"Lint Free" cloth or towels?

[Jon Rista]

Ok, its a pretty simple question...but the answer seems to be really, well, obscure?

I've been turning since 2020, started really looking for a true "lint free" cloth in 2021. I didn't turn much in 2022, but since 2023 I've really been trying to find a cloth or towel that truly lives up to this name. I have yet to find anything that doesn't seem to leave some kind of fibers or fuzz behind... I don't know if it is just me, and I'm not doing something right, or if there just really isn't a product that is truly lint free? (Or I just haven't fond one yet...)

I've tried a few things. From microfiber cloths labeled "lint free" (which always seem to leave isolated strands behind), to blue towels, to "rag like" paper towels that said "low or no lint", medical towels that were labeled as lint free, used t-shirts that had supposedly gone through a process to remove any lint, keeping only the woven fibers in place, etc. I always seem to find some level of fiber left behind, sometimes I get a bit of fuzz. Ironically, sometimes even your generic white paper towel seems to leave less behind than the "lint free" stuff. But I have yet to find anything that is, at least as I would expect, truly lint free. As in, it never leaves anythinb behind, ever...

Does such a product exist? Anyone have any solid recommendations about a product that will truly live up to the name?

Thanks.

 

[Steve Tiedman]

I don't think 100% lint free exists when all paper and fabric (natural or synthetic) are made from some version of fibers, shedding some with use and time. And in my limited experience with them, microfiber towels leave tons of... microfibers on glass surfaces like my car windshield, no matter how often I wash them.

But, we've used these in our kitchen for general purpose use for decades, and when they start to get worn feeling after a few years I move them to the workshop. After a few washings, they seem to leave behind very little lint on surfaces, as close to lint-free as I've ever seen. I have used them for 30 years to dry my eye glasses after I wash them each morning. And they work great for cleaning auto glass, esp. that haze on the inside of windshields.

Berg Bag Company flour sack towels. 100% cotton, made in India, with Berg based in Minnesota.

Berg Bag Company - Wholesale Tea Towels, Flour Sack Towels

Welcome to official site of Berg Bag Company - your wholesale provider of tea towels and flour sack towels. White and natural/linen colors available.

www.bergbag.com

I buy them as 6-packs from Fleet Farm, a MN retail chain, you can order from them online. Other retailers are found at Berg's website. $12 for a 6-pack of 30"x30" towels, give them a try.

https://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/berg-bag-company-30-in-x-30-in-white-flour-sack-towels-6-pk/0000000040159

 

[Ron Solfest]

I’ve been using Scott Rags in a Box (yellow square cube box from Sam’s club) for many years and have never noticed a problem with lint from them.

 

[Alan Weinberg]

I use old t-shirts cut in small squares and have no issue. Your vision is probably better than mine!

 

[Darryl Fective]

What are you using them for/with?

I've had decent results with just microfiber towels that I cut into small squares for applying fast dry poly finish. I thin it slightly, then fold the square in thirds one direction, then in half the other direction. (putting all the cut edges away from the part I dip and wipe)

 

[John K Jordan]

I use different towels/cloths depending on the use.

I really like Viva paper towels for many things because of the soft lint-free surface, nice for applying certain finishes, renaissance wax, wiping off fingerprints, cleaning delicate things.

I use what is basically t-shirt cotton, bought by the bag, pre-cut to useful sizes. I cut little strips (maybe 1”x3’} to apply friction polish at low speed to thin spindles then the same piece at high speed to create heat by friction to “set” and polish.

I use small washcloth sized (and texture) shop towels both in the shop and outside around the farm, servicing farm, cleaning abrasions on animals, snot on horses noses, and more.

The blue paper shop towels are my favorite or general use at the lathe, cleaning up glue and things, when using denatured alcohol or mineral spirits, wiping on naphtha to evaluate figure/color and reveal any sanding defects, applying “danish” oil, etc. I buy them by the case. I see some people have a sheet and tear off corners as needed - kind of sloppy I thought. What I do instead is cut a few inches off the roll with a sharp fillet knife and put the mini roll on a sandpaper roll dispenser I made years ago, on the wall behind my lathe, within arm’s reach when at the lathe.



