Cleaning patches

[abunaitoo]

I've been using blue paper hand towels as patches.
Cheap and works well enough for me.
I've been meaning to try some Viva hand towels.
They are stornger and thicker than the blue ones.
Haven't bought patched for a long time.

[onelight]

I have a roll of blue towels will try them.
Thanks

[Uncle Grinch]

A very dear friend of mine, who passed away a few years ago used dryer sheets (after they were all used up ) for his patches. I tried them and was impressed how well they worked. They tend to have a scrubbing action due to their texture plus their inexpensive and you’re recycling at the same time your cleaning your bore.

[Bazoo]

I use old t shirts. Never thought of dryer sheets, I can see how they'd work well.

[RED BEAR]

Hey i will have to try the dryer sheets. As long as my dogs don't get them first .

[LAGS]

My wife takes a new dryer sheets and sits it in a frying pan that has stuff burnt on with some water.
She lets it soak over night.
The next morning, the burnt on stuff comes off easily.
I thought about stuffing the barrel of my MN with them and some water, and seeing if it could remove some of that sewer pipe crud.

[sparkyv]

I use old t shirts. Never thought of dryer sheets, I can see how they'd work well.

^^^This^^^

[Winger Ed.]

I cut up old underwear into patches. I hate to just throw them away,
and people give me strange looks when I use them in the garage for shop rags.

One time I told someone, "Toss me that rag over there".
They looked at it, took a screwdriver, and flung it to me.

Or, when I'm feeling really affluent, I'll get a flannel shirt at a garage sale for 50 cents, and cut it up.

[LAGS]

When I retired a few months ago, I cut up all my old work shirts and made cleaning patches out of them.
The company 9 years ago that fired me, I took all my old work shirts with their Logo on them, and gave them to the Homeless People standing on the freeway offramps next to their office.
The company went bankrupt three months later.
People thought all those homeless people were former employees.

[Bazoo]

Ed, I thought I and my uncle was the only ones to use old underwear for shop rags. I got a buddy that has that look if I use them in front of him. There is always a "those stains ain't from the oil" comment. I use them for rags on the gun table too , imagine a pair of stained Hanes hanging in the loading press.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

I use to cut T shirts up but i just use these now the last a long time https://www.amazon.com/Professionals-Choice-Flannel-Cleaning-Patches/dp/B00KJLTONO/ref=sr_1_5?hvadid=232429538119&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9021493&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=16677502235966708944&hvtargid=kwd-300166213092&keywords=bulk+gun+cleaning+patches&qid=1555985198&s=gateway&sr=8-5

[Winger Ed.]

When I retired a few months ago, I cut up all my old work shirts and made cleaning patches out of them.
The company 9 years ago that fired me, I took all my old work shirts with their Logo on them, and gave them to the Homeless People standing on the freeway offramps next to their office.
The company went bankrupt three months later.
People thought all those homeless people were former employees.


I'm ashamed of myself for laughing at that...…….

[LAGS]

Hay.
I clothed the homeless.
I did my good deed for the day.
Sure as heck that company would have never given them a job.
Maybe that is why they went broke.

[LynC2]

I'm ashamed of myself for laughing at that...…….

You weren't the only one! :mrgreen:

[Green Frog]

When I retired a few months ago, I cut up all my old work shirts and made cleaning patches out of them.
The company 9 years ago that fired me, I took all my old work shirts with their Logo on them, and gave them to the Homeless People standing on the freeway offramps next to their office.
The company went bankrupt three months later.
People thought all those homeless people were former employees.

:bigsmyl2::bigsmyl2::bigsmyl2::bigsmyl2::bigsmyl2:

[Burnt Fingers]

I use to cut T shirts up but i just use these now the last a long time https://www.amazon.com/Professionals-Choice-Flannel-Cleaning-Patches/dp/B00KJLTONO/ref=sr_1_5?hvadid=232429538119&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9021493&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=16677502235966708944&hvtargid=kwd-300166213092&keywords=bulk+gun+cleaning+patches&qid=1555985198&s=gateway&sr=8-5

You're paying way too much.

http://store.skylinecenter.com/Gun_Cleaning_Melt_Flow_Index_Patches_s/1.htm

http://www.proshotproducts.com/Bulk-Quantity-Cotton-Flannel-Patches_c_77.html

[Burnt Fingers]

Some of y'all must be really hard on underwear and tee shirts...or ya don't clean your guns much.

I go through a lot of patches. I haven't wore out a tee shirt or underwear in years. Not to mention I prefer flannel patches and don't wear flannel ANYTHING.

[Froogal]

I cleaned out the closet. Any shirts that were either worn out or had shrunk in the closet got cut up into squares for cleaning patches. Work shirts, flannel shirts, etc. All were fair game. I shouln't need to buy any cleaning patches for a long, long time.

