# I wonder what the "grit" of cheap paper towel is?



## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

Posted 3/29/21 1:24 AM CDST

I was given a deal on a surface rusted rifle and in cleaning the surface rust before using oil and fine steel wool, I used light oil and cheap paper towel to wipe it down until no rust showed on the towel and then cleaned it off with solvent and was surprised that the pitting was minimal and the blueing in pretty good shape.

I ended up cold bluing only five small areas that needed fine steel wool during the clean up .

I know oil is the main component but I wonder if cheap white paper towel with oil is as good as fine crocus cloth.


----------



## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Paper towels are rough, that's why little kids fight so hard to keep parents from wiping their faces with them.

Hubby uses blue shop towels for most of the gun cleaning because they don't fall apart like white paper towels.


----------



## GunMonkeyIntl (May 13, 2013)

Shrek said:


> Posted 3/29/21 1:24 AM CDST
> 
> I was given a deal on a surface rusted rifle and in cleaning the surface rust before using oil and fine steel wool, I used light oil and cheap paper towel to wipe it down until no rust showed on the towel and then cleaned it off with solvent and was surprised that the pitting was minimal and the blueing in pretty good shape.
> 
> ...


Not really, at least on steel. When doing a high-polish on gunstocks, our final step was brown paper bag. Coarse paper like that does have an abrasive quality, but was only being asked to abrade an oil or polymer-based finish. It wouldn’t do anything to steel.

If you want a somewhat abrasive approach, a step or two more gentle than even 0000 steel wool, get yourself a light gray or white Scotch-Brite pad. It’s got embedded abrasives that are much harder than wool steel, but are carried in such a way that they are less prone to cutting than steel wool. It will let you spot-scrub rust with less risk to the surrounding bluing.


----------



## Snowfan (Nov 6, 2011)

As I read this I started thinking of leather. I've got a couple of boxes of leather scraps from projects. Could some of that be suitable for your type of project?


----------