(Each sandpaper spot has both 1" and 2" rolls of Klingspor Gold. I made thin plywood disk separators.)
Tearing off just a couple of inches of the mini paper towel roll is usually perfect.



I also cut some sections of the roll maybe 6" wide or so, perfect for many shop tasks.

(Safety note. Most everyone knows this but just in case: if applying polymerizing finishes with paper or cloth, (finishes that dry, cure, and harden such as "danish" oil, varnishes, etc.), always spread the cloth or paper towel out to dry on a concrete floor, non-flammable surface, outside, or in a container of water to prevent burning down the shop.)

JKJ

 

[Steve Tiedman]

Another idea, from Christopher Schwarz, former editor of Pop Woodworking magazine.

Huck Towels that Don’t Suck Towels - Lost Art Press

The most recent batch of Huck weave towels we bought are terrible. They leave little blue strings behind. Not just a wee bit of lint. Big blue strings

blog.lostartpress.com

 

[Tom Gall]

@Jon Rista I assume you are looking for lint free material for applying finishes. Yes?
For several decades I have been using old (used & washed of course) pantyhose or nylon stockings. I use it mostly with spray shellac as a sealer coat but it should also work well with other finishes. It holds a good amount of finish without absorbing it. Cut a small section and form into a small pad (or just fold up the "dry section" in your hand and use a small "wet" area with your fingertips). Only down side is that sometimes a strand will catch on something (like burl eyes - just like getting a run in the stocking from a rough fingernail) ... this is only a problem if applying finish while on the lathe under power. Try it - it might work for you.

 

[Mark Luff]

Having also tried many application materials over the years, on a whim & instead of throwing it away, I used a cpap filter and found it to be lint-free unless snagged on an imperfection. They allow a thin to thick controlled flow of finish onto the surface. About 1.5” x 2”. Search Amazon “resplabs CPAP Filters”. I buy the 60 count, AirSense 10 style. About $10. I use cheap irrigation syringes from Amazon filled with finish to load the filter during application. Your results may vary, but it’s cheap enough to try.

 

[Peter D'Attomo]

Light weight linen cut into small squares.

 

[Richard Coers]

The search option works quite well.

Applying wipe on poly

I usually cut old t-shirts into squares and use them for my wipe on poly application. This last time I thought I'd cut up an old pillow case too, bad idea. Everything is covered with fuzz/threads from the pillow case after washing. So being curious I searched for lint free cotton cloth on...

www.aawforum.org

 

[Dean Center]

Are you sure it's your cloth that produces the nits? I had a terrible time with little nits showing up in the finish and have learned a couple tricks.

First, I have an old house with lots of airborne debris. The faster a film finish sets, the less stuff settles into it. Oil finishes are mostly unaffected. Some folks have gone to placing their just finished piece inside a box or under a cover to deal with this issue.

Second, the finish itself produces a lot of the nits. Someone suggested putting the finish on one side of the cloth, then using the other side or refolding it, to get a clean, wet side on the wood. The cloth then acts like a filter, straining bits of crusty or congealed finish out before it can hit the surface. This makes a huge difference for me. Using older finish would be a contributor to this problem, as well.

Third, wiping off the project with a cloth, even a tack cloth, doesn't reliably get all the sanding dust off. I tried wiping with alcohol, but this didn't seem to help much in my hands. A friend suggested blowing the piece off with compressed air prior to applying finish, and this helps, especially on pieces with knots or checks or bark inclusions.

As for the cloth, I use old t-shirts, ripped rather than cut (like making staves instead of rip sawing) at my quilter wife's suggestion. Making a nick in the edge of the fabric and tearing allows the fabric to come apart between two strands and produces less lint. Folding the cloth to keep the edges from contact with the wood may help, too.

