Rags

[hman]

A friend of mine keeps a roll of TP by each machine. Cheap, easy to use, not too big. And by wiping just once (in one direction) per sheet, he pretty well guarantees that the surfaces are free of swarf and dirt, so the parallels/workpieces are flat and exactly in place. I've started to use TP myself, though I use paper towels for initial cleanup and larger jobs. During the winter they go into the wood stove, so it gives me a nice, warm feeling to use them.

 

[juiceclone]

the "gradual declassification" and eventual trash works best. My wife discovered gunk will degrease the cruddiest cloth (in a bucket) and after a rinse in washtub,.... send thru wash machine to like new condition. I use gunk concentrate and mix my own according to needs.

 

[RandyM]

the "gradual declassification" and eventual trash works best. My wife discovered gunk will degrease the cruddiest cloth (in a bucket) and after a rinse in washtub,.... send thru wash machine to like new condition. I use gunk concentrate and mix my own according to needs.

Hand cleaner works very well also.

 

[Mark_f]

Hi Derrick,

I have never found a good solution for this problem with rags or with my cover-alls.

For rags I typically start with a clean one and use it for a job until it "graduates" to a "slightly dirty rag". The slightly dirty ones get used for first-layer degunking, etc. and then "graduate" to "dirty rags" at which point they get used for jobs like cleaning oil spills off the floor. Then they "graduate" to the garbage can. Note I keep old oily ones in a sealed metal bucket away from "flammables" until garbage day when they get taken to the curb.

It is rather less formal than suggested above.

Similarly for my coveralls I have a few pairs that "graduate" down the line of filth. The last step is usually changing the oil or dumping transmission pan before they are used-up.
Luckily I simple ask for another pair for my birthday, or x-mas, or fathers day, etc.

I learned early in my marriage not to try washing them.
That first time I spent too much time washing out the inside of the washing machine!

-brino

I use this same system. By the time they reach the trash can they are beyond cleaning. I get a pack of 18 terry wash cloths at Wally World for $2.97. They ain't worth trying to clean once you use then up.

 

[Billh50]

I have a friend who just gives me rags he gets from his work. Sometimes they are the red rags and sometimes they are a white cloth type rag and sometimes the blue boxed rags. He also gives me rags that only soak up oil.
So I never have to clean any. use em till they are too dirty or oil soaked and then throw em out with the trash.

 

[TOOLMASTER]

blue paper towels work just fine for me...