Two friends are arguing about rags. One says they have to be all
cotton to work well, and the other says 30 or 60 or 80% cotton and the
rest polyester will work well too.

Who is right?

They need to start collecting rags for a big cleaning job they have
coming up.

I'll let you guess who is the husband and who the wife.

?
"mm" wrote in message
...
Two friends are arguing about rags. One says they have to be all
cotton to work well, and the other says 30 or 60 or 80% cotton and the
rest polyester will work well too.

Who is right?

They need to start collecting rags for a big cleaning job they have
coming up.

I'll let you guess who is the husband and who the wife.

IMO, 100% cotton works best, but some of the blends are OK. The more cotton
the better. Depends on the use also. Cotton absorbs liquid better, for but
some polishing/wiping applications, soft surface is more important than
absorption. Pure polyester sucks.

On 2/13/2011 9:12 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
?
"mm" wrote in message
...
Two friends are arguing about rags. One says they have to be all
cotton to work well, and the other says 30 or 60 or 80% cotton and the
rest polyester will work well too.

Who is right?

They need to start collecting rags for a big cleaning job they have
coming up.

I'll let you guess who is the husband and who the wife.

IMO, 100% cotton works best, but some of the blends are OK. The more
cotton the better. Depends on the use also. Cotton absorbs liquid
better, for but some polishing/wiping applications, soft surface is more
important than absorption. Pure polyester sucks.

The supply houses sell boxes of recycled surgical or terrycloth towels
that of course have been washed and disinfected. They're very affordable
and of good quality. I wash them again when I'm done using them unless
there is something really icky on them. :-)

TDD

On 2/13/2011 11:06 PM, The Daring Dufas wrote:
On 2/13/2011 9:12 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
?
"mm" wrote in message
...
Two friends are arguing about rags. One says they have to be all
cotton to work well, and the other says 30 or 60 or 80% cotton and the
rest polyester will work well too.

Who is right?

They need to start collecting rags for a big cleaning job they have
coming up.

I'll let you guess who is the husband and who the wife.

IMO, 100% cotton works best, but some of the blends are OK. The more
cotton the better. Depends on the use also. Cotton absorbs liquid
better, for but some polishing/wiping applications, soft surface is more
important than absorption. Pure polyester sucks.

The supply houses sell boxes of recycled surgical or terrycloth towels
that of course have been washed and disinfected. They're very affordable
and of good quality. I wash them again when I'm done using them unless
there is something really icky on them. :-)

TDD

Watch the HF flyers. I've had good luck with the Indian-origin white
terry towel bundles they sell. Much better than simple rags for
cleaning- absorb a lot more, and have some scrubbing capability. I
think, with coupon, I paid about 4 bucks for a bundle of 20? or so.
Unless the cleaning agents you are using are so nasty that the rags need
to be disposable, they launder without disintegrating pretty well. And
they are well-hemmed, so you don't get loose threads contaminating the
work, like you do with cut up old towels and similar.

--
aem sends...

On 2/13/2011 10:21 PM, aemeijers wrote:
On 2/13/2011 11:06 PM, The Daring Dufas wrote:
On 2/13/2011 9:12 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
?
"mm" wrote in message
...
Two friends are arguing about rags. One says they have to be all
cotton to work well, and the other says 30 or 60 or 80% cotton and the
rest polyester will work well too.

Who is right?

They need to start collecting rags for a big cleaning job they have
coming up.

I'll let you guess who is the husband and who the wife.

IMO, 100% cotton works best, but some of the blends are OK. The more
cotton the better. Depends on the use also. Cotton absorbs liquid
better, for but some polishing/wiping applications, soft surface is more
important than absorption. Pure polyester sucks.

The supply houses sell boxes of recycled surgical or terrycloth towels
that of course have been washed and disinfected. They're very affordable
and of good quality. I wash them again when I'm done using them unless
there is something really icky on them. :-)

TDD

Watch the HF flyers. I've had good luck with the Indian-origin white
terry towel bundles they sell. Much better than simple rags for
cleaning- absorb a lot more, and have some scrubbing capability. I
think, with coupon, I paid about 4 bucks for a bundle of 20? or so.
Unless the cleaning agents you are using are so nasty that the rags need
to be disposable, they launder without disintegrating pretty well. And
they are well-hemmed, so you don't get loose threads contaminating the
work, like you do with cut up old towels and similar.


