I used to buy bags of rectangular cotton rags from home depot. They were 100% cotton, not too thick, folded up nicely, didn’t have any texture to them, and there were a million of them in a bag.
All I see at home depot now is various paper products, those thick red dyed polishing cloths, mixed t-tshirt rags, tiny packs (6 rags for $5!) of thicker textured rags, and terry cloth.
T-Shirt rags are the best of those options but they aren’t a consistent size. I really want a cheap thin, rectangular rag with no dyes in it.
Does anyone have a recommended supplier that fits the bill?
Sam’s club has shop rags that are consistent sized. Um might be had, I just checked they didn’t come up except for terry cloth. Consistent supply of either terry cloth or shop rags has been a challenge since Covid happened.
The rags I’m talking about are like these but were just tanish… no dye.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Auto-Mechanic-Shop-towels-Rags-Nabob-Wipers-100-Cotton-Commercial-Grade-Perfect-Home-Garage-Auto-Body-14x14-inches-25-Pack-Red/398910590?from=/search
Assuming that color wont bleed in solvents, thats definitely a better deal then what i’ve seen at home depot lately. However, I’m still looking for something with a similar thickness as t-shirt material but in cut rectangles. I know its oddly specific but when applying finishes you end up treating a ton of rags as one time use.
I would not get the red ones, look for the tan. I use those with acetone a lot and have not had issues.
Surgical drapes are a great source of high quality shop rags. There are plenty of laundry services that sell them. I think they get a single use, then they wash and sanitize them and sell them by the bag full.