What is Cheesecloth? Uses for Cheesecloth
Although originally used in the production of cheese, cheesecloth has, in fact, many uses, including acting as polishing/wiping cloths in laboratories, printmaking, clothing, woodworking, and staining.
In this blog post, we’ll offer a brief overview of cheesecloth and how it’s used in different applications.
What is cheesecloth?
It’s a 100 percent cotton material that is tightly woven in different lengths, thicknesses and grades. These tightly-woven fibers are great for allowing liquids to pass through while preventing solids from permeating the material.
Cheesecloth is very similar to gauze and comes in different formats. Just as with rags, there’s no “one size fits all” approach. Cheesecloth has different grades and threads-per-inch.
It also comes in a variety of different packaging depending on the application. Individually-packaged pieces are great for wiping applications, while long rolls are better when laying products on a long table or work station.
Applications
Some of the most common uses for cheesecloth include:
1. Food Preparation
Originally, cheesecloth was used in the kitchen to help with food preparation, particularly for making cheese, as it allows the cheese to both age and breathe. It can also be used to strain liquids from solids.
2. Laboratory
What is cheesecloth used for outside the kitchen? Well, its consistency and 100 percent cotton make-up makes it perfect for lab work. It will absorb liquids and clean equipment while being strong enough not to break.
And that’s important for labs, as one of the leading causes of lint and particles are from torn or broken wiping cloths or paper wipes. In addition, cheesecloth will not scratch microscopes, glassware, pipettes syringes, or any lab equipment made from stainless steel, glass or metal.
3. Fire Testing
Consumer product manufacturers use grade 60 cheesecloth to test for potential fire hazards. Due to its tightly-woven fabric, the cloth is wrapped over the device being tested. Testers then put the device through a series of simulations, such as power surges or lightning surges. If the cheesecloth catches fire, the regulators reject the product.
As we said earlier, cheesecloth comes in many forms, styles and weaves, and we want to make sure we have the right cheesecloth for our customers’ applications.
To that end, we can send you a variety of samples of cotton cleaning cloths to try, including Aerotex, Rymplecloth and Purewipe.
Contact Y-pers today to discuss application and pricing, and we’ll get started on finding the right cheesecloth for you.