Cleaning patches...make your own?

[Swampman]

Sometimes I do a lot of my cleaning with patches made from paper towels.

[kit_carson]

i cut strips from old dish rags, then into squares. the way i clean it doesnt use much.

[Chaffa Hosa]

Sometimes I do a lot of my cleaning with patches made from paper towels.

I have been known to use the blue paper shop towels and yes even brake parts cleaner and ether (starting fluid)

[Three Hawks]

I was at a fabric store a few months ago buying pillow ticking for roundball patches when  I saw a partial bolt of cloth in a remnant bin and read the label on the end.  100% cotton flannel.  There were two and a half yards of 60" wide flannel there for $3.50.  Pretty much a lifetime supply of cleaning patches, bandages and wiping rags.   That's 37 1/2 square feet.   After I've used  pieces for wiping rags and mopping up blood, (don't ask)  I toss 'em in the washer and start over.  I figure my grandkids will be using some of this stuff after I've left this mortal coil. 

Three Hawks

[Red Badger]

Ok I'm still cheap -  received a 25 lb package from an ol' friend several years ago - didn't know what was in it till I opened it - Military grade cleaning patches!  from .223 cal up to 20mm - thousands of em!

I'll continue to use them till there gone - work great on every firearm I own...

Gotta get a 20 mm one of these days.....

hmmmm....

[old salt]

 
Jim When you get it bring it up and we will gut hedge trees with it and
will have all athe camp wood we need for ever

[quigleysharps4570]

If I had to wait on wore out flannel...I'd be SOL.
Have several thousand factory...won't run out for a day or two.  ;)

[bull frog]

I have a supply of military .30 cal patches I save for use.  But bulk of my cleaning patches are made from old cotton tee shirts that my wife says needs to be retired, so I get a last use for them before disposal.  Also search the remenent bins for cotton shooting/cleaning patches when I go with my wife on one of her frequent trips to the fabric stores.  Have gotton lots of stored up material for a very little money.  Also use the material cut up in squares for making Char cloth.

[williedee]

I get 100% striped cotton flannel by the yard, wash the sizing out and cut long strips. Then, roll the strips up into rolls and cut off what I need for most any caliber or gauge. Anybody asking about my fancy patches, usually get told "I steal the bedspreads out of Roach Motels!" These rolls fit real well in those little tea tins that can be picked up at flea markets and such, for cheap. I also wash them out with a little moose milk and water and dry 'em out on the edge of the shooting box. Anybody know where I can get some lil' bitty clothes pins?

[Red Badger]

Hobby lobby & Michaels sells minature clothspins (in the cake decorating or baby shower supplies)... Now where do I get Moose Milk?

[old salt]

Jim
   As far as I know moose milk is a homemade concoction and there are about forty11 recipes
   I use Murphy's Oil Soap and alcohol, in a  50/50 mix. I have also been known to set some aside and let most of the alcohol evaporate for a semi dry lube.

[williedee]

I mix up:
1 cup Murphy's Oil Soap
1 cup Fiske's water soluable oil (get from indust. supply house)
8 cups water (I use distilled) this can be varied for patch lube.
* Optional: 2 or more oz. Ballistol oil
Shake 'em up

williedee

[voyageur1688]

I usually just cut them into the size patches I need at the time, including using them for making char cloth.  I lucked out over the last year and a half. Found lotsa good cotton and linen fabrics at rummage sales, then hit the mother load of sweet deals. I do odd jobs and work for a guy that owns a second hand junk shop. He was sold all the contents of a property when the renters just took off and abandoned everything for the landlord to contend with.  He hired me to haul the good items to his shop, and the trash to the dump. In the stuff going to the dump, were many good items (sold some of them and made a nice profit) and 6 LARGE trash bags of cotton and linen fabrics--all white/off white. He just did not have the room for many of the items and did not want to contend with trying to sort or store it.
Voy

[Red Badger]

Thank you for the Explanation Harry, and to both of you for the recipes... I was firmly convinced I was going to be told " From a momma moose" or some such answer.  and you guys had to go and make it educational on me.... 

Again Thank you

[slap happy]

Hi everyone! I make mine out of old tshirts, went to walmart and bought a rotary cutter and a cutting board for it about 20dollars, it was the best money i've spent, used to cut with scissors, no more. I can cut up more than i can use in a month in about an hour. I bought the cutting board because it has fractional marking on it, easier to keep to the size i want. later slaphappy