Washing pillow ticking?

[pab1]

I did a search in this forum for "pillow ticking", and a couple people posted that they wash and iron theirs before cutting patches. Is there any advantage to doing this? Will it affect the thickness of the material?

 

[paulvallandigham]

It mainly gets a starch-like " Sizing " out of the fabric, which impedes absorbing lubes. Drying the cloth in a dryer does seem to tighten the weave a bit, but I don't see any change if significance in the thickness of the cloth, before and after.

 

[Greenmtnboy]

It mainly gets a starch-like " Sizing " out of the fabric, which impedes absorbing lubes. Drying the cloth in a dryer does seem to tighten the weave a bit, but I don't see any change if significance in the thickness of the cloth, before and after.

do you really notice tightening of the fabric when put in the dryer? I know you get shrinking should I think about this when I am washing out the sizing and preparing my patch material?
I usually leave wet and fold because I don't have an iron, maby I should get one (iron).

 

[paulvallandigham]

dI don't bother ironing material I am going to use for cleaning patches, thank you. I think you can just hang them on a rope or put the fabric sheets on bushes to air dry, for that matter. I have an iron, but I would not bother to use it on this. Now, if you are going to use a drill press, and a power cutter to cut out hundreds of patches, then maybe using that iron might make that all work out better. What I would want would be a wood " Jig " with a hole the size of the cutter, to place over a stack of cotton layers of cloth, to hold them down as the cutter is cutting them all. That way, if there is a nick in a blade, or a burr, you won't find the fabric in the top layer wrapped around the cutter and clogging up the works.

 

[longcruise]

I don't get the ironing thing, but heck, may as well have nice looking patches.

I machine wash mine at least twice and sometimes three times.

Ever notice the smell of insecticide with some new cloth? Especially if it's from china. And, especially if you shoot spit patch :shocked2: Nothing like sticking a piece of cloth in your mouth that has been treated with insecticide. :barf:

I'm thinking of bottleing some spit for the spit patch shooters so's the won't have to worry about that problem any more. How about some cow saliva? Pasteurized of course!

 

[jtmattison]

I double wash mine in light detergent and then tumble dry on high heat. I iron it and trim off the frayed edges making it easier to work with.

:thumbsup:

HD

 

[ronrryan]

I do exactly the same as huntin dawg, because I mostly spit patch and dont like the taste of unwashed ticking with the sizing still in it,fired patches seem to look ok, but I dont use real heavy charges, Good smoke, ron in FL

 

[redwing]

I don't use spit patches if I did I would want to wash it. I don't think in shooting good cotton fabric you can prove washed shoots any better. In that I never wear the patching I don't iron it. :rotf:

 

[dlpowell]

Wash it before you cut it into strips. Run it thru the dryer on whatever heat you want. Forget the iron. The cloth doesn't care if it's wrinkled. :rotf:

 

[Shifty]

No need to iron you are going to wet it again anyway,and also I get better results if I soak the material over night in the lube solution, then lay it out on a hard surface to dry.

 

[fw707]

I wash it and dry it without any of the softener stuff in the washer or dryer. Never paid much attention to the water or dryer temperature.
Just to add something I've never seen mentioned here before, I cut my ticking into strips with pinking shears. No strings and raveling of the thread that way. :wink:
If I'm shooting from a bench I spit patch and cut the strip at the barrel after short-starting the ball, and for hunting I use the strip and Bore Butter or Crisco to load up my loading blocks.
That's about as simple as I can make it, and that's the way I like it. :grin:

 

[Deadeye]

I always spit patch and I never wash the tick that I get from the fabric stores. I have some from oxyoke (1/2 yard pieces) that says "do not wash" but to spit patch it, it has to be washed,
taste terrible. The fabric store tick taste fine.

 

[bob1961]

I have some from oxyoke (1/2 yard pieces) that says "do not wash" but to spit patch it, it has to be washed,
taste terrible. The fabric store tick taste fine.

what's it taste like??? chicken :rotf: :v .................bob

 

[jarrowood]

i use the iron. the only reason i use it is to make the cloth flat so i can apply a teflon coating evenly across the material. i don't iron my cleaning patches. but i do buy them from walmart.

 

[Bill Bryan]

I always wash pillow ticking at lease once before using it. I think it holds lube better and seems to me to go down the barrel easier.

 

[fw707]

I try to keep a couple extra strips cut up just in case: