Homemade cleaning patches??

U

Uncle Ben

New member
Does anyone use old T shirt cutouts or anything similar instead of store-bought patches? Just wondering if there are any good alternatives to save a few bucks, or whether I should just stick with the real stuff...

Thanks.
 
Does anyone use old T shirt cutouts or anything similar instead of store-bought patches?
Click to expand...

For years old t-shirts cut into squares were all I used to clean my guns with. I mostly use store bought patches now but will still whip out an old t-shirt if the mood strikes.
 
I go to the local fabric store and buy cotton flannel by the yard. It's usually about 2.00 per yard and is about 40" wide. I then purchased one of the circular roller cutters for cloth (9.99) and can cut them any size I want. I shoot mainly shotguns so I have a special size for each of the 4 gages. Same principal would work for rifles and handguns, a size for whatever caliber you shoot......
 
i just recently bought a pack of gun patches made from cut up cloth.

so im am sure cutting up old cloth is fine
 
I buy a bundle of cheap terry cloth towels from Cosco and cut them up to use for cleaning my shotguns. They work much better than the patches offered commercially and are significantly cheaper.
 
I buy 100% cotton flannel by the yard at the fabric store and cut patches from it. Works much better than old "T" short material.

Martyn
 
Uncle Ben..


Old cotton t-shirts work great.
I use a strong tissue paper to saturate with solvent to clean the bores. Afterwards i use old cotton t shirt rags ( and patches made of it) to clean and they work great. Just make sure they are clean before using them to clean ur firearms.
 
Quality paper towels work fine, too - like Bounty brand. I tear them up into small pieces to thread into the bore loop, or end of the jag. I use them for 95% of the cleaning then finish with a cloth patch for a final thorough scrub. they work just as well as most patches, and better than some.
 
Walmart has t-shirt remnants in a camo plastic bag for 2 bucks or so... Big bag for the $... Some random sizing going on so have some scissors...
 
Glad you asked this question.

I routinely relegate old T-shirts to the cleaning kit box once the arms give way. Sit happily in front of the TV cuttin' up cloth into various sizes. I've gotten very good at estimating the perfect sized patch for my various calibers.
 
I've tried using cut up t-shirts in my rifles but they don't seem to have the necessary elasticity - they just ended up getting crammed in the barrel when I use a spear jag. The blue shop towels, however, seem to work okay.

I use shop towel for patches in my 12 and 20ga with no problems.

Anyone know what material Hoppes, Gunslick, Outers etc. use for commercial patches. I'd like to buy in bulk and cut up my own.
 
The patches I buy are just scraps of t-shirt material and they seem to work better than the Hoppes, Outers, etc type of patches - more absorbent and less apt to tear.
 
I ran out one evening so I snatched a roll of my wife's leg waxing material. :D

I'm not sure what it costs though so it might not be an economical solution. I usually use old bed sheets.
 
Paper Towels

Good ones work great. Cut strips then fold to get proper fit. Really will absorb excess solvent and oil. Glad to see I'm not the only one using these johnKSA and Kamerer.
 
over the years I have used old bed sheets that my wife had decided to discard.broke down and bought a cheap pair of scissors to whittle the sheets down to size. you all take care.
 
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