Rags Luandry and Not yelling wife help.

[Kyoritsu]

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.

That's not a bad price at all.
Working where I do I actually would have that kind of access but I just don't need that amount regularly.

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

My home depot tends toward not having some of the stupidest things, Same as my wall mart. The Depot will have say, an engraver but no new bits, wally world is small and will do such things as run out of window cleaner in the middle of road salt season. + they just aren't cheap stores up here. I think the small towns around here would kick them out if they put anymore mom and pops outta business.

Hope you get out of the doghouse soon.
Spyug

Everything was fine the moment I managed to get the smell out of the machine, took almost 2 weeks but, as Gomez Addams would say 'I'm feeling much better now'.
Thanks for the well wishes though.

I Just remembered I have a small old portable washer under the house that needs the level pressure tube replaced. Now that, I could smell up all I want if it worked....

still somebody in this huge forum must have some kinda tip or trick for gas/chemical smell that doesn't cost more than the towels did to begin with.

[Kyoritsu]

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?

That idea would have actually worked really well, and I keep a large fish tank (full of pond monsters I catch while fishing) so I do have a good amount of activated charcoal on hand at any time. Wish I had thought of that right away. But what i really want is to get the stink out before it gets the chance to mess up either of the machines. Some kinda chemical i can keep in a bucket to just toss used rags in.

[koolaid_kid]

Similar to Baatfam and themess, I toss those that are saturated with oil, wash the rest. I wash them just like Baatfam, twice with soap, wipe the drum, run a cycle or two of just soapy water, and everyone here is happy. Of course, that's just me.
I have a ton of the red shop towels, old bath towels for the big stuff, hand towels for the smaller stuff, etc. They look like crud, but who cares.

[Guest]

Oxy-Clean?

still somebody in this huge forum must have some kinda tip or trick for gas/chemical smell that doesn't cost more than the towels did to begin with.

Try soaking the just smelly, not horribly greasy rags in some sort of tub
with a lot of Oxy-Clean for at least over night.

[bonanzadave]

Rub GoJo hand cleaner on soiled (oil) cloths and rags. Amazing results ! Dont store any petrolum based soiled rags in anything but metal. They can spontaneously combust.

[979roadrunner]

+1 on go jo (or, for a nicer smell, they make fast orange without the scrubbing grit now, go jo has a smell of it's own my wife doesn't like)
Dawn dishwashing liquid breaks down oil pretty good.
rags with actual grease should be discarded, and rags with RTV are trash, for sure.
Gas soaked rags toss or they can be washed in small quantity at the coin-op.
at $10 for 100 I'd buy 100 and then get the blue or red disposables from the parts store for the nasty stuff.

[Kyoritsu]

Rub GoJo hand cleaner on soiled (oil) cloths and rags. Amazing results ! Dont store any petrolum based soiled rags in anything but metal. They can spontaneously combust.

This sounds like a good idea to try. Maybe I could get a loose lidded bigger container stick it in the corner of my work area under the house fill it with some oxy and gojo/fast orange (always got plenty of that) and just toss em in there till it's time to wash some rags. I've only thrown away about a third of the original purchase which leaves me with plenty to spare in limbo for a few weeks or so, and it'll act like a motorcycle pot-pori,, pot-pouri...pot-pouree.. what ever, it'll smell nice with the orange stuff. I'll give it a try today. If ever find time to fix that little washer down there once I stumble upon the magic chemical combination I can have a soak barrel then a machine that can stink all it wants. Now If one of my kids would just get old enough to do it for me, I mean learn the proper ways of conservation from his old man : ) (actually , and this is just bragging, my 4 yr old is pretty damn good at holding Daddies flashlight on one of those 3 handed jobs, so there is hope)

rags with actual grease should be discarded, and rags with RTV are trash, for sure.
Gas soaked rags toss or they can be washed in small quantity at the coin-op.
at $10 for 100 I'd buy 100 and then get the blue or red disposables from the parts store for the nasty stuff.