 

[Jon Rista]

Are you sure it's your cloth that produces the nits? I had a terrible time with little nits showing up in the finish and have learned a couple tricks.

First, I have an old house with lots of airborne debris. The faster a film finish sets, the less stuff settles into it. Oil finishes are mostly unaffected. Some folks have gone to placing their just finished piece inside a box or under a cover to deal with this issue.

Second, the finish itself produces a lot of the nits. Someone suggested putting the finish on one side of the cloth, then using the other side or refolding it, to get a clean, wet side on the wood. The cloth then acts like a filter, straining bits of crusty or congealed finish out before it can hit the surface. This makes a huge difference for me. Using older finish would be a contributor to this problem, as well.

Third, wiping off the project with a cloth, even a tack cloth, doesn't reliably get all the sanding dust off. I tried wiping with alcohol, but this didn't seem to help much in my hands. A friend suggested blowing the piece off with compressed air prior to applying finish, and this helps, especially on pieces with knots or checks or bark inclusions.

As for the cloth, I use old t-shirts, ripped rather than cut (like making staves instead of rip sawing) at my quilter wife's suggestion. Making a nick in the edge of the fabric and tearing allows the fabric to come apart between two strands and produces less lint. Folding the cloth to keep the edges from contact with the wood may help, too.

This is a great question. Today, the answer is yes, I'm pretty sure. There could be occasions where its finish nits, I've had that problem in the past before I understood how finish can get stuck in sandpaper then ball up if you keep using those gummed up parts. I also have a fair amount of dust collection and air filtration in my shop, and do a pretty good job of capturing most of the dust as its created, and the rest should be captured by the air filter. I am using a shop vac, but, most of my turnings are smallerish, maybe medium sized, so I'm not creating tremendous amounts of dust...yet. A proper dust collection system IS in my future, hopefully the not too distant future.

I tried tack cloths in the past too... I did not really like them. It may depend on what brand you use...the brands I used, were very waxy and almost felt "wet" (for lack of a better term?) and felt they left a residue behind...even when just 'dabbing' with them. Alcohol definitely didn't work. Blowing seems to be a double-edged sword...it will get some of the junk, but also can embed metallic fragments even deeper. I haven't used tack cloths in a while. I've also stopped using steel wool, which was the main reason I started using tack cloths...because the bits of steel seem to get stuck in the grain, no matter how much effort I put into preventing that. The wood then looks "dirty" as a result...never liked that. These days, I just sand, maybe use the white 3M pads, although the pads are now largely being phased out in favor of just picking up a large pinch of shavings and wood dust and using that to burnish the surface, which I find works a lot better, and leaves a much better surface, than sanding alone or the pads. I have some of the metal fiber based pads as well, but, I had the same problem with them as I did with the steel wool... I do use compressed air to clean off wood dust after I sand, or between critical grits. That works well, when its just wood dust, unlike with any steel based substance.

Sanding and otherwise smoothing, burnishing, etc. the wood BEFORE applying finish is actually ok these days. I don't have many problems. The trouble I have is when I start to apply the finishing compounds themselves...even if its just DNA to clean and defat the wood, depending on the material, I still often get fibers or fuzz. That is easy to clean off, once the DNA evaporates. Once I start applying...shellac, or another sealant. Then the actual finish. That's when I usually start having problems. I was trying to find a more durable finish for my pieces earlier in the year, and WOP was one of them. I actually really like it...except the effort to do it well on smallish turned pieces is VERY HIGH, and fibers and fuzz is a problem. I tried using spar urethane applied with a foam brush using a particular technique, and could never quite get the glassy smooth finish I had seen others get and really wanted. I have been working with lacquer...its been hit or miss, but, after talking with some other people on a pen turning forum recently, I think I may soon achieve my goals with lacquer. I guess we will see...at least with the lacquer, there is no NEED for any towel, rag, pad, etc! I get a bit of an orange peel effect with lacquer, which I then have to sand back to level a bit before applying the next coat. I've been told I may be using TOO LITTLE, so I'm working on that.

