Bob Ross

This is a stupid question and I should probably just do some empirical experiments to learn the answer myself, but I figure what-the-hell maybe someone else has already done that and I can learn from them:

For simple, routine, quick-once-over-after-every-ride chain wiping ...is there any difference in effectiveness between a cloth rag (cotton, terry, microfiber, whatever) versus a paper towel?

Thanks.

smd4

I would think a paper towel would shred material onto the chain far easier than a rag.

Personally, I think everyone should have an ample supply of these scattered around the shop or wherever you keep your bike:

Shop Rags

Andrew R Stewart 

Cloth will shred less, as smd4 said. I have many years supply of old bike Tee shirts (one of the burdens shop workers have is all the free bike branded tees we are given). I find terry cloth will tend to snag and have threads pull out easily. Andy

Mad Honk 

I am in favor of cloth also. Growing up most tools were not plated and we kept tins with an oil soaked cloth in them on the work bench to wipe all tools down after use. I think of chain upkeep the same way, a bit of oil wipe down after use will keep them from rusting so fast. Smiles, MH

KerryIrons

As with others I expect a paper towel would shred quickly. And that would be a mess with paper fibers all over the chain. I'm in the "old T-shirts as rags" camp. I even wash them sometimes to get more use out of them.

veganbikes

Paper towels get shredded not fun, have done it. Just use some old whatever you have at the house, t-shirts, jeans or other pants, towels, sheets, pretty much any old worn out stuff. Think of it as a way to purge the closets or an opportunity to get something new for you and use the old crap for the bike. You have gotten your usage out of it so get it greasy and toss it and it gives you a little more life.

pdlamb

I don't have trouble with paper towels shredding as long as I've got enough oil on the chain. Ergo, paper towels are what I use!

rumrunn6

old towels are great. they are thick. they don't tear. you can do more wiping with them. they can be washed & reused. Earth friendly. towels are more useful around the rear derailleur jockey wheels because they don't fall apart & get stuck between the chain & the teeth of the wheels, hehe

paper towels are convenient but can break in your hand, so I use disposable gloves. now I'm polluting the environment in 2 ways. paper "shop towels" are more durable but cost more

I like towels this time of year because I can start with the top of the bike, wiping, drying, etc. & then move downward, toward to dirtier stuff like wheels & tire sidewalls, then finish at the drivetrain

last ride w/ the MTB I just dried the chain w/ paper towels & left the rest of the bike to drip dry. only exception was my routine for the fork stanchions, which I baby after each ride. paper towels, low pressure compressed air & stanchion lube w/ q-tips & more paper towels

also use a little low pressure compressed air around both derailleurs

rydabent

I use an industrial paper shop towel on my chain, and it doesnt leave any fibers. Unfortunately I dont know the brand.

easyupbug 

When it comes to wiping a chain there is a huge difference between terry cloth and a old T shirt and a kitchen paper towel and a paper shop towel like these https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail...kaAiImEALw_wcB.

Moe Zhoost

I use those blue paper shop towels. I've had zero issues with shredding. Difference in effectiveness, huh? How would you even measure that?

djb

And old shirts, towels, etc that don't shred also have the advantage of easy to do cassette flossing with wheel on bike.

I have bags of old clothing etc so there's never an end of rags, handy given that I commute in all weather, including in our Great White North winter.

NoWhammies

I will add my vote for cloth and/or old T-shirts. I usually spritz mine with some rubbing alcohol prior to wiping down the chain.

Russ Roth

I've used kitchen paper towels in a pinch and didn't like the shredded paper ending up on my floor, a long time ago I bought a HF magnetic glove box holder which I fill with the basic cotton cloths from HF as well, usually white or off-white, don't care for red when dealing with cleaners and white bikes. The cheap HF rags are one of the few items there I consider worth buying. I also have a box of industrial paper towels and when needed found them adequate for doing a bike or two but cloths let you wipe down a dozen chains before needing to be tossed, they also let you wipe down bikes and toss in the wash rather than dispose of right away.

Charles Lathe

Over at Silca, the advice is to use micro fiber towels — whether you buy them from Silca or somewhere else.

bblair

The title of this thread reminded me of a few years ago when my brother in law went to the grocery store...wife must have been very sick...and they asked him "paper or plastic?" He didn't even know that there were 2 kinds of grocery bags and thought they were asking him, "cash or charge?"

Ha, ha,....we still tease him about that one.

smd4

Love Silca. Won't take their advice re micro fiber towels though.

greatscott

you can buy a bunch of red rags, or some places just have a bundle of rags, at home improvement places for cheap, get those, use one till it's no longer useable than throw it away. 3 pound bundle of rags are about $17 on Amazon, red rags are a little more but not that much more, maybe $20.

In fact a quick search at Home Depot popped ups a box of 200 white painter rags for $13.

Rags are great for cleaning the chain, you can use them more than once on a chain, in fact probably a dozen times, so even if you use a rag say 4 times before throwing it away, that's 4 days of riding, so that box of rags will last you 800 days of riding.

Chuck Naill

I would use a cotton material. Paper towels used to be trees.

cyccommute 

I hate microfiber towels! They stick to my hands like velcro.

Paper towels in a pinch but generally old t-shirts are best. I don’t have to clean off lubricant from my chain however so my rags last a very long time.

Camilo

I like to use old socks. Good for flossing cassettes, used as a "glove", efficient for cleaning everything from chains to tubes.

sch

Kitchen type paper towels do shred and make a mess. I do use paper but have found that roll ends from roll dispensers used
in commercial rest rooms work well and do not shred. Roll ends are left over by restroom cleaners when they find a 6-8"
diameter roll is nearly used up and down to the last 1/4-1" of paper so is changed out. Some roll ends are left on a shelf in the restroom
and I picked up several dozen over the years, a life time supply. They are absorbent enough and have never shredded when
used for chain wipe. Cotton from cotton plants or cellulose from a tree differ mostly in fiber length and caliber.

Champy

My favorite cotton

t2p

paper towels shredding ?

what brands ? are you wiping a chain saw chain ?

we use Bounty paper towels - never have a problem with shredding

typically dispose of used paper towels quickly (especially towels with lubricants / solvents ) - often in a sealed container that sits outside (away from the house)

typically don’t keep rags in the garage or basement - can be a fire hazard

cyccommute 

Wrong kind of oil to be a fire hazard. Drying oils like linseed oil produce heat during the oxidative curing process that can’t be shed quickly. The heat can build up to the point where the material the oil in on can self-combust. They shouldn’t be stored “in a sealed container” for disposal but, rather, should be either stored in a sealed can under water or spread out to dry on a noncombustible surface.

Oils used for lubrication don’t self-combust because they don’t auto-oxidize. Having a lubricating oil that is susceptible to oxidation and chemical cross linking would be detrimental to their use as a lubricant.