Would a micro fiber cloth suffice?

 

Some tack cloths contain silicone which will interfere with finishes. I buy my tack cloths from a store that sells only auto paint supplies. I have never had an issue with those tack cloths.

 

Yes, commercial tack cloth uses wax to collect residue.
Yes, it can leave residue.

IMHO - you have to viciously rub the surface to leave wax behind. A light touch leaves near zero residue. Wax is soluble in many mid to light weight petroleum solvents. Any large streaks can be remove with naphtha. Small residual amounts of wax have never created issues for my oil/solvent based wood finishes.

Micro fiber towels can work, but they don't hold the dust very well. They also can catch on wood fibers with open grain woods, and will leave fiber residue behind.
That is why tack clothe is open weave cheese cloth coated with wax.

 

I've used tack clothes before and it worked fine when topcoating with solvent-based finishes. I've never attempted a water-based finish after the tack cloth.

But we don't do that anymore. Vacuum, compressed air and wiping with a cotton cloth take care of most of the dust. if we want things really clean, a wipe with an alcohol-dampened cotton cloth does the trick.

You could try the microfiber cloth but some of them seem snag-prone and might deposit a bunch of fibers on the wood. Avoid brightly colored cloth and go with neutral tones that blend into the wood or stain in case you don't spot the fibers before finishing.

 

I'm assuming you're wiping on the Danish Oil Finish. In my experience, using wipe-on finishes, you'll be fine after vacuuming the surface to just use a heavy duty paper towel (like Scott's Rags in a Box). I've found the paper towel picks up all the sanding dust well, and obviously has no solvent or wax in it.

Wipe 2-3 times using a fresh paper towel each time until you don't see any dust in the towel-then apply the finish. This method has always worked for me. I gave up using tack cloths decades ago-especially when I went to water-based finishes almost exclusively for projects.
Hope you found this helpful.
Gerry

 

I use a micro fiber cloth. It gets a lot of the dust

 

I use them all of the time, never had a problem.

 

I think many, many years ago tack cloths had some problems….maybe it was silicone, or something else. But over the years the manufacturers got the message and the new ones are much less problem prone. Part oft this may be due to the growth of finishes that don't adhere as well in some cases, like the urethane varnishes and some water borne stuff (strictly speculation on my part). I don't use tack cloths, just stick to a spray bottle of MS and a rag, but I wouldn't worry about them if I did use one.

 

I use them alot too, wiping gently.

 

I too think that some air and vacuum should do the trick. Before I had ever heard of buying a tack cloth we would take a clean T-shirt rag and wring it out after applying mineral spirits. Of course all we used was oil based finishes at the time.

 

I have used them for decades. I have not noticed and effect on the finish.

I do use a light touch.

Good topic, thanks for posting.

 

If doing a typical DO finish (flood on, keep wet, wipe off), dust is not much of a concern. I have done many flatwork projects and hundreds of turned bowls with the method. Several are in my LJ's projects.

The dust gets pushed into negative grain or into the application cloth/towel. In fact I leave the dust from the last grit on the surface. When wiped into neg grain, it helps hilite the grain with a bit darker color. Part of that comes from the dye I mix into the finish. Microfiber towels are excellent tack cloths - hold them to the inlet of a hi speed dust collection point and let them flap around, releasing the dust picked up. With properly sanded surfaces I dont find that they snag, but a natural edge or voids purposely left open will snag.

If one insists on dust free with DO, lightly wiping with a tack cloth wont mess up the surface, but they have limited life - they can only hold so much. A microfiber towel has a very long life, and is better at sweeping out negative grain if you want all dust removed.

I use poly diluted1:1 vs DO. A coat or two applied as described will reduce fretting over dust on fresh surfaces, and create a well sealed surface for subsequent wipe on or brushed coats to build a film finish. Its also a great way to fill negative grain, wet sanding the 1st coat with some dye added.