In the mean time, I've fallen back to my main staple finish: Zinssers Bulls Eye Shellac as a sealer and Acks sanding paste and finishing wax. It does a good job, gives the wood a nice satin luster, and helps bring out some of the chatoyance. Its not as shiny as I would like once the wax has fully cured...it dulls from its initial shine (which is not glossy, but it is shiny.) Hopefully I'll figure out lacquer soon here, and at least be able to add that to my options. Until then, applying the shellac, in particular, is the main area where I just seem to perpetually run into...lint!

 

[Jon Rista]

I don't think 100% lint free exists when all paper and fabric (natural or synthetic) are made from some version of fibers, shedding some with use and time. And in my limited experience with them, microfiber towels leave tons of... microfibers on glass surfaces like my car windshield, no matter how often I wash them.

But, we've used these in our kitchen for general purpose use for decades, and when they start to get worn feeling after a few years I move them to the workshop. After a few washings, they seem to leave behind very little lint on surfaces, as close to lint-free as I've ever seen. I have used them for 30 years to dry my eye glasses after I wash them each morning. And they work great for cleaning auto glass, esp. that haze on the inside of windshields.

Berg Bag Company flour sack towels. 100% cotton, made in India, with Berg based in Minnesota.

Berg Bag Company - Wholesale Tea Towels, Flour Sack Towels

Welcome to official site of Berg Bag Company - your wholesale provider of tea towels and flour sack towels. White and natural/linen colors available.

www.bergbag.com

I buy them as 6-packs from Fleet Farm, a MN retail chain, you can order from them online. Other retailers are found at Berg's website. $12 for a 6-pack of 30"x30" towels, give them a try.

https://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/berg-bag-company-30-in-x-30-in-white-flour-sack-towels-6-pk/0000000040159

Thank you! The Berg Bag towels sound very interesting! I will be giving them a try.

I’ve been using Scott Rags in a Box (yellow square cube box from Sam’s club) for many years and have never noticed a problem with lint from them.

Looked these up. The box and rags look just about the same as a red cube box I have, that I think is much the same thing. I do get lint issues with them...they don't seem to handle finishes well. I wonder if the materials in the actual rags are different. Will have to give the Scott Rags in a YELLOW box a try!

I use old t-shirts cut in small squares and have no issue. Your vision is probably better than mine!

This is actually my main rag. I have a couple of big bags I bought from Woodcraft (on the cheap a while back). I lost one bag, bought another, found the first... I now have T-Shirts till the end of time.

If I use them without cutting, then, they are usually pretty good. Using the majority of a T-shirt for smallish things or even medium sized things, gets a bit unruly though. It seems to be when I cut them into smaller pieces, that I really start having problems. The edges where I cut, seem to release plenty of fibers and lots of fuzz! I even resort to pulling on those cut edges, using my air compressor to blow the now loose fibers and fuzz into my trash can, etc. But, inevitably, I end up with these single medium length fibers in my finish, no matter how much effort I try to put into cleaning each piece. This was mostly a problem with my forays into using WOP and other forms of poly or urethan finishes earlier in the year. I don't really have the same problem with Acks, although I do sometimes find fibers in the shellac sealer. At least with the shellac, sanding it back a bit to denib is a standard part of my process...so I guess its not a big problem.

Still, would be nice to find a set of pre-cut T-shirt rag strips ready to go. ....... which...actually, I guess I could do that. Cut up a bunch of shortish strips from the ones I have, wash the heck out of them until they are once again lint free, dry, and stuff all the strips back into their container. I should have thought of that a long time ago....

What are you using them for/with?