The only thing that worries me about the towels imported from India, is
that there may be some kind of weird bug or critter hiding in them that
hitched an international ride. Besides, Indian critters talk funny. :-)

TDD

"mm" wrote in message
...
Two friends are arguing about rags. One says they have to be all
cotton to work well, and the other says 30 or 60 or 80% cotton and the
rest polyester will work well too.

Who is right?

They need to start collecting rags for a big cleaning job they have
coming up.

I'll let you guess who is the husband and who the wife.

Check auto parts stores. They sell mechanics rags and they work very
well...WW

On Sun, 13 Feb 2011 22:06:37 -0600, The Daring Dufas
wrote:

On 2/13/2011 9:12 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
?
"mm" wrote in message
...
Two friends are arguing about rags. One says they have to be all
cotton to work well, and the other says 30 or 60 or 80% cotton and the
rest polyester will work well too.

Who is right?

They need to start collecting rags for a big cleaning job they have
coming up.

I'll let you guess who is the husband and who the wife.

IMO, 100% cotton works best, but some of the blends are OK. The more
cotton the better. Depends on the use also. Cotton absorbs liquid
better, for but some polishing/wiping applications, soft surface is more
important than absorption. Pure polyester sucks.

Thanks. I'll let them know.

The supply houses sell boxes of recycled surgical or terrycloth towels
that of course have been washed and disinfected. They're very affordable
and of good quality. I wash them again when I'm done using them unless
there is something really icky on them. :-)

TDD

It's okay for some people but my friends, and I, aren't buying rags.

Nor do I buy clothes to work around the house in. That's what old
clothes are for, and older clothes are for rags.

On 2/14/2011 12:28 AM, mm wrote:
On Sun, 13 Feb 2011 22:06:37 -0600, The Daring Dufas
wrote:

On 2/13/2011 9:12 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
?
wrote in message
...
Two friends are arguing about rags. One says they have to be all
cotton to work well, and the other says 30 or 60 or 80% cotton and the
rest polyester will work well too.

Who is right?

They need to start collecting rags for a big cleaning job they have
coming up.

I'll let you guess who is the husband and who the wife.

IMO, 100% cotton works best, but some of the blends are OK. The more
cotton the better. Depends on the use also. Cotton absorbs liquid
better, for but some polishing/wiping applications, soft surface is more
important than absorption. Pure polyester sucks.

Thanks. I'll let them know.

The supply houses sell boxes of recycled surgical or terrycloth towels
that of course have been washed and disinfected. They're very affordable
and of good quality. I wash them again when I'm done using them unless
there is something really icky on them. :-)

TDD

It's okay for some people but my friends, and I, aren't buying rags.

Nor do I buy clothes to work around the house in. That's what old
clothes are for, and older clothes are for rags.

You could wear older clothes and just wipe your hands on what you are
wearing then roll around on the floor to clean up your mess. :-)

TDD

On 2/13/2011 9:50 PM, mm wrote:
Two friends are arguing about rags. One says they have to be all
cotton to work well, and the other says 30 or 60 or 80% cotton and the
rest polyester will work well too.

Who is right?

They need to start collecting rags for a big cleaning job they have
coming up.

I'll let you guess who is the husband and who the wife.

If what you are wiping is water based, the more cotton the better.
Moisture regain or amount of water fiber can hold is about 15% for
cotton versus less than 1% for polyester.

If you are going to reuse the rags, some polyester in the blend will
increase durability of the fabric.

"mm" wrote in message
...
Two friends are arguing about rags. One says they have to be all
cotton to work well, and the other says 30 or 60 or 80% cotton and the
rest polyester will work well too.

Who is right?

They need to start collecting rags for a big cleaning job they have
coming up.

I'll let you guess who is the husband and who the wife.

Just my opinion, more than 10% poly just does not seem to work well as a
rag. 100% cotton is the best.

Colbyt

On Feb 13, 9:50*pm, mm wrote:
Two friends are arguing about rags. *One says they have to be all
cotton to work well, and the other says 30 or 60 or 80% cotton and the
rest polyester will work well too.

Who is right?

They need to start collecting rags for a big cleaning job they have
coming up.

I'll let you guess who is the husband and who the wife.

