Cleaning patch material?

I purchased a yard of blue pillow ticking for shooting patches, and a yard of white flannel, 100% cotton, for cleaning patches. I know the ticking should be washed prior to usage, but what about the flannel for cleaning patches? Does it need to be washed also? Thanks in advance for replies.

It wouldn't hurt to wash it. Probably absorb liquids better. Personally I just use old T=shirts cut up.

I would. They contain starches and you don't need that.

Plus washing tightens the weave.

I also use old t shirts. I never seem to run out of them, although my wife gives me heck for having too many grease rags etc. in my garage.

T shirts do a good job of soaking up stuff after a couple of hundred washings. I just cut them into appropriate size squares when I have time.

Washing might cut down on the "fuzzies," which to my infantry eyes are blasphemous to have in the bore haha

airborne1 said:

I purchased a yard of blue pillow ticking for shooting patches, and a yard of white flannel, 100% cotton, for cleaning patches. I know the ticking should be washed prior to usage, but what about the flannel for cleaning patches? Does it need to be washed also? Thanks in advance for replies.

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I have not found washing cleaning patch material to be necessary but it won't hurt anything to wash it. I just use it as it comes from the store. Patches for your rifle balls are a different matter and they do require washing.

I wear my t-shirts until they decompose, to my wifes dismay!

What do your shot T-shirt patches look like? I never found the material to be thick or strong enough personally.

We get flannel sheets for the winter and I use our old ones for cleaning patches. By then they have been well and truly washed.

I, too, use flannel. Bought a boatload of it at the local JoAnne's a while ago, and washed it right after I got everything home (force of habit, I guess). Then I cut it up into patches using one of those clever little rotary cutters and the cool self healing cutting board. Works great!

I second the cutting wheel and board, I can cut 500+ cleaning patches in less than 1/2 hour.

I bought 2 yards of double knapped (my term means it's fluffy on both sides) flannel at wallyworld. Didn't think to wash it but won't hurt. I clean between shots. Lay a patch on my tongue to dampen then one pass in and out. Next shot turn the patch over and reuse - it's still damp. I also save them and wash and reuse them several times. Old hose would work but I got a "delicates laundry bag" like used in boot camp. Works great.
TC

MSW said:

using one of those clever little rotary cutters and the cool self healing cutting board.

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Oh yes, those are a nice little tool to have around.
I like to rip my strip for patching,, that way I can pull a few strands on the sides and make it cleaner for handling,, but the rotary cutter is handy for a lot of things.(leather too)
There's nothing carved in stone that you have to use the special board for it, a piece of soft 1x pine works too. A pine board 36"> is nice to be able to cut the full width of fabric. Sure it's going to dull the blade sooner (rpl blades are available cheap) but I've been using the same blade on mine for a few yrs now.
I've got the Fiskars; http://www.walmart.com/search/?query=rotary cutters for sewing&typeahead=rotary

I, too, mostly use flannel for cleaning patches. Never have bought new material . . . My bride usually discards 2 or 3 flannel nightgowns per year and I can't see wasting them :grin: . I also use a rotary cutter to knock out a bunch of them in short order. I have used the 2" x 2" gauze pads I got from a medical supply place - they were deemed as "unsanitary" because of exposure to excess moisture/humidity in their storage location, but there was no visual damage to them. The gauze pads can really "snag" any lead accumulation in the bore. As inexpensive as the gauze is, the flannel is cheaper for me :v . (And you know how cheap we muzzleloaders can be!)

The t-shirt cleaning patches are somewhat thin and will not work well if the bore is real rough or very tight. They do clean well and the price is right. They work well with a tight fitting jag.