Stupid question about rags

[mariposa]

What do you do with dirty rags?

The rag I use to degrease my bikes, is now so disgusting that it seems to 'grease' them more than degrease them!

1. Launder them? (obviously, separately from clothes)
2. Throw away and start with a new one?

Hmmmm.

[froglegs]

With greasy rags, I tend to throw them away and use a new one. It's just not worth the hassle of trying to clean them (maybe I'm lazy).

[Zen]

There's another thread about that here somewhere but I think the consensus was wash and reuse until they fall apart.

[OakLeaf]

Really a couple of issues here.

If you're going to launder them, it needs to be in a separate machine from your regular laundry, not just a separate load, because they will leave residue. Some laundromats in working-class areas have a machine reserved for greasy loads. Or you could find a cheap used washing machine.

The other issue is where all those toxic chemicals go after they've left your rags. That's another reason why we use paper towels. (The heavy duty blue or white shop-towels-in-a-box.) I figure in the landfill they at least *try* to keep liquids from leaching out, rather than intentionally sending those chemicals into the water supply in the laundry.

Maybe if you have a simpatico LBS you could get a group of home mechanics together to "sublet" rags through their shop towel service. Although even there, in the US some regulations were passed a year or two ago that allow towel services to pass a lot more toxics into the water supply, rather than wringing them out. :mad:

[bmccasland]

Toss appropriately and get new rags - isn't that what old T-shirts are for? Also be careful with the rags, some solvents will self combust. I think one of the most embarrassing house fires I fought was that of a fire captain's who had solvent soaked rags stored under the kitchen sink. Didn't help his ego that he lived in a different community that the one where he was a captain. Still, there was professional courtesy - in the papers the fire source was "under investigation."

[Zen]

Here's the thread-
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=17750&highlight=washing

I just don't have that many old T-shirts

[margo49]

Well, perhaps it depends on what the rag was before it was a rag.

Like if it was a new kitchen towel that you grabbed and then ruined using on the bike or if it was a very old saintly t-shirt that had been set aside for eventual use as a "rag"