Adam Savage's Favorite Tools: Essential Shop Rags!

Adam's latest tool tip is short and sweet: his pick for reusable shop rags to use around the cave for cleaning, applying paint washes, and wiping off your hands. Adam goes through the various kinds of rag materials and the benefits of each (as well as the ones to avoid) and shares his pick for most reliable shop rags that actually come from the medical field!

Shot by Adam Savage

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Intro bumper by Abe Dieckman

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#AdamSavage #FavoriteTools #ShopOrganization

[Lou-Mae]

Just yet more proof that Adam Savage's enthusiasm can make literally anything interesting, including rags.

[alexhutchinson]

I'm not the only one that hates the feel of microfiber rags haha

[dreammfyre]

“Totally Viable Rag”

Now that’s a t-shirt print.

[TintagelEmrys]

I first found out about these when I got my finger stitched up. The doctor gave me the rag and all of the tools he used because the hospital just throws them out anyway. That is also how I got almost all of my small gripping tools.

[artelliott]

My parents were nurses in the air force for 20 yrs. Those blue rags were dish towels, clean up towels, hand towels, shop towels, everything. My mom retired in 1988 AND THOSE TOWELS ARE STILL USED TO THIS DAY.

[glennkoenig]

Adam, it does not matter what the subject is, you are so tuned in to identifying the slight nuances between products that you make the path to excellence a way of life. I am so appreciative of your tips and product dissections, both are entertaining and informative. Thanks for all you do, you are certainly in my top 10 list of favorite people on the planet.

[plkrtn]

"t-t-food service rag"
Tea towel mate, it's a tea towel.

[connormccarter]

When my mother worked the OR many years ago, she would bring home the opened bag of those blue OR towels. Before that she would bring home "Lap Sponges", a super loose weave cotton rag about 11~10 inches square. She had said that anything not used for that surgery that could not be put through an autoclave had to be deposed of, even if they only pulled ONE towel...

[TheViperOSU]

As a former Certified Surgical Technologist, can confirm: I always take the left overs home and they continue to serve me well! If you get them new, I suggest you launder them once before use, makes them work MUCH better!

[andywhtwo]

Nailed it on the red rags and! I work in the automotive industry and those two rags are the bane of my existence

[Harldio]

My wife works in the nhs (england) laundry and fetches my any amount of these best EVER!!! Also sometimes the occasional surgical tool too 😉 she knows what I love. Thanks for all your amazing content Mr savage

[SeventhSwell]

Worked at a vet for years and those rags are great. Another one to look into is the cloth we wrap surgical packs in for sterilization. Really interesting stuff. It's also used for the surgical drape over the patient during surgery. Problem is it comes in huge sheets but they can be cut down. Not suggesting it for wiping up spills but it has interesting liquid resistant or repellent properties but steam and gas can pass though it. Not sure what you'd use it for but you are creative.

[danbarclay]

How on earth did I get to the point where i was happy to spend my free time listening to adam talk about rags? At least I'm enjoying myself.

[michaelwampole]

Adam’s life is so interesting, I just listened to him talk about rags for four minutes and found it enthralling.

[thatguy]

Worked at an op shop for years near an industrial area and constantly had people coming in to buy rags. We did 10kg bags of cotton, flannelette and towelling and I learnt a ton from the labourers. About how using different materials to suit the job can be just as important in a rag as everything else. The short version is: cotton is great for fine polishing (and only if it's high quality) but not much else. It doesn't absorb liquids or collect fine particles like the others. Flannelette is best for oil work but certain types of towelling will work in a pinch. Towels are the most versatile for doing everything adequately, best to wash and reuse, but then it doesn't excel at anything and you need to keep an eye on the types of towels you use.

[natureblade]

My mom was a Vet and we grew up with boxes of those blue towels. They are hand and fist the best rag by a long long shot. Having moved out of my mom's house for a while I still miss cleaning with those amazing blue towels. It's amazing to see it's not just me that loved them so 😁

[Wheel]

When my old clothes are threadbare and full of holes I turn them into lovely new rags.

[Warshipmodelsunderway]

I owned a gas station back in the days of full service. The red towels were for use around the shop - wiping up oil, cleaning brake backing plates, all things were, if they were contaminated with dirt, metal swarf or grit, it wouldn't really hurt anything. White towels were for washing windows (back then, the service was cheaper than buying paper towels). We used an industrial laundry, so we didn't necessarily get the towels back that we sent in; the color code was useful to prevent damaging customer's cars.

[Lovealllife]

News Flash: “The Red Rag Company has just filed for bankruptcy.”

[hunter]

As an ex-surgical nurse I can't agree more! Best rags EVER! You can buy recycled ones on Amazon by the pound.