[B R Shooter]

You're paying way too much.

http://store.skylinecenter.com/Gun_Cleaning_Melt_Flow_Index_Patches_s/1.htm

http://www.proshotproducts.com/Bulk-Quantity-Cotton-Flannel-Patches_c_77.html

There you go! I use Proshot patches mostly, 15-16 bucks for a thousand. Hard to justify taking the time to cut up stuff. When you shoot matches, you clean often so I go through more patches than most. I do use the blue towels, a friend can cut the roll into 1 1/2 wide rolls. They aren't as tough as cotton, but I usually run a soaked cotton patch first to get the bulk out, then I can go to the blue. I finish with a cotton to look for fouling color.

Never heard of the skyline website, they are cheaper than Proshot!

[Winger Ed.]

Some of y'all must be really hard on underwear and tee shirts...or ya don't clean your guns much.
I haven't wore out a tee shirt or underwear in years.


I have a buddy like that. I think he goes 'camando'

[Bazoo]

I only get bout a year out of a tshirt. My gun wears little holes in it on the starboard side and my flashlight and reload wear holes on the port side. I have dehorned all of it but still get the wear. Guess it's just the cost you pay for being armed 24/7.

[1911sw45]

You get that wear pattern too Bazoo?

[Thunder1964]

Picked up some flannel remants form fabric shop and cut them up. $4.00 for 250 patches.

[StrawHat]

I wait for cotton balls to go on sale. They work great for swabbing a bore.

Kevin

[abunaitoo]

I'll have to try some drier sheets.
I wrap my patch around a long jag.
MONTANA X-TREME
Not poked through the center.

[Bazoo]

You get that wear pattern too Bazoo?

Wife says it looks like someone shot me with a 410.

[Shopdog]

Viva here,wrapped around a 1 or 2 size smaller,bronze brush. I like the length of this system vs patches on jags.The white is easier to see the black powder fouling. 90% of my CB cleaning is dry mopping,so am looking at the white for several indicators. We have all manor of equipment to cut the rolls down,my favorite is a 1939 16" W/T bandsaw but,don't cut the rolls anymore...... just pull off a sheet,tear it,wrap it,shove it.

The dryer sheets have been on the "roundtoit" list for sometime now. Good luck with your project.

[gnoahhh]

All my life I've gone to fabric shops and bought white flannel by the yard and cut it into custom sized patches suitable for whatever job was at hand. It's dirt cheap and has saved me from buying any "store bought" patches, ever. Then, a couple years ago I hit the mother lode. I scored three huge bolts of white flannel at a yard sale- six feet long and over a foot in diameter, all of them- enough for cleaning patches for myself and my friends for the rest of our lives. The best part: $15 total for all three of them. Life is good.

[Froogal]

Wife says it looks like someone shot me with a 410.

Shortly after my tee shirts look like that is when they usually fall apart in the washing machine. THEN they get retired.

[Streetwalker]

Being naturally frugal, I still use old T shirts for my patches. I am always on the lookout for inexpensive sheets of any kind, especially flannel ones, at flea markets and garage sales. It's amazing how many patches can be cut from those sheets on cold, snowbound winter nights!

[B R Shooter]

For those that cut their own patches, it may be worth while, in the interest of time, to get a cutting mat and a rotary cutter. My wife is a quilter and uses these rotary cutters, they are THE way to cut fabric. Fast, accurate, good stuff!

[Bazoo]

When I have to cut patches I normally just cut what I need when I'm cleaning. Maybe half a dozen more for those in between sessions. I am using patches I got off the PIF section as well as cutting my own at present. Cutting patches as needed doesnt add but a few minutes to the cleaning session, if I cut them all at once it'd become work in short order.

[izzyjoe]

I use old shirts, and under drawers for patches. Years ago my first gun cleaning kit had a box of flannel material that you cut you're own size patches, I guess that what ever works for you. I find that store bought patches don't work well with certain calibers. 50 cal is one of them!

[John Boy]

Harry Pope used cotton balls. THy work better than flannel or cotton cloth patches
Plus the price is right for balls that will clean any caliber bore ...
100 for a buck at Best Buy or Dollar General

[abunaitoo]

Got around to trying drier sheets.
Really thin, so I used three of them at once.
Worked well.
It kind of had a scrubbing action to it.
Still had to use a paper one for the last go through.
Going to try and wrap it around a cloth patch for the first clean out.

[greenwart]

I thought I was the only one frugal enough to cut up old shirts for gun patches. If it is worn enough to get rid of the thrift stores dont want it so I will cut it up while watching a ball game. Those nice white corporate button downs are the most pleasent to cut into shreds. Down to one white shirt and a couple of ties for funerals and weddings.