Depends on how the polyester is combined with the cotton. If the
polyester forms the core of the cotton fiber its probably just as good
as cotton. You find this in underwear and sports shirts. If it say
polyester /cotton blend but still feels like cotton it probably OK.

Jimmie

On Sun, 13 Feb 2011 21:50:41 -0500, mm
wrote:

Two friends are arguing about rags. One says they have to be all
cotton to work well, and the other says 30 or 60 or 80% cotton and the
rest polyester will work well too.

Who is right?

They need to start collecting rags for a big cleaning job they have
coming up.

I'll let you guess who is the husband and who the wife.

Used a lot rags in the in the Navy when I was a boilerman.
All cotton, and one of the more expensive "consumables"
80 pound bales, cost a bit over a hundred bucks a bale.
I've had big rag containers for years. Sometime I have to fight with
the wife to get my 30 gallon rag wastebasket filled.
She wants to keep old clothes or give them to Goodwill.
It was easier when the kids were running around here.
They'd tear clothes up so they were only good for rags.
ALL rags can serve a purpose.
Even polyester will soak up a lot of oil from the garage floor.
Weave is important too.
Some all-cotton jeans are almost worthless.
To answer your question, cotton-polyester blends work well.
30% polyester works on 30% of jobs.
60% polyester works on 60% of jobs.
100% cotton with the right weave works on 100% of jobs.
Use that as your measure.
Best rags are all-cotton T-shirts. 100%, A+, 5 Star.
They'll clean the garage floor and spit-shine shoes to a mirror.

--Vic

On 2/13/2011 9:50 PM, mm wrote:
Two friends are arguing about rags. One says they have to be all
cotton to work well, and the other says 30 or 60 or 80% cotton and the
rest polyester will work well too.

Who is right?

They need to start collecting rags for a big cleaning job they have
coming up.

I'll let you guess who is the husband and who the wife.

100% cotton. The local Goodwill store throws out any clothing that is
dirty (it wouldn't pay for them to wash it). I stop in now and then and
ask for some cleaning rags. If they ask I specify 100% cotton, if not I
just throw out the polyester blends in the trash. Some days they have a
big pile going to the trash and I can pick through it myself. I take
them home and wash them before I use them. I normally get 1 or 2 trash
bags full so I'm good for a little while.

WW wrote the following:
"mm" wrote in message
...

Two friends are arguing about rags. One says they have to be all
cotton to work well, and the other says 30 or 60 or 80% cotton and the
rest polyester will work well too.

Who is right?

They need to start collecting rags for a big cleaning job they have
coming up.

I'll let you guess who is the husband and who the wife.


Check auto parts stores. They sell mechanics rags and they work very
well...WW

If you see them in Sam's Club, do not buy the red dyed ones. The color
bleeds on your hands and anything else.


--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

On 2/14/2011 9:19 AM, JIMMIE wrote:
On Feb 13, 9:50 pm, wrote:
Two friends are arguing about rags. One says they have to be all
cotton to work well, and the other says 30 or 60 or 80% cotton and the
rest polyester will work well too.

Who is right?

They need to start collecting rags for a big cleaning job they have
coming up.

I'll let you guess who is the husband and who the wife.

Depends on how the polyester is combined with the cotton. If the
polyester forms the core of the cotton fiber its probably just as good
as cotton. You find this in underwear and sports shirts. If it say
polyester /cotton blend but still feels like cotton it probably OK.

Jimmie

Little technical, but cotton is denser than polyester and in the
spinning process tends to migrate to the exterior of the yarn.
Probably makes no difference on moisture uptake though.

On Feb 13, 10:12*pm, "Ed Pawlowski" wrote:
?"mm" wrote in message

...

Two friends are arguing about rags. *One says they have to be all
cotton to work well, and the other says 30 or 60 or 80% cotton and the
rest polyester will work well too.

Who is right?

They need to start collecting rags for a big cleaning job they have
coming up.

I'll let you guess who is the husband and who the wife.

IMO, 100% cotton works best, but some of the blends are OK. *The more cotton
the better. *Depends on the use also. *Cotton absorbs liquid better, for but
some polishing/wiping applications, soft surface is more important than
absorption. *Pure polyester sucks.

I think that weave/construction plays a role as well. old 100% cotton
t-shirts still make lousy rags for all but the lightest jobs.

nate

On Mon, 14 Feb 2011 09:33:47 -0500, "dadiOH"
wrote:

mm wrote:
Two friends are arguing about rags. One says they have to be all
cotton to work well, and the other says 30 or 60 or 80% cotton and the
rest polyester will work well too.

