Do paper towels such as Bounty scratch gun finishes?

[elano]

I've used paper towels for a long time to wipe off dirt and excess oil from blued guns. I bought my first polished blued gun and after cleaning it, I noticed some fine scratches. Is it my imagination or do bounty paper towels have something in them that can scratch a finish? Or is this just standard wear for a high polish shooter. I knew holsters and such would leave scratches, just wondering if I should switch from good brand paper towels to something else.

 

[Sam1911]

Sure, paper is made of wood pulp and also contains fine silicates and other impurities which can scratch polished finishes. Most folks will go to a nice cotton cloth kept pretty clean for wiping very polished guns or other items.

 

[larryh1108]

I agree. If you use paper towels on your eyeglasses they will get fine scratches all over them. Ask me how I know! I only use 100% cotton (bath towels) or the microfiber towels to polish my lenses and guns. If you ever tried to polish your lenses with a t-shirt you'll give up because they are so thin you just move the smudge/wax/oil around instead of absorbing it.

 

[ericuda]

Invest in some microfiber towels. Well worth it.

 

[il.bill]

Use a clean old cotton t-shirt. One would never use a paper towel on an automobile because it would scratch the finish. Same goes for a polished firearm surface.

 

[matrem]

The only use I've found for paper towels on blued/ polished firearms is 'dabbing' to remove bulk moisture, and wouldn't even do that on glass.

Any clean cotton material is perfect for that, whether a sheet, bath towel, or old thin tee-shirt.

If you're using on glass, just make sure they weren't washed with that thin oil film 'anti-static' commonly known as downy & a few other trade names.

 

[Scooter22]

Hellooooo. I think most guys have a pretty good supply of very soft washed cotton from old underwear, socks, shirts, ect. How can you not have some for gun rags??? Whenever I get a worn out piece I tear it and add it to the rag pile. It adds up. Free and no scratches.

 

[MIL-DOT]

I often use a Scott/Bounty-type paper towel to wipe carbon and old lube off the inside of the receivers or the bolts of AK's and AR's and the like, when I first start cleaning them. It's a quick,economical ,way to get the bulk of the grime off, before the more detailed cleaning, without wasting my stash of old T-shirt rags.
But, that's about it, I wouldn't use them to wipe down the exterior of a nice blued or stainless piece.

 

[cfullgraf]

The high end towels and those with no post consumer recycled fiber are less likely to scratch a surface. Virgin fibers clean up pretty well.

The bargain basement, cheap stuff with a large quantity of recycled fiber will scratch diamonds. You'd be amazed what gets in the pulpers along with the recycled office waste paper.

On the machines that roll up the towels, where the sheet runs over metal parts, the toweling polishes it to a mirror finish.

(FYI, before retirement, I made paper towels, toilet paper and other tissue based products.)

 

[230RN]

I get packs of those red shop towels from the auto shops, rinse 'em out good twice in hot water, and then use them exclusively for guns. Which is easy, since they're red, easy to find, and usually enough in two packs of them to have extras ready-to-hand when needed. They're also hard to just grab for wiping something else like spilt milk, doncha know.

I wrap each handgun in one before putting them away in their cases, and pack one in with each long gun so they're right there for a wipedown. Every once in a great while I wash them in a bucket with my BoreSnakes.

Terry, 230RN

 

[bluestarlizzard]

this is why they make underpants and tshirts and socks and pretty much any article of clothing that you've worn out.

I also keep a silicon "rag" for wipe downs when I'm just briefly handling a gun. I just keep it by the safe for wipe downs and whatnot.

Another nice, new thing is several companies have come out with what I like to call baby wipes for guns. I'm already addicted to baby wipes (seriously, very, very useful) and Clorox wipes (awesome!) so this is enough to make me do a happy dance.

 

[Cowhide Cliff]

Same here for rags. Old socks, T shirts, etc, never get thrown away until they are well used rags.

 

[slumlord44]

I am finding it hard to believe that a paper towel would scratch a blued gun when 0000 steel wool and oil used lightly won't. That being said I usually use an old t shirt.

 

[carbine85]

If you are using oil or a gun cleaner I think a good paper towel should be fine. However I normally use a soft cloth. With that said over cleaning in general can wear down a finish.

 

[AR-15Nutt]

paper towels are only good for cleaning up baby puke and dog pee!

 

[dringge]

I learned long ago to use old clean tshirts on my glasses and optics but once they have gone out to my shop they are no longer acceptable because they could still hold grinding dust, etc.
Im kind of a tightwad so when tshirts, socks and underwear get tossed they are really worn out.

 

[Reloadron]

Place a cheap paper towel in a microwave over for a minute. Remove it, does it feel warm to the touch? The warm you feel is micro metal chips impregnated into the towel during manufacture. I won't use paper towels on any surface I am concerned about.

While in the automotive section of department stores I generally buy good cotton rags, this in addition to old T shirts, socks and underwear. My wife converts most of that stuff to dust rags and general cleaning rags.

Ron

 

[bannockburn]

I still have quite a few unused (as in never been used on a baby), cloth diapers, old sweatshirts, shop towels, and wash cloths. Never have used any kind of paper products on my guns.

 

[Sav .250]

Some sort of cloth as noted by other posters is the way to go..........

 

[barnbwt]

"I am finding it hard to believe that a paper towel would scratch a blued gun when 0000 steel wool and oil used lightly won't."
0000 is used to polish to obtain the blued surface; it will most certainly scratch & require reblue. That said, it can improve the look of an already damaged finish --that is already damaged. A paper towel will scratch a lacquered trumpet bell; given regular usage, it will certainly wear through a blued oxide finish.

TCB

 

[Reloadron]

I am finding it hard to believe that a paper towel would scratch a blued gun when 0000 steel wool and oil used lightly won't. That being said I usually use an old t shirt.

It's not the paper towel, it is the impurities in the paper towel to include tiny steel shavings from the machinery the paper towel is manufactured on. Especially true of real cheap paper towels.

Ron

 

[22-rimfire]

Use old socks or tea shirts to wipe down guns. I do use paper towels at times, but I know that they are slightly abrasive. Basically it just depends if I care.....

 

[BSA1]

Paper towels and high quality gun finish usually are not a good combination. I spent a loooong boring shift on New Years Day cleaning a used Pietta 1873 I have just acquired. It has a dull bead blasted blue finish and the entire grip frame is made of unpolished brass. In addition the brass on the backstrap had turned green from sweat and oil from the previous owners hand. It was and still is a ugly gun.

My go to cleaner and lubricant with neglected guns is G-96. I hosed the gun frame down with G-96 and after letting it soak for a while used white paper towels from the public restrooms. These towels are made with pretty rough fibers. I used the towels to remove the excess G-96 and in doing so the oil came off black in color. Throughout my shift I kept repeating hosing the grip frame down, let soak then rubbing with clean paper towel.

By the end of shift I had removed all of the green discoloration and the brass has a even appearance.

This was a rare occasion where due to the rough exterior finish of the gun use of a rougher towel actually produced better results than using soft cloth and t-shirt.

 

[Panzerschwein]

Go to the auto department at the local Wal-Mart.

They sell a big old bulk pack of blue and white microfiber clothes. The price is excellent.

Thank me later.

 

[DeepSouth]

Place a cheap paper towel in a microwave over for a minute. Remove it, does it feel warm to the touch? The warm you feel is micro metal chips impregnated into the towel during manufacture. I won't use paper towels on any surface I am concerned about.

That's simply not true.

The short answer is paper towels will scratch anything softer than hardwood fibers.