Andy here from Neighborhood Bike Works in Philly
I tried washing NBW's rags one time, and spent two hours cleaning my washing machine afterwards... The answer would be to have a washer that is just for that... not out of the question, I suppose, especially if you have aprons and so on that need cleaning. We usually trash 'em after a while. Rag service seems too expensive...
I know people who used edible oils on bikes from when I worked in bike shops... those were the bikes that cockroaches would fall out of by the handful when you went to loosen the stem bolt... mm... tasty!
Philly has hazardous waste drop offs... I guess we should be using that facility rather than the U Penn dumpster... thanks for the heads up
Peace,
Andy
Bob Giordano wrote:
At Free Cycles Missoula we throw rags away too, after lots of use. Perhaps the deeper root to work on is lessening the chemicals used in the lifecycle of a bike. We have experimented with a bio lube produced locally from veggie oil- it was really good (and edible), but not as 'good' as tri flow for longevity. Also- all the de-icer used on city streets eventually comes into our shop. It will be longer term, but lets get the poisons out of the system. Short term- I like the idea of sending the rags to haz waste facilities instead of land fills. I'm interested to hear more ideas. -Bob