Shop towels/rags - What to use and how to clean?

[crfrider189]

I use SHAM WOW, you'll be saying wow everytime.

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On Topic:

I dont wash my towels ?

Well they're made in Germany, you know Germans make good stuff! ? hahahaha weirdest commercial

I use any cloth , t-shirt, rag, paper towel, whatever.

[Veccster]

I guess I should start tossing some of the rags and start using some old shirts and things. Those blue shop (paper) towels are $3 a roll...no thanks! I do use heavy duty paper towels for easy clean-ups but need towels for the oily messes.

Whats better:

burn the oil covered rags

take them out with garbage

continue to wash them in the laundry

The greenies won't like any of these choices but I need to do one of them.

[x-slayer]

I would be really nervous about having a bunch of easily combustible rags in my garage. All it takes is a spark to land in there, then POOF!! There goes all your toys. Whenever I use a rag, they always goes in the garbage can outside.

I don't bother to wash the cloth rags (swag from seminars, old towels, socks, etc.), just pitch em. You can always go to Wal-Mart or the flea market (same difference) and buy from the bargain bin. Hell there's always garage sales too, a pile of old clothes for $.25 = win.

[RMCoastie]

regular detergent and take them to the laundromat

Yep, I take them to the .75 cent washing machinces up at the club house. Use hot water and bleach.

[Aaron_Silidker]

The best thing to clean them is a mix of dish detergent and simple green. Keep going till the wash water doesn't look like the hudson river. If you use a landromat, please wipe out the washer afterwards so you do not ruin someones clothes. I use my washer at home, take the agitator out afterwards and clean it up with a clean rag and solvent.

[Garage_guy_chris]

believe it or not liquid dish detergent the super duper grease cutting stuff does wonders on oily and greasy clothes my mom had almost the same problem when she did some pants that i spilled half a liter of gear oil on. I think after she just ran the machine through a empty cycle with hot hot water and following loads were clean anyways give that a try to clean the fork oil out of the machine.

[Chickenhauler]

I guess I should start tossing some of the rags and start using some old shirts and things. Those blue shop (paper) towels are $3 a roll...no thanks! I do use heavy duty paper towels for easy clean-ups but need towels for the oily messes.

Whats better:

burn the oil covered rags

take them out with garbage

continue to wash them in the laundry

The greenies won't like any of these choices but I need to do one of them.

I burn mine in the fire pit whenever I have a bonfire.

If you do take them out with the garbage, don't put them in the can until the night before-store them in a metal can to prevent from self-combusting.

Washer-no way, I spent way to much on a top-line washer to dump $3 worth of rags coated with oil, grease, solvents and grime into it.

[Claudia]

New answer for OLLLDDD thread. Use pine oil (PineSol is a brand; store brands are cheaper). Really useful for clothes you get oil on and want to keep.

Soak it in a solution for a while.

Or, put it directly on the stain, throw it in the washer and add a half-cup to the load (along with regular detergent, bleach, whatever).

Bonus: it kills bacteria. So when you come back 3 days later to a load left in your washer--no mildew,no stank! Removes animal-pee smells. Takes grime outta kitchen hand towels. I use it almost every load of wash.

Weird. This thread was how I found your forum. Looking for blue shop/paper towels in google. I'm goin "wonder what thumper is" and "wonder if it's like the thumper I have?" It is. Whoa.

[emerybrian]

New answer for OLLLDDD thread. Use pine oil (PineSol is a brand; store brands are cheaper). Really useful for clothes you get oil on and want to keep.

Soak it in a solution for a while.

Or, put it directly on the stain, throw it in the washer and add a half-cup to the load (along with regular detergent, bleach, whatever).

Bonus: it kills bacteria. So when you come back 3 days later to a load left in your washer--no mildew,no stank! Removes animal-pee smells. Takes grime outta kitchen hand towels. I use it almost every load of wash.

Weird. This thread was how I found your forum. Looking for blue shop/paper towels in google. I'm goin "wonder what thumper is" and "wonder if it's like the thumper I have?" It is. Whoa.

Welcome to TT!

I buy rags in a 50 lb box from work. I think I bought 4 boxes for work and 1 for me. 50 lb is A LOT of rags. I don't even remember what it cost it was so long ago. I think like $40 with shipping. Search "Wiping Rags" in Google; you can get them delivered. I bought the old cut-up mixed color t-shirts. Work great, and throw them out when dirty.