Any one wash their Tow or cotton cleaning patches?

[C. Cash]

Just wondering if folks have ever tried washing out their cleaning patches or tow and what were the results?  ML's can sure gobble up the cotton and wonder if our ancestors did not rewash their material?  I was thinking of some kind of bag to hold them, tossed into a strong running creek or similar(I use only water or ballistol for my cleaning so nothing really nasty going in the water).  Maybe a little detergent to help the process.  Has anyone done anything similar?

[bob in the woods]

I rinse out my tow in a cup or pot of water. It is till stained, but works fine. The more you use it the softer it gets.
When it is not good for cleaning anymore, use it to start a fire .   I don't buy patches . I buy flannel by the metre/yard at the fabric store.

[Natureboy]

  Gunsmith Peter Alexander, in "The Gunsmith of Grenville County," says to put dirty patch material in an old pillow case, knot the open end, and throw it into the washing machine.

[WadePatton]

Since discovering the usefulness of tow, i've not had any need for cleaning patches.

I keep my sooty tow and my oily tow separated.  The sooty tow cleans up (enough) with fingers and water.

The oily tow doesn't need washing. 

I'm sure machines and detergents could be used, but that's not my style.  If it were, i'd use a knotted sock.  Women have been machine washing delicates inside cloth bags for as long as there have been machine washers.  Just ask one.

Cotton patching should clean up just the same.

smoke 'em if you got 'em.

[Nate McKenzie]

  Gunsmith Peter Alexander, in "The Gunsmith of Grenville County," says to put dirty patch material in an old pillow case, knot the open end, and throw it into the washing machine.

Sounds like grounds for divorce or at least a good fight!!

[Gary Tucker]

I've washed my cotton cleaning patches for years.  I actually believe they work better after washed the first time.  We have a concrete sink in the basement where I dump them out and wash with laundry detergent, and rinse a couple of times.  I even wash the oiled patches.  Of course I have been called "squeekie tight" by some of my buddies.
I don't have enough nerve to put them in the washer.

[Virginiarifleman]

I use pillow ticking. I wash it before using it to get the stiffness out of it.

[C. Cash]

Thanks all!   Your input Is very much appreciated on this. I've been buying bolts of flannel at Wallyworld, when the price of patches skyrocketed and I got tired of cutting up t shirts.   But even these get eaten up quickly when your shooting shotguns and multiple muzzloaders.  Plus, I figured it might be good to know all this as materials may be hard to get for us at times.  I think many of us are like minded in trying to simplify and use less to get the desired results.....seems to be a part of the muzzleloader mindset and is part of the fun.

[satwel]

When I was shooting a lot more, I used to wash my flannel patches, two or three times before discarding. I buy diaper flannel by the yard from Joanne's Fabrics and cut it into 2" x 2" squares while I watch football and hockey games.

Can someone please suggest a source for tow? I've always wanted to try it.

[Hessian]

I put mine in a small jar with a little soap/detergent & shake it to remove most of the crud. Change the water a couple of times, squeeze them out & use them again. (I use soap/water & ballistol for cleaning)
Hessian

[mjm46@bellsouth.net]

I think the cost or effort of cleaning, cleaning patches is a bit overkill. Just toss them in the trash.

[WadePatton]

Can someone please suggest a source for tow? I've always wanted to try it.

some sources in this thread, as well as a link to Nate's tutorial.

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=31360.0


sources:

http://www.flaxforsale.com/html/the_store.html

http://www.woolery.com/store/pc/Flax-Hemp-Bamboo-Ramie-Fibers-c66.htm


Trick is to look for spinning materials and not gun cleaning fodder.  

[WadePatton]

I think the cost or effort of cleaning, cleaning patches is a bit overkill. Just toss them in the trash.

I prefer to never run out or to buy any more ever because i no longer discard my cleaning materials.  Tow is going to hold up for a long time cleaning and washing, fabric patches will fray out eventually i expect.

Heck I reshoot my denim patches every chance i get.  Just don't lick them the second time .  They do start to fray after the second shot, but would likely be fine for a third.



(i'm not real good at throwing stuff away when there's "life" left in it)

[Daryl]

I buy flannelette by the yard of meter at the sewing store.  It takes only one patch on the jab to clean the gun and 4 or 5 to dry it, then one to oil. The 4 or 5 + oiling patch are reusable as the drying patches are only wet, not dirty.  

The dirty patch used for cleaning, once rinsed out, is only stained and is reusable next time as well. After about 3 uses for cleaning, it is discarded as it's getting a bit ragged.

This type of cleaning, of course, is when the barrel is removed from the gun and the breech of the barrel is immersed in water. The water is sucked into the bore and blasted out using a patch on a jag - in and out, in and out about 20 strokes cleans the bore of ALL fouling. Then the bore is dried, WD40 blasted, then patched out, wiped down, reassembled and stored muzzle down until next time.

It takes about 10 to 15 minutes to clean a muzzleloader, is all. It takes longer to clean ANY of my modern guns, other than my Sharps. The Sharps is a wet patch, dried with 2 then oiled - done. All of those are reusable as well.  Flannelette - best cleaning material there is - doubled  - as long as the JAG is filed or sized (electric drill in a vise makes a quickie lathe for reducing jags in size) to hold a double layer of it. The doubled flannelette  will get down into the deepest of grooves.

[bob in the woods]

A long time ago,  I got in the habit of using one size down Jag for my muzzleloader cleaning. i.e. a .50 in my .54,  .45 in the .50 etc.   This let me get 2 decent sized patches in the bore and cleaned and dried much better...

[Jerry V Lape]

Several years ago on this board someone told us about Angus.  They always knew he as thrifty because they saw him pickup the road apples and throwing them into his fields for fertilizer.  But then they saw him lick his fingers and spit over the fence and realized he was just cheap! 

[EC121]

Washing the new cotton patches gets the manufacturing sizing out of the material and fluffs it up.  It soaks up the lube or cleaning liquid better.  Washing the used cleaning patches also works.  I put them in a bucket with a little soap and slosh them around by hand then spread them on the well house roof to dry. 

[yardhunter]

I think the cost or effort of cleaning, cleaning patches is a bit overkill. Just toss them in the trash.

I agree with you. Not worth the hassle.

[Kermit]

I'm with Daryl, but I toss that dirty cleaning patch. I'd rather recover and recast balls, but don't do that either. 

[Calaloo]

Two pound coffee can, a few marbles, and a dash of laundry detergent add water and agitate for about a minute. Rinse the same way a couple of times. Costs way less than new patches and they work just as well or better.

Bill

[C. Cash]

I will give her a try with the coffee can. I should have known you guys would have tried this....ha!  I would like to get into a habit of doing more with less and it has always bothered me to go through so much cotton.  If its closer to how they did it, even better.  Thanks to all!   Very fun to keep learning.

[WadePatton]

A few squeezes of the tow in water flushes mine plenty clean to dry and use again.   Keeps it simple for me.

[t.caster]

Nobody mentioned garage sales! I get 100% cotton baby receiving blankets and sometimes full sized flannel blankets REALLY CHEAP (5 to 50 cents) and cut them up on a guilotine type cutting board.