Pillow Ticking

[Malckom]

Does it matter if you wash your pillow ticking or not when you buy it by the yard at a fabric shop befor you cut it into strips befor you use it?

 

[Slamfire]

It is actually a good idea to wash the sizing out of the cloth, before making strips. The stuff tastes terrible when you chew on the end to lube the patch. :v

 

[harryo]

I do not wash mine and it works perfectly well with Lehigh Valley or Stumpy's moose milk. However, I do agree with Slamfire that the unwashed ticking doesn't taste too good when used as a spit patch.

 

Washing the fabric weakens it by softening it, thus breaking down the threads. Try to use a thickness and quality that allows you to push the ball down the barrel, rather than hammering it down. Hammering it down stretches the fabric and the exploded powder will start gaschecking the fabric where there is an opening in the fabric. Sometimes this is recognized as small holes that look and commonly mistaken as the friction of the rifling against the patch. This isn't true. It is the slack side of the rifling where the stretched or weak fabric burns through. Use a good lube that will not allow the patch to burn or stick to the ball. As far as the lube goes the advice above by "sabinajiles" is on the right track. :thumbsup:

 

[2172]

Deke, good post...I did a lot of hammering, inspired by folks posting here who talked of really thick patching and its worth...finally found some imitation ticking (printed with stripes on one side only..100% cotton) in .01" and have had no problems since...I wash and use a dryer before lubing..Hank

 

Hank,
You probably got some of the same ticking that I showed at the Dixon Gunbuilders Fair. It is actually a canvas weave exactly as cotton duck, and It is just printed to look like ticking. It is a good quality that you have. I can PT you the close up version of the fabric. My eyes aren't the best anymore so I bought a high resolution scanner and a computer microscope. I'd be happy to send them to you.

 

[barebackjack]

Could you post those for all of us to see? Did you also compare it to pillow ticking? Id be interested in seeing those.

Boone

 

[Dayne]

I wash mine before cutting into strips as well. That's what I was told to do by the person who introduced me to ML many years ago.

 

[CrackStock]

New ticking comes with starch (sizing) added which stiffens that fabric and gives it a new appearance. It also is easier to work that way. The starch is just another source of crud in your bore when it gets damp. I would wash it a time or two and dry before lubing. I especially would not spit patch before washing.

As stated above by Dawg, I wash mine twice without much soap and then dry.

CS

 

I wash mine first to get the sizing out of the fibers and it makes it more absorbent. It seems to take the lube better.

 

[catman]

I have a lady friend that I deal with at my bank that let's have all of the white cotton canvas quarter bags from the bank that get old, these are some tough bags. I'm going to try them as patches, they mic at .022 and this could be too tight but maybe not. I also use it as my bag in the field.
They are very heavy duty in every way...
Something else to think about...

 

[Landngroove]

New ticking comes with starch (sizing) added which stiffens that fabric and gives it a new appearance. It also is easier to work that way. The starch is just another source of crud in your bore when it gets damp.

CS

IMHO I agree with CrackStock. The sizing is a starch like substance which can coat the bore. Much better to wash it first.

 

[harryo]

New ticking comes with starch (sizing) added which stiffens that fabric and gives it a new appearance. It also is easier to work that way. The starch is just another source of crud in your bore when it gets damp.

CS

IMHO I agree with CrackStock. The sizing is a starch like substance which can coat the bore. Much better to wash it first.

Has anyone ever actually seen this to be a problem? I haven't washed my ticking for the last couple of years, and thousands of shots, and have never had any sign of any build up of any type in the bore. If sizing is starch based, then it is water soluble and should present no problems. To each his own, but IMO,this notion about sizing causing undesirable residue or build up in a bore is fiction.

 

[marwat06]

I just started using Pillow Ticking (~200 rounds fired) ... so maybe not a good example .. but I didn't wash my ticking and so far hadn't had any problems.

 

[Deadeye]

I used to buy pillow ticking by the yard from Oxyoke and they said DON'T wash it but it tasted so bad you had to wash it before putting it in your mouth. The ticking I get at Walmart I don't wash and it doesn't have a bad taste.