I've had decent results with just microfiber towels that I cut into small squares for applying fast dry poly finish. I thin it slightly, then fold the square in thirds one direction, then in half the other direction. (putting all the cut edges away from the part I dip and wipe)

Zinssers Shellac finishes. Shellac, then with Acks sanding paste and wax finishing polish. Spar urethane (but only with the satin stuff, when I want a satin finish.) Minwax poly (usually thinned with DNA...once I learned this is basically all that hte WOP is, it ended up being cheaper to thin it myself!) Minwax WOP. The poly and urethanes are where I've had the most problems. I actually like wiping on poly, but its been such a long chore to wipe it on, deal with the fibers, fuzz and nibs, put on the next coat, repeat again and again. I've stopped using the poly for now. This is the main reason I'd like a good, truly lint-free cloth, towel or rag. That said, I still get plenty of fibers stuck in the shellac I use with the Acks. Its just that, sanding back the shellac a little is a standard part of the procedure...

Another idea, from Christopher Schwarz, former editor of Pop Woodworking magazine.

Huck Towels that Don’t Suck Towels - Lost Art Press

The most recent batch of Huck weave towels we bought are terrible. They leave little blue strings behind. Not just a wee bit of lint. Big blue strings

blog.lostartpress.com

Thank you! Will check these out!

Light weight linen cut into small squares.

I have some linen. Never tried it, its mostly been used as a photography backdrop for my products. But I'll see if I can cut a small strip from it and snip pieces from that... Will give this a try tomorrow.

 

[Jon Rista]

@Jon Rista I assume you are looking for lint free material for applying finishes. Yes?
For several decades I have been using old (used & washed of course) pantyhose or nylon stockings. I use it mostly with spray shellac as a sealer coat but it should also work well with other finishes. It holds a good amount of finish without absorbing it. Cut a small section and form into a small pad (or just fold up the "dry section" in your hand and use a small "wet" area with your fingertips). Only down side is that sometimes a strand will catch on something (like burl eyes - just like getting a run in the stocking from a rough fingernail) ... this is only a problem if applying finish while on the lathe under power. Try it - it might work for you.

Yes, this is correct. Shellac sealers, poly or urethane finishes. So the nylon isn't affected by the thinners at all? I guess I pretty much exclusively use oil based finishes, save the shellac. I've tried a bunch of water based finishes in the past (to the tune of a lot of wasted money)...I simply DO NOT like the look of high solids, water based finishes. They look like a film that sits on top of the wood, and they just never bring out the chatoyance like a well penetrated oil does. Oils do have all the VOCs to thin them down and help them dry out, though... If the nylon is safe from those, then I could give it a try.

 

[Jon Rista]

Having also tried many application materials over the years, on a whim & instead of throwing it away, I used a cpap filter and found it to be lint-free unless snagged on an imperfection. They allow a thin to thick controlled flow of finish onto the surface. About 1.5” x 2”. Search Amazon “resplabs CPAP Filters”. I buy the 60 count, AirSense 10 style. About $10. I use cheap irrigation syringes from Amazon filled with finish to load the filter during application. Your results may vary, but it’s cheap enough to try.

Very interesting! I'll give this a try, $10 is nothing to experiment these days!!

I like the idea of being able to control the flow. I've tried using sponge and fiber brushes to apply spar urethane, which actually changes the color of the wood less than the polys I've been trying. However, getting a good, streak-free finish with the urethane is VERY hard, at least at my level fo limited experience. Wonder if these filters might help me apply spar urethane in a more controlled manner. Thanks!

 

[Bill Boehme]

Polyester is used in cleanrooms for truly lint free purposes, but it doesn’t have the absorbency of cotton, linen, wool, or other natural fibers. See the Rag Lady.

 

[Dave Bunge]

I like the idea of being able to control the flow. I've tried using sponge and fiber brushes to apply spar urethane....

However, getting a good, streak-free finish with the urethane is VERY hard, at least at my level fo limited experience.

You might try foam make-up wedges like these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0035LCSCO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

When I started turning there was a very active group on another forum that were making hollow forms finished to high gloss using wipe on poly. Foam make up wedges seemed to be their applicator of choice. I've used them over the years for WOP. They have much finer cell size that a normal foam brush and can give a very controlled thin coat once you get the hang of holding on to them.

