What kind of rags to clean drivetrain? Currently I'm re-reading through Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance. He mentions using rags to clean the chain, cogs, jockey wheels and the rest of the drivetrain. Just wondering what kind of rags people use. I generally use the blue shop towels. They work OK but they're still paper so I have to be careful that the chain doesn't shred them and I get little chunks of paper all over the drivetrain. I thought about buying a pack of cotton rags from Costco but seems like these would get expensive since I'd basically get one use out of a rag.

I live in a wet climate and use wet chain lube.
Whatever you have to hand.  Generally chains are filthy, so I use cloth rags whose next stop is the bin.  I don't wash rags for reuse - by the time they're down to cleaning chains, they're pretty dirty already.

I do use a clean paper towel for the last wipe of excess lube.

I've never bought rags in my life.  I simply recycle old towels and clothes.  



Great


Towels/towelling 
Cotton 
Calico  
Corduroy  
Cheesecloth / muslin  
Linen         
Paper towels
Velour    
Natural fibres are generally pretty good for cleaning.


Adequate


Polyester 
nylon   tends to repel water, and be quite thin
Lycra   
sacking / burlap     tends to be quite thick and somewhat scratchy.
Wet Wipes


Poor


Fur     - drops fibres like wool
wool    - tends to be dropping little fibres when its old and worn down.  Better to compost pure wool, or unpick it to a string (see below)
lace    - too many holes
silk     - too thin
leather   - not very absorbent.  Reuse in other ways instead.
Tissues / toilet paper      - can't handle the water and break down quickly.
Sailcloth    TOo hard and not absorbent.  Better reuse elseways.
PVC and other waterproof layers - not absorbent
Most artificial fibres are poor for absorbing.


Yarn / wool - has use as a "gear floss" for getting dirt out of your cassette between the cogs, but is less useful elsewhere.

Feel free to raise comments with corrections, or just edit directly.