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Question about rags

Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2017 3:12 pm
by JayTrek
This is a question related to showering...so I thought I would stick it here.

If this is not the right place...let me know and I will move it.

What cause a rag when it dries to get stiff? This has happened for years and its sort of annoying. Is it something with the soap?

Re: Question about rags

Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 8:30 pm
by brothers
Jay, I would agree with your statement that the soap residue dries as does the fabric, and forms a bond between the fibers of the fabric. makes sense to me.

Re: Question about rags

Posted: Tue May 16, 2017 1:05 am
by CMur12
I've had this happen, however, without ever exposing the washcloth to soap.

- Murray

Re: Question about rags

Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 9:16 pm
by JayTrek
The mystery thickens.

Re: Question about rags

Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 4:42 am
by drmoss_ca
Yet stiff old cleaning rags will soften up if washed rinsed and dried. Must be something acting like a starch within their fibres. As for facecloths and suchlike, it sounds like throwing them in the laundry is the right thing to do perhaps just before they get that board-like stiffness.

C.

Re: Question about rags

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 5:45 pm
by CMur12
If I leave my bluejeans in the drier until they are completely dry, they will come out soft.

If I take them out while they are still damp, as I usually do, so that I can shape them before hanging them up to dry, they will dry stiff. The wetter they are when I hang them to dry, the stiffer they will be when dry. (Wearing them, however, causes them to soften up quickly.)

- Murray

Re: Question about rags

Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 8:14 am
by brothers
Stuff that's wet is fluid in nature and stuff that's lost whatever the fluid was (through evaporation) tends to retain the shape it was in when it was fluid. (Molecular something or other). Example, earth, mud, paint, pottery, concrete and so on ad infinitum. Goes for fabric too. Wrinkles! Mystery solved. :D