Best Cloth for cleanup, polishing, and buffing?

[Hot Vibrato]

Originally Posted by amyFB

Buy the diapers, for the reason that they are hemmed along the edges and you'll avoid the unravelling that will occur when used and washed for reuse.

I imagine you can get a lot of mileage from one pack of diapers.

if you want the raw fabric, i think any fabric store clerk will be able to point you to 'diaper quality cotton'; there are folks who still make their own diapers, believe it or not!

Thanks for the input. I've never washed and reused any cloth. My go-to for years has been white virgin flannel*. I just cut off a square and keep it in a ziplock until I feel it's been contaminated, and then throw it away.

I'm not sure I'd trust the washing machine to remove all the particles embedded in the fabric, so I don't feel comfortable reusing cloth for polishing fine instruments. For not-so-fine instruments I've had excellent results with good quality paper towels, and I also like the blue Scott "Shop Towels". But honestly, it would be more environmentally responsible and more economical to reuse cloth in less critical applications (like 30 year old Squiers and Washburns), and reserve the fresh cloth for finer instruments.

*There are some things about flannel that I don't like. It's not exactly always lint free, and it seems to stick to softer lacquer finishes. It has caused tiny scratches on lacquer finishes, but there could have been contaminants in the cloth from the factory. A fabric that's slightly less furry would be less likely to retain particles and stick to finishes. I wonder if diaper cloth matches that description. My wife is into sewing, so she frequents the fabric stores. I'll ask her to pick me up a yard of whatever they recommend for diapers. Thanks!