If you can wash Tow why not cleaning patches ?

[recurve]

 Ok I'm cheap I like reusable items .   I wash and reuse my cleaning /wiping patches(like reusing tow) I rinse and use dish soap, dry and reuse . Oily patches(final step in cleaning ) go to the burn barrel .  No I don't reuse my loading patches(yet )
 I collect my wipping patches in a can at the range and as I clean.
Anyone else have reusable Hints ?

[smylee grouch]

Recurve, do you use a mesh bag to keep patches together and how much fraying do you get?

[Bob McBride]

As far as reusing patches goes, by the time I get halfway to where they should be laying I’ve already queered the effort/value balance, and that’s before getting an Easter egg hunting crick in my neck trying to find the little rascals. I’ll stick with reusing my bacon grease. 

[bluenoser]

Well, I guess I am at least as cheap as recurve.  I do not clean between shots at the range and only swab with a couple patches at the end of a shooting session.  The first is a spit patch and the second is saturated with WD40 to tide me over until I get home.  I do generally save those patches.  I always have a bucket of water with a dash of dish detergent on hand when cleaning at home.  When cleaning at home, I keep reusing the same scrubbing patch by rinsing it in the bucket between scrubbings.  The routine is generally one patch for scrubbing, two patches to dry the bore, one white patch to check for residue, one patch saturated with WD40 and one to dry the bore somewhat before running a heavily greased patch down the bore as a final step.  If I find signs of residue on the white patch, I will go back to scrubbing with the same first patch, followed by fresh drying patches and a fresh white patch.  All used patches, with the exception of the greased patch, get tossed into the bucket to be sloshed about by hand, squeezed and laid out to dry.  The greased patch gets tossed back into the RIG container for future use.  Yeah, I'm cheap.  I prefer to call it frugal

Been doing the same thing for close to half a century and can't see myself changing

[Daryl]

Reclaimed work just fine if simply re-lubed.
new patches

re-claimed and re-lubed

[Daryl]

I also save all drying patches and cleaning patches (one per gun cleaning) & reused them numerous times, likely 5 or 6 times each.
Works for me.

[bluenoser]

Hmmm ...... reusing shot patches.  I use spit patches and just don't think I could get used to the taste   They certainly appear to be working for Daryl.

[Dennis Glazener]

Don't you just hate ironing those small caliber patches 😁
Dennis

[MuskratMike]

Compared to the cost of powder, lube and lead, patches are the least expensive part of our shooting (unless you use spit patches which I don't), so I think I'll just let them lie where they fall.

[Spalding]

I try to be frugal too, but cleaning patches are so cheap, it just don’t make sense for me.
I figured it to about $10 a year if I shot one rifle once a week in my case.
I get mine for $15-$20 for a bag of 1000. Probably average 10 patches for each gun per cleaning. So I’m using half that bag of 1000 a year.
Now if you’re a pretty active shooter, maybe. But for me, I usually only shoot about two or three times a month , and rarely bring more than two guns along, I’d rather spend the ten bucks a year than spend time and money washing. That and I got a big bag of old t-shirts that would fill the bill for a long time if needed.

Bob

[Daryl]

Why would you even want to clean them?
They - shooting patches, work just fine with a fresh spritz of lube and for cleaning patches
(I use flannelette that I buy by the yard) by the time I need them again, they have dried.
The one that us used to pump water into and out of the bore, is simply grey and works fine,
time after time.

[bluenoser]

I'm with Daryl on the cleaning patches but I just go to the local thrift store and buy an old flannel sheet for a buck or two.  Even then I am too frugal to toss a perfectly reusable cleaning patch.

[Nessmuck]

Let’s start a Go Fund Me Page for recurve ….so he can buy some cleaning patches.

[recurve]

Ok I'm only reusing my cleaning patches (started in the lock down, when I ran low on cleaning patches)
My shooting patches are now mostly square so easeir to find But as of yet not being reused.
 
   If I could I would build a movable bullet trap and catch/reuse my lead (some thing I could take to my gun clubs range>>>-->     
so far making my own:
                                Flints
                                Round balls
                                Ram rods/short starters                                             
                                shooting patches cut from 40 drill or 10oz denim
                         
        I'm NOT brave enough to make my own Black powder

[Nessmuck]

Things are getting so expensive….Iam now re using rubber gloves at my shop ( Autobody). Before..I use to use them once and discard. Now I put them in a pile and get multiple uses out of them.

[smylee grouch]

I have one area in my kitchen near a drawer (junk drawer) with an assortment of patches in it and use what ever is handy for the cleaning/swabbing patch as it is really just a gasket to seal the bore as I pump water through the barrel from an ice cream bucket. When done I use dry clean patches for the rest of the job. Some times those patches have been used before. Recycling is OK unless your talking toilet paper.

[B.Habermehl]

One upon a time I recycled cleaning patches, I used to bag them up in my wife’s old hose stockings. She didn’t like how the washing machine smelled. So that was that. BJH

[recurve]

I NEVER use the washing machine  for used patches just a jar and soapy water then rinse . Only a brave or single man would risk it 

[elkhart]

I only use the cloth patches for oiling the barrel. For cleaning I use paper towels, usually the blue ones you can get at the auto parts store. And no, I don't reuse the paper towels, I'm not THAT frugal!

[mikeo]

I’m with Bobs bacon grease concept.

Mikeo

[Daryl]

Recycling is OK unless your talking toilet paper.

After all, this isn't today's Vietnam.

[Bob Roller]

Don't you just hate ironing those small caliber patches 😁
Dennis

You have to move quickly and watch your finger tips. .I have heard of a prize of lead that was dug out of a dirt bank or a stump being awarded.Lead is another asset we need and gathering it without attracting attention maybe a good idea.Small bore guns may well rule the paper punching in the very near future making a 40 caliber a big bore .
Bob Roller

[Darkhorse]

I don't see a problem with washing patches. I ran out of cleaning patches several years ago and had nothing suitable so I just threw a bunch of dirty patches in a mesh bag then washed and dried them. They worked fine. After a couple of washes they get thinner, a hole will begin in the center, and they fray a little. I just throw away the bad ones as I come to them. I now keep a larger amount of new ones on hand.
A 40 caliber patch will clean a .54 barrel pretty good also if needed.
Yes I'm frugal. You should see one of my flints after it will no longer work. And that's also after shimming the flint to get a few more shots from it. Just a nub.
But for hunting I have a little bag of hand picked flints just for hunting. I'm not frugal about the really important stuff.

[Daryl]

By the time I throw a flint onto the ground for some archeologist to find in 100 years, they are about 1/4" to 3/8" long and square sided.
Good locks, I guess.