Oakum
Oakum is a preparation of tarred fibre used to seal gaps. Its main traditional applications were in shipbuilding, for caulking or packing the joints of timbers in wooden vessels and the deck planking of iron and steel ships; in plumbing, for sealing joints in cast iron pipe; and in log cabins for chinking. In ship caulking, it was forced between the seams using a hammer and a caulking iron, then sealed into place with hot pitch.
Tack cloth
A new type of tack cloth has been developed at the Y-12 National Security Complex, a nuclear weapons plant. Its purpose was to clean up microscopic beryllium particles that posed a health hazard. The inventor, Ron Simandl, also found he could dry-buff the alloy wheels on his car. The stubborn brake and road dirt came right off and left the wheels clean and bright.