How To Wash Greasy Bike Rags???

[OakLeaf]

Some laundromats have a washer dedicated for greasy clothes. It might be worth checking out.

But honestly, I hate the idea of washing all that stuff down the drain. I think it's actually more environmentally responsible to send paper towels to the landfill where at least there's supposed to be an impermeable liner to keep it from getting into the water.

I use rags to wash my frame, they do get greasy, and I confess to using Chicken Little's method on them. But for the drivetrain itself, with that amount of chain lube on it, I use disposable towels.

[Bike Chick]

I use one of these for cleaning my chain and never have to touch the chain with a rag. I add Simple Green and it cleans the chain right up. It's one of the best inventions ever. I use rags to wash the rest of my bike, but they never get so nasty that washing them is a problem since I keep them away from the chain.

[HillSlugger]

I use old t-shirts, etc and then throw them away when I'm done. I don't want to grime up my washer and I figure I'm already doing some recycling this way.

[margrette]

I'm with hillslugger on this one. The BF and I both live in white t-shirts and when they've run their course as t-shirts they live again as bike rags until they start putting grease back on the bike and then into the garbage they go.

[malkin]

Cleaning greasy cloth requires a lot of water and a lot of energy to heat that water, so you have to decide how to allocate resources. A small addition to landfill or water and energy to preserve and reuse the rags.

Around here, rags are in abundant supply, thanks to white t-shirts, pillow cases, bar towels, kitchen towels, and bath towels. Once a bit of cloth has made it down the devolutionary ladder to become a greasy mess, it goes in the trash. If we went camping, I'd probably use them for fire starters.

[shootingstar]

I would tend to use a rag that I would throw away. Too much effort (water, scrubbing, detergent) to wash such dirty rags, especially bike related grease or any type of heavy grease that is not digestible by humans.

I can't imagine trying to wash such rags with other type of laundry at all. Therefore not worth it.

[DebW]

In our shop used rags get thrown in a metal trash can until the rag cleaning company picks them up and drops off a new batch. They have to be treated as hazardous waste, so I guess the shop pays a significant price to have them washed and the wash water disposed of properly. At home I use paper towels or old T-shirts that I toss out after use.