chefisaac

What are you all using for towels when it comes ot cleaning your chain and such? I was thinking of old shop towels but my brother took them all and I have two. A friend suggested not to wash them in the washer because of the grease so I am stuck with limited options. Thought about using the blue shop towels on a roll.

Suggestions?

bobdell

Regular paper towels

Myosmith

Old T-shirts, worn out hand/bath towels and washcloths, old dish towels, worn out bedsheets, box-o-rags from the big box home or auto store, any absorbent and fairly strong material will do. Second hand stores often sell boxes of unusable clothing to cut up or already cut into rags for just a buck or three. Some of my personal favorites are microfiber shop towels I bought in a big bundle for around $8 at Sam's Club. They are absorbent but wash up nice. I usually hand rinse them in a bucket of warm water and Dawn dish soap to get out the bulk of the grease and then throw them in the washing machine with a good grease cutting detergent (I like Tide). The microfiber cloths clean up very well. When I use rags, I usually try to use the clean ones for less dirty jobs a couple of times before using them for really cruddy jobs after which I dispose of them. My slightly used rags hang on a rail under my bench. Really greasy ones go in the trash can outside. Never leave a pile of greasy rags sitting around. They are a serious fire hazard. Though I've never seen it, I have heard of spontaneous combustion of oily rag piles with no outside source of ignition.

BTW, if you do wash greasy clothes or rags in the family washing machine, its a good idea to make the next load one of old jeans or shirts or other not too important items. I've never had it happen but I'd hate to have my wife come after me for a grease spot on her favorite skirt. If a laundromat catches you washing shop towels, they will usually boot you out after charging you for cleaning the machine.

I keep a roll of paper shop towels on the bench, but dont' use them for much other than wiping off my hands and tools, or providing a clean surface to lay something on when the bench is a mess.

Grand Bois

Blue shop paper towels. I use them in the kitchen, too.

ben4345

old socks, old tooth brushes.

fietsbob

Yea, the Blue shop weight paper towels on a roll are good..

There is a bigger box of the sort longer roll for actual Shops, that use a lot.

strangely Bleached white ,
but way past Any influencing the chlorine lobby.
the blue is likely bleached , first.

Booger1

Why do you think I pat my co-workers on the back so often....

Mayday328

I've found that the blue shop towels you can find at any local hardware store don't quite cut it. They seem to tear pretty easily. I suggest, like others have mentioned, old t-shirts and cotton rags. They will hold up to the abuse.

shawmutt

blue shop towels here.

wrk101

The Goodwills in my area cut up T shirts and sell them in a bag as rags for $1. I usually load up on them when they have a 50% off sale (just about every holiday they have a sale).

I won't wash them in the home washing machine. I would consider taking them to a laundromat.

caloso

Old t-shirts and undies. I just can't see spending any money, not even a dollar, on a piece of cloth to wipe excess lube off a chain.

mrrabbit 

1. Rolls of the paper towels that are already perforated as half sheets.

2. Grab a couple dozen sheets - cut those in half with scissors.

3. Place in nicely stacked pilel.

I find that if I use anything larger than 1/4 sheets - I end up wasting 'em.

=8-)

HillRider

My bike repair area is where old T-shirts, towels and my wife's worn out dust rags go to die. I cut them into small squares and toss them when they are too dirty to use.

mechBgon

At the LBS, we used to wash our own rags in an old washing machine. Based on the perpetual ring of evil black goo in the machine's tub, I highly recommend not washing greasy rags in your family washing machine. Instead, boil some water and pour it into a bucket, throw in your rags and detergent, and agitate them with a dowel or something.

bkaapcke

Costco has a 60 pack of white terrycloth towels in the automotive aisle. The folded over and stitched edges are perfect for flossing cassettes and they work great for everything else on a bike. They can be washed enough times that a pack usually lasts me two years. Bk

BCRider

Basic paper towels here. Along with a few fabric ones. But I reserve the fabric ones for the less messy things. For the really grungy jobs involving serious grease, oil and solvent there's no way I'm putting them into my washing machine so it's disposable paper all the way.

davidad

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/chain-care.html

CACycling

Paper towels for the really greasy stuff and old towels for the rest.

gerv 

That's a great idea. I normally have a stack of my old clothes in a small bag in the garage. Cotton rags last quite a bit longer than paper towels. Odd socks are particularly useful.. being glove-like... and just the ride dimension for cleaning chains.

I can't imagine cleaning a chain with paper towels.

Yo Spiff

I use the blue shot towels for general cleaning. Being fairly light in color, I can easily tell how much dirt is coming off something. For stuff where those get torn up too quickly, I'll use rags torn from old clothes.

reptilezs

we use the blue disposable rags at work. i have cut up t shirts at home, toss em both when done

Phil85207

I seem to have a never ending supply of tee shirt type rags, but in a pinch its the blue shop towels.

3speedslow

I second how gerv does it. I have the bag in the shed where all old socks go to die. My 7 year old goes through way too many. Other clothes too. Socks get used once, twice then just thrown away. Don't want to build up a potential fire hazard.