I see the description for the product I linked is wrong. They are smaller, more like 2.5" in the longest dimension, not 6" like it says.

 

[Tom Gall]

........ If the nylon is safe from those, then I could give it a try.

The price is right ... so it won't cost you anything. You say you make mostly smaller items - perfect ! ... especially with shellac since that tacks up quicker than other finishes. I use Zinsser spray cans most of the time - very thin.

 

[Randy Heinemann]

Another poster suggested Huck Towels as recommended by Christopher Schwarz. Heand he has ordered them from

https://athome.medline.com/en/categories/home-health-care/caregiver-supplies/medical-towels sterile surgical towels.

I have used sterile surgical towels and they work well. Are they completely lint free? Not sure, but I've never had a problem applying finishes or wiping sawdust off a turning with them.

There are a lot of reasons imperfections can appear on finished pieces, including dust in the workshop, raised grain after the initial application, and, of course, lint from the cloth. Unless the imperfections are large, rubbing the piece down with a section of paper from a paper grocery bag gets rid of a lot, smoothes the surface. Because a grocery bag isn't abrasive, there is no danger of sanding through the finish. First, this isn't my idea. I found it online or in a book (?). Second it really does work even though it sounds a bit unbelievable (or at least did to me till I tried it.)

 

[Dean Center]

Because a grocery bag isn't abrasive

I have used brown paper to finish CA glue pen finishes in the past. Grocery bags actually are abrasive. I've read that the equivalent grit would be about 2000 (not on the MicroMesh scale). Remarkably, I've tried the brown paper used as packing in delivery boxes, and found it's generally less abrasive than our local grocery bags. This is polishing level rather than 'sanding', of course.

 

[Steve Tiedman]

I'd say that grocery bag paper, like the supposed 2000-grit sandpaper it is always compared against, may burnish the wood surface more than abrade it, similarly to a handful of lighter turning shavings (no bark or heavy, thick shavings).

But I can also see, now that it has been mentioned, that different types of brown paper bag or packing paper may perform somewhat differently. I'll find out the next time I get some in a box. Hmmm, maybe there is some in my recycling can now... better check quick. Thanks for the idea, Dean.

 

[John K Jordan]

Maybe try rubbing some on some materials other than wood that might show fine abrasive scratches easier, perhaps polished aluminum, plexiglass, etc.

 

[Randy Heinemann]

Grocery bags may be somewhat abrasive but I have never rubbed a finish off of anything I've used it on; yet the result is always to my satisfaction (kind of a perfectionist when it comes to the final product being what I wanted). I have been especially satisfied with the result when I want a duller, non-shiny finish.

It is true, though, that it isn't the answer for all pieces. What satisfies me the most is that the final result is always smooth and free of any "high points".

I know that techniques that people use don't satisfy everyone. It's similar to the concept that a tool or technique that works for one will not necessarily work as well for another. Whatever works for you should be what you use or do.

 

[Bill Alston]

Some people swear by this stuff, but I’ve not tried it myself.

Chestnut Safety Cloth

 

[Bill Boehme]

I know that techniques that people use don't satisfy everyone. It's similar to the concept that a tool or technique that works for one will not necessarily work as well for another. Whatever works for you should be what you use or do.

Speaking of which, I bought a Skewchigouge a couple of decades ago when I was a gullible greenhorn woodturner. I had to do quite a bit of reshaping before it was suitable for opening paint cans. Even so, it still wasn't my ticket to greatness. I guess opening paint cans still hasn't been able to stand on its own as art.

 

[Bill Alston]

I had to do quite a bit of reshaping before it was suitable for opening paint cans. Even so, it still wasn't my ticket to greatness. I guess opening paint cans still hasn't been able to stand on its own as art.

I wish I’d bought these twenty years ago. Specially designed for the job they work so much better than any screwdriver! 😆