I understand store bought tack cloths leave a residue that can interfere
with a stain or finish.
I can brush, vacuum and blow air to remove surface sanding dust but still
some dust remains.

How can I make my own cloth to pick up sanding dust. Ive heard simply a
cloth spayed with Endust is the best.

any thoughts?

trs80 wrote:
I understand store bought tack cloths leave a residue that can interfere
with a stain or finish.

As far as I know, the standard varnish-based tack cloths could only
interfere with water-based finishes. I've never had any problems when
using them before various oil-based finishes - tung oil, danish oil,
urethane varnish, poly gel, etc. If I were using a water-based finish,
I'd probably wipe down the workpiece with a water-dampened rag, sand
lightly if grain was raised, and then wipe it down again.
Good luck,
Andy

The following are instructions for making tack clothes which I found in
a very old book on finishing methods published by Rockwell-Delta (just
goes to show how old the book is).
A well worn cotton handkerchief makes the the best tack rag. It should
be soaked in warm water, then wrung out lightly. The clothe is
sprinkled with turpentine, after which about two teaspoonfulls of
varnish are poured on. The clothe is then folded and twisted, repeating
this operation several times until the clothe is nearly dry.
The rags can be kept in good condition by lightly sprinkling with water
and turpentine, folding and storing in an airtight container.
You will have to make your own "make or buy" decision.

Joe G
trs80 wrote:
I understand store bought tack cloths leave a residue that can interfere
with a stain or finish.
I can brush, vacuum and blow air to remove surface sanding dust but still
some dust remains.

How can I make my own cloth to pick up sanding dust. Ive heard simply a
cloth spayed with Endust is the best.

any thoughts?

trs80 wrote:
I understand store bought tack cloths leave a residue that can interfere
with a stain or finish.
I can brush, vacuum and blow air to remove surface sanding dust but still
some dust remains.

How can I make my own cloth to pick up sanding dust. Ive heard simply a
cloth spayed with Endust is the best.

Store bought (varnish) tack rags only interfere with water based
products. Any oil, solvent, or alcohol based product shouldn't be affected.

To "tack down" in preparation for a water base finish, blow or vacuum
off as well as you can. Then, _lightly_ dampen a lint-free cloth and
wipe the dust off in one direction only. Fold the rag to a clean spot
often. Since the first coat of water based sanding sealer will raise the
grain anyway, I usually wait to re-sand until after the sanding sealer coat.

If I've stained with an oil based or NGR stain, or if I've colored the
wood with BLO or shellac, the water based sealer or cloth won't raise
the grain much. The oil and/or stain binder seals the surface enough to
seal out a lightly dampened cloth.

I don't bother with a tack cloth before staining, compressed air or a
vacuum is good enough for me at that point.

I wouldn't spray anything with Endust at anytime in a finishing process.
In fact, I don't want Endust, Pledge, Armor All, etc... in the shop.

I have good results using a Microfiber tack cloth I found at Lowe's, I
believe it's made by Norton or 3M. It does not use any chemicals to
attract dust but requires washing to rid the cloth of dust.

Auto paint stores carry several varieties of tack rags, most of which are
wax and silicone free. I have been using the lowest tack of these clothes
for some time, tacking surfaces before each coat of water-based finishes. I
have had no problems with adhesion of the coats or fish eyes in the finish.
My neighbor, being somewhat reluctant to use tack rags in general, now uses
these auto-store-rags all the time also with no problems. I do not trust
the tack rags sold at the BORGs for good reason - I had numerous problems
with these before switching to the wax and silicone free ones from auto
paint stores.


"trs80" wrote in message
...
I understand store bought tack cloths leave a residue that can interfere
with a stain or finish.
I can brush, vacuum and blow air to remove surface sanding dust but still
some dust remains.

How can I make my own cloth to pick up sanding dust. Ive heard simply a
cloth spayed with Endust is the best.

any thoughts?

In article , "trs80" wrote:
I understand store bought tack cloths leave a residue that can interfere
with a stain or finish.

You understand correctly. At least partially: any solvent-based tack cloth has
the potential to interfere with a water-based finish, and vice versa.

I can brush, vacuum and blow air to remove surface sanding dust but still
some dust remains.

Yep, that's why tack cloths were invented... :-)

How can I make my own cloth to pick up sanding dust. Ive heard simply a
cloth spayed with Endust is the best.

I've had *very* good results using microfiber cloths. I bought a couple of
small ones at AutoZone for about five bucks. You can also get microfiber
fabric by the yard at some fabric stores, and lately they're available as
dishcloths too. No need to apply anything at all to them, just wipe them
across the wood. It's astonishing how much dust a microfiber cloth will pick
up from a board that you would have sworn was clean -- even after vacuuming
and blowing off with compressed air, there still remains a *lot* of dust that
a microfiber cloth will pick up.

I don't use anything else now.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

"Seeker" wrote in message
...
I have good results using a Microfiber tack cloth I found at Lowe's, I
believe it's made by Norton or 3M. It does not use any chemicals to attract
dust but requires washing to rid the cloth of dust.

