I am a novice work worker, in the final stages of applying an oil finish to a cherry chest of drawers. I’ve tried big-box-stores Box O’ Rags, the high end paint store Box O’ Rags and so far haven’t found anything better than a cut up old cotton T-Shirt for both applying the oil, removing the excess and the final rub out of the final finish.
Am I missing some secret material or system that everyone else knows about ?
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From what I read and personal experiences, an old coton t-shirt is ideal. I again proved it today by using it to final wipe a water based stain over a large maple tabletop and it performed flawlessly.
Nope, don’t think you’re wrong. I found a good online supplier of 100% cotton bags o’ rags. Old hotel pillowcases as best I can tell. Cheap as chips, and all pure white, which is nice, I guess, but hardly essential for 99.9% of jobs. Main advantage I can see for that over t-shirts is quantity, as the rate I go through rags, I’d be buying a new wardrobe every month just to feed my habit. Which might not work anyway, as I have a theory that, in the “old cotton t-shirt” formula, the “old” is nearly as important as the “cotton” bit — repeated washing fatiguing the fibres or something like that. Hence why hotel sheets work. Could be nonsense, of course, but it seems to make sense.
I like old shirts too. I think what makes them so good is that they've been washed a couple hundred times, the loose lint is long gone, and they're nice and soft. But I'm just speculating.
for smaller things, I like to use old socks as well.
Plus 1 on the old shirts. Having said that, there is something I found that works even better, IMO. That is a cloth diaper - used, but cleaned (that's one "t" in but). The "used" kind has all of the qualities of the shirt (loose lint removed, soft, etc), but they are thicker and more absorbent. And, the darker stains blend right in with ... never mind - scratch that. New ones work as well, but wash them up a couple of times to get the lint out.
stantheman-I hadn't considered using old socks. Great suggestion, as 90% of the time I cut the T shirt up into pieces of various sizes anyway.
SPOG_UK- I'm curious about the "the old hotel pillow cases", as here in the US most are not pure cotton, AND they are woven, not knit like a T shirt. Do you have issues with loose threads and such when you cut them down?
I actually don't wear T shirts all that much so I periodically have to prowl the thrift shops for them. I don't think color really mattes, though I prefer white or light tints. The older, the better. I try to avoid those with printed areas on them so that I don't have to take that into account when I'm working with them to get a smooth surface against the wood.
The one thing I keep telling myself is too cut them up and wash them one last time before I use them. Off times, if I'm cutting them just ahead of the task, the new cut edges can throw off tiny cloth bits.
Pretty sure it’s 100% — passes the “burn test” anyway. And honestly can’t say anything with certainty re woven vs knit; wouldn’t be confident spotting the difference. Haven’t had problems with loose fibres or lint, and relatively texture-free, at least as far as leaving striations on finishes or such. Reason I assume hotel sheets is they come precut into ~1 ft squares, most with a seam, but found a label on one once. Confirmed the cotton, and mentioned some kind of bedding (it was a long time ago, so can’t recall the manufacturer brand). Wondered where the hell someone would get that volume of fairly similar, cotton, white bedding, as they surely wouldn’t be sorting through scrap textiles, not for the price. Hotels were the only place I could think of. Maybe hospitals, but I doubt they’d be pure cotton. Could be wrong on that. So have always just had it filed in my head as being from hotels!
+1 on the old cotton knit t-shirt material. I buy boxes of T-shirt material at the local professional painter's supply store. They have 10 Lb, 15 Lb etc. boxes at a good price. Random sizes and shapes, all reasonably large.
I guess I pay attention to my rags...
Cotton t-shirts are high on my list for general purpose rags. I'm currently enjoying a pair of worn out flannel sheets (not for finishing, as they will always drop lint.) For applying heavy coats of wipe-on varnish, a small square of a bath towel is preferred. For medium coats, t-shirt. For the final thin coat to bring back the sheen after steel-wooling the next to last coat, a square of a man's old handkerchief wrapped around a ball of cotton is perfect. The handkerchief has lost all its lint, and has a very high thread count, so doesn't leave tracks in the finish. The cotton ball holds the finish and releases it evenly and predictably. (This is basically what people use to apply final shellac coats of French polish.)
Socks are great but not for applying finish -- too much texture in the knit. And the modern wicking fabrics are not worth much as rags.
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