Homemade cleaning Patches

[Rob M.]

Old t-shirts and the like ....free

 

[S.Kenton]

I use old t-shirts, rags even those blue towels you get in rolls from harbor freight. I cut them into squares and bag them up.

 

[Butch Martin]

I get patch material from International Military Antiques. It comes in rolls, and you cut off what you need. The cloth is flannel textured and very absorbent. I forgot what I paid for it, but the cost is low. The British Army uses it, so you know it works.

 

[Ed C.]

During the confusion of COVID Walmart had a Black Friday kind of thing going where they would just put huge boxes of stuff in the aisles with low prices on them for a week or so during the thanksgiving week. They had 1000 thread count Egyptian cotton sheet sets for $25 a set (all sizes) so I picked up 4 sets to make my wife smile. When I checked them out I asked the lady if they rung up at $25 and she said no they were only $10. I paid for my stuff, ran and put it in the truck, and ran back in. I got my son and his wife 4 sets and got us 4 more sets and got me 2 for well . . . . just because. I took my handy dandy cutter and made cleaning patches of all sizes for both BP and modern guns.
View attachment 302619
This thing cuts multiple thicknesses so fast that you have to run to keep up with it. I’m set for cleaning patches for ever now.

This is the best along with a sheet of plexiglass to cut on. Cut up old clothes and in a matter of 20 minutes you can have 200 patches. Also great for cutting up ticking for RB shooting patches.

 

[flatcreek]

Rotary cutter and a matt is the way to go. Makes short work of a yard of material.

 

[AZ Muzzleloaders]

Rotary cutter and a matt is the way to go. Makes short work of a yard of material.

I use also use a rotary cutter on thrift shop flannel sheets. Thousands of patches for $2.00.

 

[Alice1885]

The best way and fastest I have found is to make your own round patch cutter out of an old hole saw. If you dont have any go to harbor freight buy you a set of there cheap hole saw kits. Take and grind the teeth off and sharpen the edge as sharp as you can get it. Then put the hole saw mounted on the arbor in a drill press and use a small piece of plexiglass to cut on, you can double or triple your layer of material, or leave it single layered. You have different size hole saws for various calibers. You can cut cleaning and shooting patches. The better saws hole saws such as Milwaukee or Dewalt will hold an edge better. Most contractors will have old worn out hole saws they will give you. Run your drill press at slow rpm. Have fun !

 

[Rebel bull]

my cleaning patch of choice is fleece it does a much better job then any commercial patch or any other bulk cloth I've found and remnants are cheap every where 1 yard = more then I can use in a year

 

[tenngun]

I saw cotton flannel on Walmart website, but it's colored. Will that affect anything?

Depends on the color. Grey is ok but blue will ruin an ml
No color won’t matter. You just want 100% cotton or wool which is too expensive, but soaks up the water easily.
A soft cloth like flannel seems to work better than a hard cloth like denim.
Wash it w time or two to remove sizing as it will make the cloth easier to soak up water and oil.
When done you can dry the patches and use them as char

 

[Banjoman]

Yep, definitely gotta be grey. Blue is for targets!

 

[ord sgt]

For all the married men, another source of patch material, ASK your wife for all old underwear, well washed of course. It will give her an excuse to buy new and you are doing your part by repurposing the knickers into cleaning patches.
My S-I-L passed away and there was a drawer full of knickers. Throw them away? No. Free material 100% cotton.

 

[hawkeye2]

My wife cut up old T shirts and undershirts but I found an issue with them in that they aren't of consistent thickness, some ar too thick and others are too thin however they will work fine if I use them on a brush. I like a snug fitting patch for cleaning and sometime will modify my jag to get the fit I like but some patches are just to thick to start and others are too thin to do a good job. I'll probably go to the fabric store and buy some tight weave cotton fabric for the next batch. I have used a paper cutter guillotine for cutting as I have one and it works fine but I'll probably try a rotary cutter next time.

 

[Sir Boniface Harrison]

Me too. On the scale of cost it's so inexpensive that it's not worth the effort to track down discarded or second hand shop stuff. I start a tear with scissors of the correct width for the caliber and tear off a strip it maintains the width. No need to cut each patch individually. Fold it over and over then cut it across each end. I can make 20 or so in about 30 seconds. A hundred in a few minutes at home or in the field.

Bloody hell! I'll use your method from now on. The other night it took me three hours to make 300 round patches cutting each one individually.

 

[rcscott30]

harbor freight was having a parking lot sale this weekend and I happen to get a rotary cutter for patches at a great price!!

 

[longcruise]

Bloody hell! I'll use your method from now on. The other night it took me three hours to make 300 round patches cutting each one individually.

Can't go wrong! I tear my shooting patches too. If I'm going to make individual patches I cut the lubed strip the same way or just leave as is to cut at the muzzle.

 

[Kansas Jake]

Ticking patch material tears in a straight line easily. Old t-shirts are a little more tricky. I tear shooting patch strips and then cut at the muzzle or cut into squares with a knife or scissors. Cleaning patches from old shirts etc. I cut with a rolling cutter.

 

[R Ellis]

I am low on cleaning patches and when this post appeared it was at the correct time . I ordered a cutter and 7 yards of cotton flannel which should be delivered today This should be several years supply $17 for the cotton and $10 for cutter from WalMart on line . I am not sure how many patches this will make but it should last a while

 

[springfield art]

I saw cotton flannel on Walmart website, but it's colored. Will that affect anything?

No, just be sure it's pure cotton; any synthetic will gum up the bore.

 

[R Ellis]

No, just be sure it's pure cotton; any synthetic will gum up the bore.

just ordered it in white from WalMart they have it in stock

 

[smoothshooter]

I've been doing a lot more shooting since my last move and cleaning patches online have become expensive ordering every month. What material do you all use for your own patches?

I can’ imagine why anyone would buy cleaning patches.
Get a 100% cotton white T shirt. MUST BE 100% COTTON.
Wash it 2 or 3 times to remove any sizing if new.
Cut patches to the desired shapes and sizes.