Who is right?

Neither. Microfiber beats anything else hands down regardless of the source
material for the microfiber.

+1

On Mon, 14 Feb 2011 08:47:30 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Sun, 13 Feb 2011 21:50:41 -0500, mm
wrote:

Two friends are arguing about rags. One says they have to be all
cotton to work well, and the other says 30 or 60 or 80% cotton and the
rest polyester will work well too.

Who is right?

They need to start collecting rags for a big cleaning job they have
coming up.

I'll let you guess who is the husband and who the wife.

Used a lot rags in the in the Navy when I was a boilerman.
All cotton, and one of the more expensive "consumables"
80 pound bales, cost a bit over a hundred bucks a bale.
I've had big rag containers for years. Sometime I have to fight with
the wife to get my 30 gallon rag wastebasket filled.
She wants to keep old clothes or give them to Goodwill.

At least neither of you want to throw them in the trash. YOu'd be
surprised how many good clothes I've fount when I was looking to VCRs
and TVs.

(The most expensive thing I ever found was an electric wheel chair,
controlled by a joystick, worth 1000 dollars a man in the business
told me in the condition I found it (which was good. It ran fine,
battery still charged, but a little of the foam rubber needed
refurbishing. Not only did it run fine, the only way I could get it
home was to sit in it and let it take me the block to my house. I kept
tripping when I tried to walk next to it and push the joystick. )

I gave it to the MDS or something, Musculary Dystropy or Multiple
Sclerosis.

I think I'd see the guy who owned it, sitting in it on nice days,
often with another guy in a wheel chairs. It's a normal apartment
building. I don't know if they lived on their own or not, but I
figure the guy who used this chair died, and the maintenance man from
the apartment didn't even consider calling the MDS or Goodwill, and he
just threw it away.)

It was easier when the kids were running around here.
They'd tear clothes up so they were only good for rags.
ALL rags can serve a purpose.
Even polyester will soak up a lot of oil from the garage floor.
Weave is important too.
Some all-cotton jeans are almost worthless.
To answer your question, cotton-polyester blends work well.
30% polyester works on 30% of jobs.

Good, I talked to my male friend and he said he only plays to do clean
up 30% of the dirt.

60% polyester works on 60% of jobs.
100% cotton with the right weave works on 100% of jobs.
Use that as your measure.
Best rags are all-cotton T-shirts. 100%, A+, 5 Star.
They'll clean the garage floor and spit-shine shoes to a mirror.

In sequence?

--Vic

On Mon, 14 Feb 2011 11:09:21 -0500, Tony Miklos
wrote:

On 2/13/2011 9:50 PM, mm wrote:
Two friends are arguing about rags. One says they have to be all
cotton to work well, and the other says 30 or 60 or 80% cotton and the
rest polyester will work well too.

Who is right?

They need to start collecting rags for a big cleaning job they have
coming up.

I'll let you guess who is the husband and who the wife.

100% cotton. The local Goodwill store throws out any clothing that is
dirty (it wouldn't pay for them to wash it). I stop in now and then and
ask for some cleaning rags. If they ask I specify 100% cotton, if not I
just throw out the polyester blends in the trash. Some days they have a
big pile going to the trash and I can pick through it myself. I take
them home and wash them before I use them. I normally get 1 or 2 trash
bags full so I'm good for a little while.

That's good. I may try that myself if I need more.

In article ,
Vic Smith wrote:

Best rags are all-cotton T-shirts. 100%, A+, 5 Star.

Nate says they're lousy. Who are we supposed to believe?

On 2/14/2011 9:56 PM, mm wrote:
On Mon, 14 Feb 2011 11:09:21 -0500, Tony Miklos
wrote:

On 2/13/2011 9:50 PM, mm wrote:
Two friends are arguing about rags. One says they have to be all
cotton to work well, and the other says 30 or 60 or 80% cotton and the
rest polyester will work well too.

Who is right?

They need to start collecting rags for a big cleaning job they have
coming up.

I'll let you guess who is the husband and who the wife.

