipe. Work great for cleaning up after doing oil changes on cars that have the stupid oil filter upside down, like my wife's Firebird.
My sister is a Nurse and bring alot of those Blue or Red shop towels home that the uniform services use. I get them from her a couple times a year.

HTH, James L.

 

[Satatic]

I just buy paper towels at dollar general. Either throw them away or stuff them into a pop can box then burn them.

 

[ranger_dood]

i have a bag of old towels. Not sure what I'll do when I run out...

 

[byrdman]

I used to have a job bussing tables at a big chain restaurant. We used two rags at a time, one wet and one dry. The wet one got changed out during the night but the dry one often got left in my apron and went home with me. I had gobs of really nice terrycloth shop rags for years. Oh, and enough matchbooks to last a lifetime!

Anyway, that's been a few years back. Now I buy the red shop rags at the parts store for polishing/waxing etc, and use paper towels to dry hands with. The rags from the parts store are better than the "bag-o-rags" stuff you get at the drug store. More expensive but worth it.

I dedicate some rags to a given product: armor all, rubbing compound, wax, etc. I just leave the rag over the top of the bottle. Some rags float around and get used for all kinds of stuff until they finally get past the point of no return, then I can them and grab a new one.

 

[erok01]

Towels, great subject. Your always making a mess in the garage. I use a torq towel dispenser with a roll of paper towels, Micro-fiber towels for paint care on the car, white cotton terry towels general purpose clean up, red shop towels for icky stuff!!

Pitch the paper and the shop towels depending on how bad they are, Micro and white terry get washed in a load all by themselves. I use a Micro-resto wash for Micro fiber and a bunch of bleach for the white towels.

 

[Luckydevil]

Anytime I notice a household shower towel getting a bit ragged it gets chopped up and made into garage towels. I also buy the large bags of small white towels from home depot for about $7. I end up reusing the towels and just rinsing them out unless they are used for oil/grease, then they just get tossed.

 

[iiibdsiil]

I go to Walmart, get the big bag of red rags for like $8, and it usually lasts me about a month. $8 a month, I can deal with that. Worth it to not have to deal with them, and be able to just throw them away when they get nasty instead of ruining your washer.

 

[Geo]

I use the red shop rags you can buy a zillion places. I wash them when they are dirty. I discard them if they get soaked with anything (wet to the touch). When I wash them, I alway wash them by themselves. Sometimes I wash them twice to get the residue out of the washing machine. Sometimes if they are stained with oil and/or grease, but not soaked, I rub a little DL type hand cleaner in them.

Here's the shop my business partner and I just moved into. We still have a bit to do....

http://members.rennlist.com/geo/index.html

 

[avsfan733]

for detailing i have a supply of cotton diapers i like...

for general shop use i usually steal a couple boxes of the industrial grade wipes (i forget the name i wanna say rediwipes or something)...really tough and a ton of them in a box. My school shop gets a pallet of them about every other month and a couple boxes go home with me

 

[LooseNut]

mostly i was wondering how you guys disposed of them. i feel kind of bad about just throwing them away, covered in oil and all. i make so many trips to the hazmat place at the dump, they practically know me by name... maybe they can take them, ill ask next tie im there. thanks for the replies.

take care,
brian

 

[dodgecharger-fan]

I lay them out flat to dry out after use.
When I get a bunch that need attention, I toss them in a plastic garbage bin with some water and biodegradable degreaser - the kind that turns grease into fertilizer - and let them soak for a few days.
Then I rinse them out with the hose and run them through the washing machine.
All but the ones with tar-like stuff stuck to them come out nice and clean. (I didn't bother putting them in the machine.)

I used the stuff from www.safestrustremover.com and dumped the dirty water into my lawn - it's the greenest part of my lawn.

 

[LooseNut]

^^^^^
that's a darn good answer, thank you. it will help me sleep better at night

take it easy,
brian

 

[OI812]

I take my rags to the local laundry mat. I don't want all that grease and other junk in my washer and dryer.

 

[iiibdsiil]

That's a good idea, I never thought of that.

 

[C_F]

I used the stuff from www.safestrustremover.com and dumped the dirty water into my lawn - it's the greenest part of my lawn.

That's one I've never heard of before, sounds pretty cool!


Have you tried the rust remover stuff too & if so, does it actually work as well as those pics say it does?

 

[Wile1Coyote]

Hit your local Kmart Walmart Target etc when they have white sales, those little hand towels for a buck or so are a great value. I take mine to the laundromat too. Have one here with a specail industrial machine for rugs and stuff, I use that. I add 1/8 cup of a product called lestoil to the load and they come out pretty darn clean. Lestoil will be avail in the cleaning product aisle of any big grocery store.

 

[dodgecharger-fan]

That's one I've never heard of before, sounds pretty cool!


Have you tried the rust remover stuff too & if so, does it actually work as well as those pics say it does?

Oh yeah. It works great.

You can see some of my before and after pics here:
http://home.cogeco.ca/~dhogan2/Chapters/RustRemoval.htm