You can get 16 x16 microfiber cloths at Sams Club for about $12 per 25
pieces.

"trs80" wrote in message
...
I understand store bought tack cloths leave a residue that can interfere
with a stain or finish.

Seems ironic that a product that is used to prep a surface for paint or
varnish would interfere with the application of that product.





I can brush, vacuum and blow air to remove surface sanding dust but still
some dust remains.

How can I make my own cloth to pick up sanding dust. Ive heard simply a
cloth spayed with Endust is the best.

I don't think so.

Doug Miller wrote:

I don't use anything else now.


That sounds interesting.

Which finishes have you used since the switch?

In article , B A R R Y wrote:
Doug Miller wrote:

I don't use anything else now.


That sounds interesting.

Which finishes have you used since the switch?

Shellac, and two different brands of wipe-on poly. Results are much smoother,
with far less sanding between coats, and with lighter grits besides.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

Doug Miller wrote:

Shellac, and two different brands of wipe-on poly. Results are much smoother,
with far less sanding between coats, and with lighter grits besides.


Water or oil poly?

Cleaning supply houses have packages of yellow microfiber dust cloths,
the size of double roll paper towel packages, for under $7. I love how
well they work on the car and so want them to work in the shop. G

In article , B A R R Y wrote:
Doug Miller wrote:

Shellac, and two different brands of wipe-on poly. Results are much smoother,
with far less sanding between coats, and with lighter grits besides.


Water or oil poly?

Oil; sorry, should've thought to specify that.

Cleaning supply houses have packages of yellow microfiber dust cloths,
the size of double roll paper towel packages, for under $7. I love how
well they work on the car and so want them to work in the shop. G

Give it a try. If my experience is any indication, you'll be pleased. They're
pretty good for cleaning up in the kitchen, too.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

great tips. thanks
"trs80" wrote in message
...
I understand store bought tack cloths leave a residue that can interfere
with a stain or finish.
I can brush, vacuum and blow air to remove surface sanding dust but still
some dust remains.

How can I make my own cloth to pick up sanding dust. Ive heard simply a
cloth spayed with Endust is the best.

any thoughts?

Give it a try. If my experience is any indication, you'll be pleased. They're
pretty good for cleaning up in the kitchen, too.

Can you just throw them in the washer once they've been used a little
while, or is there some other way to clean/recharge them? Do they
actually rely on some kind of electrostatic principle to pick up dust,
or is just a physical property of the fibers that captures a lot of
dust?
Thanks,
Andy

In article .com, "Andy" wrote:
Give it a try. If my experience is any indication, you'll be pleased. They're
pretty good for cleaning up in the kitchen, too.

Can you just throw them in the washer once they've been used a little
while, or is there some other way to clean/recharge them?

I just rinse them by hand in the sink, wring them out, and hang them up to
dry.

Do they
actually rely on some kind of electrostatic principle to pick up dust,
or is just a physical property of the fibers that captures a lot of
dust?

Physical property of the fibers. They're very, very fine (whence the name
"microfiber") and thus the surface area of the cloth is much greater, so it
can hold a lot more dust.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

On Jan 24, 4:05 pm, (Doug Miller) wrote:
Physical property of the fibers. They're very, very fine (whence the name
"microfiber") and thus the surface area of the cloth is much greater, so it
can hold a lot more dust.

Thanks Doug (and others)! Maybe I'll have to try one of those - I
think there's one collecting dust (pardon the pun) under our sink right
now - LOML prefers the disposable swiffer pads.
Andy

Doug Miller wrote:

Give it a try. If my experience is any indication, you'll be pleased. They're
pretty good for cleaning up in the kitchen, too.

This weekend, I'm going to try some birch ply test panels with sprayed
Ultrastar, Ultrastar sanding sealer, and Sealcoat using the yellow
janitorial supply cloths I have.

I plan on three panels. One with 3 coats of Ultrastar, one with one
coat of US SS and two top coats, and the last with Sealcoat and two
coats of Ultrastar. I'll use the dust cloths for initial pickup and
cleaning the scuff waste off.

I'll post results next week. G

"Andy" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Jan 24, 4:05 pm, (Doug Miller) wrote:
Physical property of the fibers. They're very, very fine (whence the name
"microfiber") and thus the surface area of the cloth is much greater, so
it
can hold a lot more dust.

Thanks Doug (and others)! Maybe I'll have to try one of those - I
think there's one collecting dust (pardon the pun) under our sink right
now - LOML prefers the disposable swiffer pads.
Andy


For best results micro fiber towels should be washed and dried by them
selves and or with items that do not produce lint. Additionally you should
not use anti static sheets in the dryer when drying micro fiber towels.

In article ,
"Leon" wrote:

I have good results using a Microfiber tack cloth I found at Lowe's, I
believe it's made by Norton or 3M. It does not use any chemicals to attract
dust but requires washing to rid the cloth of dust.

You can get 16 x16 microfiber cloths at Sams Club for about $12 per 25
pieces.

You can buy microfiber cloth by the yard at your local fabric store.
However, unless you can get it on sale for less than $3.50/yd, the Sams'
version is cheaper.

--
"Keep your ass behind you."