Rags Luandry and Not yelling wife help.

[Kyoritsu]

Ok so have just finished the messier parts of a new old bike rebuild. At wally world I found some super cheap wash clothes in bundles of like 9 or so for next to nothing, so I bought as much as i could possibly use and have been putting them into plastic lidded containers marked dirty rags I tried soaking them in said container with tide, water, dish soap and what ever. When it came time to empty the container I rinsed it with alternating hot water and dish soap 3 or 4 times and tossed them in our new front loader washer for the toughest cycle with tide and some dish soap and a post cycle with lots of bleach.
As you may have guessed this was a bad idea on many levels, it took me 2 weeks t get the gas/chemical smell out of that machine. I used a tub rinse cycle with dish soap then again with cascade (an old food industry trick for keeping you chef's wear nice and white). I rubbed the rubber parts with 409 between each load as well.

Bottom line is if I stink up the washer again it's quite possible all the
possessions in the world I hold dear may end up on fire; )

- so can anyone tell me how to store and clean rags so dirty as to be unusable for anything till they've been washed?

[kdo58]

coin op laundry?

[spyug]

Toss 'em. If they were 'dirt" cheap just get somemore.

I have been fortunate over the last 4 or 5 years to recieve numerous bed sheets and towels when closing up the homes of deceased older relatives. While we usually donate all towels to the SPCA, I kept a few and use them for polishing chores. The sheets get ripped into shop size rags and I use them until good and gunked then toss them.

While free rags are always useful, I prefer the blue thick paper shop towels from the autostore. I find them more absorbent and best for mopping up spills.

If you do insist on washing you rags ( and being Scottish I thought I was frugal) pre-soak for a few days in good detergent, changing the water frequently. That should get most of the gas and oil smell out. I do this with my coveralls and I haven't been smacked for it yet.

Hope you get out of the doghouse soon.

Cheers,
Spyug

[Macguyver]

4 easy steps to new rags:

1. Put rags in an empty metal drum (5 Gallon, 55 Gallon, whatever you have available)

2. Liberally douse with lamp oil.

3. Toss a lit match in barrel.

4. Buy some new rags ya cheap bastich!

Just kidding (mostly)

The time and effort to clean dirty shop rags is usually not worth it in the long run. If you really need to reuse rags, then contact a garment supply company who rents uniforms to garages. I believe I was paying $12 a week for 100 shop rags which they would pick up and replace with cleaned ones when they did the same for our uniforms.

Aside from that option, I have heard a big drum of Tide Detergent/boiling hot water, and a looooong soak works reasonably well. Quite labor intensive though since you need to keep stirring it. Maybe if it were over a campfire...

I use torn up, worn out clothing ripped into pieces, or in a jam, the forementioned blue shop towels at home. Relatively cost effective.
A holy sock makes a great rag for soaking up a small oil spill BTW.

[TheCafeKid]

Mac don't go suggesting that one run out and grab the socks off of the local pastor in an effort to save some bucks on rags! Sheesh



Though I suppose it could be helpfull in those times when you're troubleshooting or repairing with fingers crossed. Heh.

[Mysuzyq]

+1 holy socks should be treated with respect, or God help your sole!

[lord1234]

Home depot sells rags for 10$ for 100 of them. They work great. Stop being a cheapo.

[UncleMike]

Maybe it's less about being a "cheapo" and more about not wanting to be wasteful?

[Baatfam]

I wash my rags, always have....no issues.

I have a bunch of those red shop rags...
I buy a stack of them every couple of years to replace the worn out or badly gunked up ones...but the rest get washed about twice a year.

I get clearance from the wife to use the washer and dryer for a full day...
Then I wash them twice...Heavy duty wash with presoak and the whole bit.
I use standard laundry soap and some fantastic or 409 cleaner...

Then while they are in the dryer...I wipe down the inside of the drum with cleaner, then run another wash cycle with laundry soap...
It has always worked without issues...and believe me, if there were issues, my wife would let me know...

Really...if the washer can wash the clothes I wear working in the garage, it can handle the rags I use...

[Macguyver]

+1 holy socks should be treated with respect, or God help your sole!

GROAN!!!!
Good one.

[COGS]

Maybe it's less about being a "cheapo" and more about not wanting to be wasteful?

Difficult to imagine all those cleaning agents not being part of the "wasteful" column when all is totalled up...that being said...isn't that why we have coin ops?

[JHawkins]

I cleaned some good quality rags ONCE - the pi$$ing and moaning that came out of Heidi afterwards made it unlikely that I will ever try it again.

maybe when I get my shed built I will put an el-cheapo used stackable washer and dryer in. That way she never has to complain about me washing something greasy in "HER" nice new washer and dryer.

[Kyoritsu]

4 easy steps to new rags:

1. Put rags in an empty metal drum (5 Gallon, 55 Gallon, whatever you have available)

2. Liberally douse with lamp oil.

3. Toss a lit match in barrel.

4. Buy some new rags ya cheap bastich!

Just kidding (mostly)

This is actually the best idea I think. Besides not wanting to through them away, It was nice having all the towels I could possibly need without worrying about running out and being able to just grab a clean one when necessary, I was also worried about disposing them as I've heard tales of oily chemical soaked rags self igniting.

Even though I'm done with any real big messes as just about every thing is clean now, I just hate to throw away so many rags that I got such little use out of. Maybe it's because I've worked as a cook for so long and towels are a viable commodity to me. and you never know there may be another old GS looking for love in my future. I guess I just feel comfortable having a big stack of rags at my disposal.

Don't get me wrong some rags when strait to the garbage after a job or in some cases ASAP (that's why I bought them as throw-aways). Some just aren't that dirty though just smelly or a little to oily to use anymore. I tried tide and dish soap, maybe some pine sol in a soak bucket instead.

I just figured somebody would have some cool little trick like cascade for oil stains in a kitchen to keep your whites new looking. If I was sure I could find a cheap source of rags when I needed it, it wouldn't be an issue, but I live way out (a nice 18 mile ride from work, nothing like a cup of joe followed by wind, bugs, and a blurry tunnel of trees to wake you up) and just can't count on any local stores to be cheap when the need may arise, or in an emergency situation I can't just run out for something.

But if I can't figure something out I do live in the mountains and there is a burn pit.

oh, and Even though moneys been super tight this last couple of years, I do tend to be a cheap bastach when it's not where it counts even when I have the money; )

[themess]

There's rags with a bit of oil on them, and then there's *greasy* rags. Rags with just a bit of oil, I wash. *Greasy* rags, I throw out. The cost of cleaning the *greasy* rags is higher than the cost of replacement rags. My worn out clothes go to rags faster than I can use them up.

[Calvin Blackmore]

I dried a jacket with a ballpoint pen in the inner pocket
now that was nasty

Im thinking maybe you could packs some activated charcoal in a thin sachet and place it into the filter and let the machine blow through it for an hour or so?