Recycled Wiping Rags... The Original Green Success Story

Recycling used clothing into wiping rags is a win/win for the environment.

According to statistics, each one of us throws away more then 68 pounds of clothing and textiles every year in North America. This discarded clothing can, and does, pose a serious threat to the environment. Fortunately there is a little known, but vast worldwide industry dedicated to removing this refuse from the waste stream and recycling the material and other textiles into highly useful, environmentally sound wiping rags.

When charities and thrift stores accept donated clothing, there is a high percentage of items that are not suitable for their specific needs. These are, in turn, sold by the pound to clothing "graders" who cherry pick those items that can be resold as "vintage" clothing or, in most cases, as garments in third world countries. The remainder of the hundreds of thousands of pounds sorted daily in North America are sold to wiping rag manufacturers like Rotex. The environmental benefits of this recycling process are incredibly significant. Not only are tons of used clothing diverted daily from landfill operations, but when compared to traditional paper wiper manufacturing, the reduction of energy and waterusage is substantial . Of all varieties of wiping cloths, those made from recycled clothing have, by far, the least overall impact on the environment.

Every day, rotex processes over 40,000 pounds of clothing into a considerable range of wipers.

Whether it’s a lint-free wiping rag for polishing, or a high-absorbency wiper for spills, Rotex supplies the perfect material for almost any wiping application. T-shirts, fleece, flannel, terry cloth, mixed cotton, sheeting, cord, and denim. Mixed colors or pure white. The variety is both impressive and exceptional, as is our ability to provide exactly what our customers need.

Each half-ton bale in every trailerload is hand sorted piece-by-piece, hand cut into appropriate sizes, and all buttons, rivets and zippers are neatly removed. All wipers are again sorted by quality, then packaged into assorted boxes, bags and bales.

From a 10 lb carton to a 25 lb poly bag to an 800 lb compressed bale, Rotex provides a truly cost effective and environmentally responsible solution for all our customers' wiping rag requirements.

Dedicated to our customers. Dedicated to innovation. Dedicated to the environment. That's the Rotex story.

From the company's founding in 1969 until today, Rotex Supply has been at the forefront of the wiping rag industry. Originally recycling material from army surplus resources, the company grew rapidly, as did the demand for larger quantities and greater varieties of wipers. Charitable organizations were the next logical source for raw material, as they accept far more donated clothing than they could ever possibly use. And, as our society becomes increasingly disposable, these charities have become an infinite wealth of high quality textile material to be processed into wiping rags.

Customer service is not just another catch phrase at Rotex. From the beginning, we have been entirely focused on our customers needs, and have continually expanded our product offering accordingly. In our extensive warehouse we stock hygiene paper products, janitorial supplies, absorbent and spill response products, disposable catering items and even excellent coffee, to name a few. We strive to be the one-stop shop providing, in addition to our huge inventory of wiping rags, those key products that our customers constantly demand.

In addition, keeping with our dedication to the environment, Rotex has instituted a recycling program for wipers, sorbent and filters. These used items are returned to us in 25 or 45-gallon drums. A high-speed centrifuge process is used to extract all excess oils. The processed items are then sent to a class II landfill where they are unable to leach any chemicals or hydrocarbons into our environment.

Rotex. That's our story and you can hold us to it.