Once RTV dries you can throw that right in the machine no problem, the rag may have some hard spots on it but that just means theres some jobs you don't use it for and it's next in line for the real bad jobs. In my house the greasy rags come in multiple levels of dirtyness the magic rule being as long as the Rag is still able to be used without polluting the things your using it on, like if I'm wrist deep into the middle of a real greasy job and need to wipe my hands a bit I would grab a half greasy towel and use that till the jobs done chuck the old one and then start a new half greasy towel before I head into the house and touch anything important.

100 for $10 is a bad a** price and if I could wrangle in good rags (or even mediocre rags) at that price we would never have had this thread to begin with. I used to use the paper shops towels but then after working in a kitchen for so many years I've grown an aversion to throw away stuff, I mean I keep some on hand (don't, want to be washing stuff that comes from inside a kid or a dog) but why not just keep your towel/rag stock up instead and just wash them when a load full appears. On top of all that I now live in a place where giant black bears (it's funny no matter how big they are most times yelling at them just right will make-em leave, but nothing beats a ****ed off dog) and raccoons destroy your garbage if your not vigilant and the garbage gets to be transported 15-20 miles before you can get rid of it

Coin op used to be just my style, but these days I live in a set of small communities where everybody is at least familiar with most everybody else and not only would I probably get caught somehow but I'd end up feeling guilty for old Mr. so-an-so who owns the What-ever-O-mat, or the next poor schmo who ends up with their under wear smelling like a chemical plant.... actually that last one sounds kinda funny now that I've actually read it But of course the main factor is coin-op is way to expensive these days, I think a couple loads ends up over 10 bucks now.

[sschering]

It won't help with the rags (well it could but won't be worth it)

For heavy grease and oil stains in fabric try rubbing undiluted liquid dish soap into the stain by hand.. Scrub it a bit and toss it in the wash..

WOrks great for those time you come home form work and just have to check something in the shop then get greese all over your dress pants. (No I've never done that ohh several times ) FYI It also works to remove grease buildup around the stove in the kitchen.

As for Rags I get a big pack of the blue towels from Costco and a box of baby wipes.. Did you know those baby wipes will clean off damn near anything.. grease, oil, dirt, food and well you know

[Kyoritsu]

As for Rags I get a big pack of the blue towels from Costco and a box of baby wipes.. Did you know those baby wipes will clean off damn near anything.. grease, oil, dirt, food and well you know

We do a cost-co run once or twice a year, I'll have to remember to look for those. As far as babywipes go, I never thought to have them in the shop, it's funny cause they are just about every where else.

[lurch12_2000]

Why waste $, time, energy and water/cleaners to clean/reuse or buy rags? I use old t-shirts and recycle them by cutting them up into 8 sections. Makes a perfect size rag (about 1'x1'), best absorbent material(mostly cotton) without having the lint of using old towels, socks or sheets (but I use them too), non abrasive, and helps the recycling cause by giving them another use. Then I use them to start my backyard campfire with the kids for their 3rd and final use!
...there's an endless supply (and colors!) of unused t-shirts....charity events, useless gifts, sports teams, dumb logos and sayings, etc....most worn once or twice never to be used again anyway...be honest, you have 1 or 2 favorites and the others just take up space in you drawer....and it helps having lots of kids.

[bonanzadave]

1 or 2 favorites and the others just take up space in you drawer....and it helps having lots of kids.

Somehow the kid found my MN Northstars VS Pitts Penguins Stanley Cup finals t shirt and used it while changing his oil.......

[lurch12_2000]

Somehow the kid found my MN Northstars VS Pitts Penguins Stanley Cup finals t shirt and used it while changing his oil.......

...but did he cut it into 8 sections to maximize it's recycle value? If not, then just wash it and wear the stains as "battle scars"!
Besides, just like my Bruins shirts, are they really worth keeping?....

[sackman]

try using trisodium phosphate (TSP) to wash the rags in. Use really hot water in a five gallon plastic bucket. TYou can get it from walmart or a paint supply store.