What do you do with your greasy shop rags?

[Scooby074]

The reason i was wanting a safety can was because i use alot of lacquer thinner and that presents a real flamibility hazard relative to oil and grease.

Interesting discussion on the self ignition issue, learned something there.

Ive pretty much stopped using cotton rags, and have begun using the Kimberly Clark Workhorse manufactured rags. Ive had great luck with them. Another good product is by Baywest, similar to the KC ones but quite abit cheaper.

 

[firemanpat2910]

on a funny side note, my buddy Rhett has a wife that keeps the rag pile full of "old t shirts" and I can think of several times that me and other buddies have reached in for a rag and the shirt we pulled out was better than the ones we were wearing!!! If she sees a tiny spot or if she thinks the image is too faded its off to the rag pile. Poor guy cant even get a shirt broken in good and she throws it out. We have changed into a 'RAG" before going to the parts house, or hardware store. Its become a running joke. Every time he has on a shirt I like I tell his wife theres a spot on it LOL

 

[intel]

This thread reminded me of a time my dad had a cow that lost her cud (Chew) and he took a greasy rag forced it down her throat to get her burping again, it worked.
Makes sense i remember swallowing gas (trying to siphon from the farm truck for the tractor) and burping it up for 3 days.
Dad made me drink a gallon of milk and told me not to swallow it next time.

 

[escavader]

This thread reminded me of a time my dad had a cow that lost her cud (Chew) and he took a greasy rag forced it down her throat to get her burping again, it worked.
Makes sense i remember swallowing gas (trying to siphon from the farm truck for the tractor) and burping it up for 3 days.
Dad made me drink a gallon of milk and told me not to swallow it next time.

Gas is bad ,but i think kerosene taste even worse.Been syphoning some lately

 

[Mike Costello]

In 2004 I built a 2157 sq. ft. log home. During construction, I made sure every day before I left anything that could remotely self combust was removed from the structure. To further protect the home, I used only water based stains.

Another fellow in my area wasn't so lucky. He had built this beautiful monster log home and was within a week of move in when oily rags tossed into the corner of a room ignited the log wall. Warm weather and a few hours was all it took. He had also used oil based stains which only added to the problem. Result: The home was a total loss.

 

[radioman]

I just washed mine today at home while wife was at work. She just came home and now doing the laundry- she usually do it on Tuesdays. Now I gotta wait and see if I have to go to the doghouse tomorrow or not I quickly hid the freshly laundered rags on the tractor.

 

[Nissan197]

I throw mine away or burn them. I don't use too many of them. I usually grab the old socks and tee shirts to use. I know the local mechanic has a cleaning company pick his up and they launder them.

 

[ArTrvlr]

I just washed mine today at home while wife was at work. She just came home and now doing the laundry- she usually do it on Tuesdays. Now I gotta wait and see if I have to go to the doghouse tomorrow or not I quickly hid the freshly laundered rags on the tractor.

I tried washing some one time at home. (with full knowledge and permission of the wife) I washed them 5 or 6 times with Simple Green and Purple Power. Also used whatever she uses on clothes. Also added some Dawn dish liquid. They never came really clean, there were never any soap suds while they were washing, the grease/oil killed the suds as soon as they started to wash. I finally took them out and gave up. The inside of the washer was a mess. I put several pair of clean coveralls and jeans in and washed them twice just to clean up the inside of the washer. I think the real problem was I had just a few rags with grease on them, instead of just oil and dirt. I am not sure I will ever try it again, but if I do I will make sure there is NO grease on any of the rags. That shouldn't be hard to do because since that experience I have been using rags for everything EXCEPT wiping grease. For that I now use paper towels.
Live and learn... actually I had a feeling it was going to be a mess, but sometimes you just gotta see for yourself
jp

 

[Bird]

I throw mine away or burn them. I don't use too many of them. I usually grab the old socks and tee shirts to use. I know the local mechanic has a cleaning company pick his up and they launder them.

Even in the '50s, I think all service stations and garages had a company that regularly picked up the dirty red rags and delivered clean ones, and I think most still do. But I don't remember what it cost us. I do know they use some pretty harsh chemicals for cleaning them, so I wouldn't recommend them for wiping the sweat off your face, although most people are probably not allergic to whatever they use.

 

[charlz]

I tried washing some one time at home. (with full knowledge and permission of the wife) I washed them 5 or 6 times with Simple Green and Purple Power. Also used whatever she uses on clothes. Also added some Dawn dish liquid. They never came really clean, there were never any soap suds while they were washing, the grease/oil killed the suds as soon as they started to wash.

I saw a show once that said to pour a can of Coke in with your oily/greasy coveralls etc. sure enough it works (at least for top loaders or washers that use a full amount of water). Apparently the acid in the Coke is enough to help break up the oil and grease.

I washed some work jeans in my wife's new front loader on the 'sanitary' mode and they came out almost as clean as new. I think it washed for a long time on that setting though.