100% cotton. The local Goodwill store throws out any clothing that is
dirty (it wouldn't pay for them to wash it). I stop in now and then and
ask for some cleaning rags. If they ask I specify 100% cotton, if not I
just throw out the polyester blends in the trash. Some days they have a
big pile going to the trash and I can pick through it myself. I take
them home and wash them before I use them. I normally get 1 or 2 trash
bags full so I'm good for a little while.

That's good. I may try that myself if I need more.

It makes it so easy to use them on really greasy stuff and throw them
out when they are free. Oh, for the rags that aren't real dirty, you
would be amazed how they turn out after hanging out in the rain and
drying in the sun. I reuse some of them quite a few times. And T-shirt
type material/weave is normally the best.

BTW, the Goodwill here is very picky about what they sell. Any little
spot of dirt on a t-shirt sends it to the trash, or if a bag a clothing
comes in from a smoking household, the bags get tossed in the dumpster.
I've washed some of my "rags" and kept them to wear. Other community
help type places that give out clothing to the poor come and steal out
of the Goodwill dumpster, that's how good the "bad" stuff is. Most
stores are not that picky so don't let that keep you from ever donating
old clothes.

On 2/14/2011 10:42 PM, Smitty Two wrote:
In ,
Vic wrote:

Best rags are all-cotton T-shirts. 100%, A+, 5 Star.

Nate says they're lousy. Who are we supposed to believe?

Me. I support the all cotton T-shirt movement. Quite often when one is
getting really dirty, I turn it inside out and it goes much further.

On Mon, 14 Feb 2011 23:25:09 -0500, Tony Miklos
wrote:

On 2/14/2011 9:56 PM, mm wrote:
On Mon, 14 Feb 2011 11:09:21 -0500, Tony Miklos
wrote:

On 2/13/2011 9:50 PM, mm wrote:
Two friends are arguing about rags. One says they have to be all
cotton to work well, and the other says 30 or 60 or 80% cotton and the
rest polyester will work well too.

Who is right?

They need to start collecting rags for a big cleaning job they have
coming up.

I'll let you guess who is the husband and who the wife.

100% cotton. The local Goodwill store throws out any clothing that is
dirty (it wouldn't pay for them to wash it). I stop in now and then and
ask for some cleaning rags. If they ask I specify 100% cotton, if not I
just throw out the polyester blends in the trash. Some days they have a
big pile going to the trash and I can pick through it myself. I take
them home and wash them before I use them. I normally get 1 or 2 trash
bags full so I'm good for a little while.

That's good. I may try that myself if I need more.

It makes it so easy to use them on really greasy stuff and throw them
out when they are free. Oh, for the rags that aren't real dirty, you
would be amazed how they turn out after hanging out in the rain and
drying in the sun. I reuse some of them quite a few times. And T-shirt
type material/weave is normally the best.

BTW, the Goodwill here is very picky about what they sell. Any little

I didn't mention this last night, but I actually went to the goodwill
yesterday, with two big bags of stuff a neighbor was too lazy or
ignorant to give to them and was just going to throw away.

The stuff was all washed, and only one thing, which was grey to begin
with, might have had dirt that wouldn't come out in the wash. I
couldn't tell.

A pair of jeans had a frayed part below the rear pocket. So I asked
the woman what they took. She said they took anything. I said, even
if has only one sleeve. Yes, she said. I asked about the frayed
jeans. She said they sell them that way! I didnt' ask about dirty,
because only that one thing might be dirty.

I asked about shipping it to foreign countries and she said they did
that, but didn't give details. My friend says they wrap them in
hundred or thousand pound bundles, and I think I saw that on tv.

spot of dirt on a t-shirt sends it to the trash, or if a bag a clothing
comes in from a smoking household, the bags get tossed in the dumpster.
I've washed some of my "rags" and kept them to wear. Other community
help type places that give out clothing to the poor come and steal out
of the Goodwill dumpster, that's how good the "bad" stuff is. Most
stores are not that picky so don't let that keep you from ever donating
old clothes.

That woudln't prevent me, but if they were just going to trash the
jeans, I might have saved them as some sort of abrasive rag.
Actually I don't know what jeans are good for, except once I had a 1
inch diameter round thermometer, with a suction cup, that I stuck to
the dashboard. It fell off repeatedly and one time it stayed on the
floor of the car with the dirty and stones, and the face was quite
scratched when I finally picket it up. Later, I aimlessly rubbed it
on the jeans I was wearing and it took out most of the scratches!!!