Sources for Cheese Cloth Rags

There are a lot of places to get cheese cloth. May 15, 2008

Question
I've been doing a lot of ragged glazed finishes lately and I'm looking for a good source for cheese cloth. I know that the local depot carries it, but only in little packs, and it's getting expensive. I thought about looking at using a medical gauze type cloth, but wasn't sure if it would work or if it was more cost effective. Does anyone use something like this?

Forum Responses
(Finishing Forum)
From contributor C:
Many woodworking suppliers and finish dealers have it... sometimes in large rolls. I usually get mine from fabric stores. Even the fabric department at Walmart usually has it. You can often buy all that's left on a bolt from the fabric stores and most will give you a little discount for buying that way. I usually use cotton rags (t-shirt material) from the boxes sold at paint stores for my ragged finishes. Sometimes I also use the cheap bar towels from Sam's club. For some finishes I like the textures of the terry towels.



From contributor R:
Mohawk Finishing Supply has cheese cloth. Item # for 5 lb box is M904-1001. Item # for 25lb box M904-1002.


From contributor D:
The Mohawk cloth that you have listed is not cheese cloth. It's what they call trace cloth. There's a difference. The Mohawk cheesecloth is traditional cheesecloth. The trace cloth, however, is a closely woven material, almost like muslin. There's nothing like Mohawk trace cloth anywhere, from anyone. In the world of finishing, as a wiping cloth for staining, glazing, padding and anything else, it is the nicest and best cloth available. But it's not cheese cloth. Trace cloth is about $4 per pound, expensive as far as ragging textiles are concerned. Cotton wipes can be had for about $0.50 a pound.


From contributor R:
Thanks for the heads up. The cheese cloth from Mohawk is M904-8001 and M904-8002.