Determining good patch material?

[Jaepheth]

Ok, so reading around I know that I need an all natural fiber, tight weave fabric.

However, I can't seem to find any info on how to tell if a weave is tight enough to be used as patch material.
Is there any test or rule of thumb you guys use to determine if a fabric will work without shooting it first?

 

[Rifleman1776]

Following the advice of experience shooters is a good, maybe best, way to start.
Pillow ticking has become almost the standard or universal choice. There are others, thicker bed ticking or denim can be a good choice for some barrel/ball combos. Some canvas or duck materials will work.
Do avoid: synthetic blends; soft loose weaves.
Make sure your choice is pure cotton. Wash before use.

 

[nchawkeye]

Just starting out, order some patches from online suppliers like Track of the Wolf...Then you have examples to compare to...

 

[Black Hand]

Make sure your choice is pure cotton.

Or hemp or linen...

 

[ohio ramrod]

Also avoid any cloth made in China. I purchased some "one hundred per cent cotton" . tight weave that miked at 15 thousands.And it just shreaded when shot and gave lousy groups, switched back to some older patches and the gun shot great. Now I have two yards of "cleaning patches" I went back to the store and noticed the bolt said made in China. Something I hadn't checked on in the Amish fabric store! :idunno: :idunno:

 

[meanmike8665]

While you are looking at the fabric store, take a single corner and put it up to the light, if you can see big holes it is not tight enough and look at more than one bolt they can vary. You should see only tiny holes and very little light.
Always wash it.

Michael

 

[George T.]

You could go with the Ox-Yoke pre-cut patches to get a start. The "Possible Shop" had strips and bulk in several thicknesses. Their advertised thickness are closer than many! Geo. T.

 

[fleener]

So what is wrong with oxyoke patches? Never understood people cutting their own

Snapper

 

[nchawkeye]

So what is wrong with oxyoke patches? Never understood people cutting their own

Snapper

Nothing wrong with them...Many of us just like to make as much of our stuff as possible and we like to think it's a little cheaper as well...Some also cut at the muzzle as well...

 

[Zonie]

I've shot thousands of OxYoke patches but by buying some pillow ticking I can save money plus I get to have a hands on "I made it myself" experience.

The pillow ticking I bought the last time was 54 inches wide.
If I bought one yard I'd have a piece of material 36 inches wide by 54 inches long.

That makes for an area of 1944 square inches of fabric.

Assuming I cut my patches about 1 3/8 inches square I could get 26 out of the 36 inch width.
The same size cut out of the 54 inch length would give me 39 pieces.

26 X 39 = 1014 patches but what the hey! Lets say it's only 1000.

The pillow ticking I bought was cheap by today's prices and I only paid about $5/yard but lets say it cost $13 a yard.
That 1000 patches is equal to 10 packages of store bought patches (100/pack). That makes the cost per package equivalent of 100 patches equal to about $1.30 or a little over one penny per patch.

That beats the $5- $8 or so they are getting for store bought packages any way I look at it. :grin:

 

[hanshi]

Everything sold in stores these days is made in China. At Joannes I've looked down rows of bolts of cloth and most was from China and bolts that were not were made either in Pakistan, India or Mexico. Off hand don't recall any made in the US.

 

[russecv58]

it may sound kind of stupid, but put a piece of the material up to your mouth and try to blow air through it. you'll be able to tell the difference between a tight weave and a not so tight weave. just for example, try a piece of muslin vs. a piece of high quality pocket material. :2

 

[Rifleman1776]

So what is wrong with oxyoke patches? Never understood people cutting their own

Snapper

What is wrong with doing things for yourself instead of buying commercial made stuff?
A big part of this game is learning the old ways and how to do for yourself. Making your own patches allows versatility in what you are using from material, size and the choice of lubes. Plus it is less expensive. And, for many, there is a satifaction in knowing you have done it for yourself.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Make sure your choice is pure cotton.

Or hemp or linen...

Used hemp once. But it smoldered and smelled and I got arrested. :shocked2: :rotf:

 

[BrownBear]

Just starting out, order some patches from online suppliers like Track of the Wolf...Then you have examples to compare to...

That's incredibly good advice. Easy way to get "small" samples of different thicknesses, which is important. When you find a good one then it's time to go looking for alternate and cheaper sources.

I kinda like messing with scrap samples from around the house. Right now I'm working to wear out some of my Carhart pants faster, because when I tried some old ones for patches, they were great. Dunno about new Carhart fabric, but those old pants worn from brown to darned near white made some of the best patches I've ever used. Didn't cost a cent.

 

[Billnpatti]

For an example of a proper tight weave for use as a patch for your PRBs, go to a fabric store and look at pillow ticking. It is a pretty standard material to use for patching. Also look at such fabrics as pocket drill and denim. My personal favorite is pocket drill. It mics at around .015 to .018. When I buy fabric for patches, I take my clean micrometer and measure the thickness of the fabric before buying it. I know what my rifle likes and I don't buy any fabric that doesn't measure .018. When I find it, I will buy several yards at one time. That way I have a supply of patches that won't vary. When I get my fabric home, the first thing I do is get out the sewing machine and run a row of stitching along the cut edges to prevent unraveling. Then I wash my fabric with just detergent and no fabric softener. Softener effects the absorbancy of the fabric. I run it through the dryer (you can line dry it if you want) and then I run an iron over it to remove the wrinkles. This is not absolutely necessary but it makes the fabric nicer for cutting patches. At this point, you are ready to make patches. BTW, if you don't run the stitching along the cut edges, they will unravel and you will end up with a very tangled mess when it comes out of the washer and you will have lots of threads to pick out of the washing machine. Of course, if you don't have a sewing machine or choose not to bother with it, you just learn to deal with tangled fabric in which case, scissors will be your friend.

 

[fleener]

I make most of my own stuff, with the exception of patches and balls. neither one just seems to be worth my time. Time is more valuable to me at this point in my life.

Really dont want to take up weaving, and I bought enought round balls and patches 10 years ago to keep me for a few more years.

fleener

 

[Leatherbark]

I hold patching up to the sky or a light and look to see light. The amount of sparkles is the tightness of weave. I use Jo-Anns canvas patching. .022 inch and the same tight weave on boths sides. pick them off the ground and use them again.

Bob

 

[David W.]

Choose between pillow ticking, denim, and pocket drill. You can't go wrong with either of those.