THREADS - The RFI, Inc. Blog

The Price of Cotton

2011-02-16T13:00:00.000-08:00

According to International Cotton Advisory Committee, the price of cotton has double in the past year, reaching a record high of $1.90 per pound. The last time it was this high was during the Civil War when the price of cotton hit a record $1.89 per pound.

There are several reasons for this price increase. Bad weather in China, Pakistan, Australia and the United States, has destroyed the cotton crops.Restrictions for cotton export from India, which ranks second in the world, is another of the factors affecting cotton price. China, being the first cotton producing country in the world, has shut down many factories due to recession. Global demand for cotton has also driven the price up.

This price increase affects the price of rags also. Some of the products affected are new bar mops and huck towels. Here at RFI Inc. we try to keep the prices at our lowest possible, unfortunately
as you can see in our website, prices for these two items have to be quoted before we ship them.

We will continue to offer the best price and quality of our rags as the market allow us.

Recycling Update: Part 3, Textiles

2011-01-12T05:50:00.000-08:00

The subject of textile recycling covers several different topics. Used clothing is collected through various means and after cleaning and sorting, is donated to the less fortunate of us or sold in second-hand venues such as Goodwill in order to raise funds. However, once a garment is no longer a viable garment, it eventually enters the "waste stream." Other textiles that are non-durable, such as sheets and towels, are often converted to rags and wipers. It is interesting to note that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not consider this type of "reuse" as recycling because the rags and wipers eventually do become waste material.

Hotels, motels, resorts, and medical clinics and hospitals are a major source of reused or recycled textiles. These "damaged" or used textiles are often processed by sorting, cutting, and hemming. Other sources are textile manufacturers themselves, that often have unusable or damaged material that is produced in the manufacturing process. Textiles that can't be used for rags have other uses. Cotton is used in high-quality paper making. Other knitted and woolen fabrics are "pulled" into fibrous state and reprocessed into fibers that are used in upholstery, insulation and other building materials.

Two companies that make clothing, Patagonia and Nike, have been in the news regarding their "green" policies. Patagonia, well-known for its "footprint" program, launched its Common Threads Garment Recycling Program to recycle used garments into modern styles. And in the recent World Cup games, no less than nine soccer teams were wearing Nike jerseys that were made from recycled plastic bottles.

Sources:
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/recycled-cotton-saves-land-water-energy.html

http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/textiles.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textile_recycling#Conversion_to_rags

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1995859,00.html

Spring Cleaning -- THE KITCHEN

2010-05-14T01:03:00.000-07:00

A great deal of activity takes place in most kitchens. We cook, eat, and just generally gather in that one place day in and day out. So, once a year it's not a bad idea to give it a good going over. Traditionally, spring, a time of renewal, is a great time to do it.

(Reprinted from an article on About.com by, Sarah Aquirre)

A day can be completely eaten up by cleaning a kitchen. After breakfast, lunch, and supper, your kitchen can look like a disaster area in need of federal attention. We all know that if we leave our dishes and countertops until the morning, we need an ice pick to scrape off dried on food. After a long day few of us want to spend an hour scrubbing a room that is just going to need it again in 8 hours. Use this method to keep your kitchen running smoothly without making you feel rundown.

Begin with a 15 Minute Kitchen Cleanup.
This will clear out the clutter and dirty dishes, and give you room to do the actual spring clean up. Don't worry about cleaning the floors in the 15 minute clean up. We will do this later.
Dust down the ceiling and corners of walls.
Determine if the walls need washed in dirty spots. Spot wash, remembering air vents, doorknobs, doors, switch plates. Walls will likely need to be washed more often in this room than in others. You may not have noticed that the hand mixer or blender sloshed goop all over the wall. Take your spring cleaning time now to clean the grease, grime, and spilled food from your walls.
Dust and clean all art and photographs along the wall.
Be careful when cleaning framed art and photographs. Never spray cleanser or water onto the frame. The liquid can seep behind the glass and damage the pictures. Instead lightly wet a clean cloth to wipe the frame and glass.
Dust and clean the ceiling fan.
You may need to use a gentle cleanser like Murphy's Oil Soap. Take down any light fixtures and gently wash and dry them before replacing.
Take down draperies, curtains, and blinds to wash or have cleaned according to the manufacturer's directions.
Vacuum and clean windowsills and corners. Wash the insides and outsides of the windows. Take down and rinse off screens, before replacing.
Apply oven cleaner to the oven and clean the refrigerator.
Leave the windows in the kitchen open to avoid the overpowering smell. Don't forget to vacuum the coils of your UNPLUGGED refrigerator. This is a great time to sweep and mop underneath it too if you can find some help to move it. Be careful of scratching your floor.
While the oven cleaner works, begin sorting through the freezer and refrigerator.
Throw out any expired food, mostly empty containers, and items that you bought and never used. Put the stuff to keep on the counter. Take out the refrigerator shelves and drawers. Wash them down, being careful with glass shelves. Wipe down the entire inside of the refrigerator and freezer before replacing shelves and food. Wipe down and clean out the oven according to the directions on the oven cleaner.
Take the knobs, burners, burner covers, and spill catchers off of the stove.
Follow your stove/oven owner’s manual for information on proper cleaning methods for your model. (The one you carefully filed, when you bought the stove, just for an occasion like this.) Some stovetops lift up to allow easy access to spills and crumbs. Wipe down the entire stove.
Wipe down and clean the toaster, blender, and other small appliances.
Wipe down and clean the microwave. If the spills in the microwave are fossilized, try bring a water-filled glass cup to boiling in the microwave. The steam should help loosen the gunk. If the microwave smells, boil lemon juice. Unplug all appliances first. Don't forget the turntable.
Clean out kitchen cabinets.
Reline if needed. Remove mismatched lids and bowls. Take out anything that isn't being used on a regular basis. Reorganize and wash down the insides and outsides of cabinets.
Run the dishwasher empty.
Try adding vinegar or baking soda to the empty dishwasher before running it. If your dishwasher has a food trap in the bottom, clean it out. Wash down the outside of the dishwasher.
Wash down the countertops in your kitchen.
Don't forget backsplashes.
Wipe down and clean out any drawers.
Organize your flatware. This is a great time to install drawer dividers to better organize your kitchen drawers.
Wash down the sink. If you have a garbage disposal now is the time to pour baking soda with warm water and/or a lemon peel down the disposal to freshen the drain. Put ice cubes through the disposal to sharpen the blades.
Sweep and mop the floors.
Don't forget baseboards. One of the best ways to get a floor REALLY clean is to use a rag or towel while on your hands and knees. If this is not an option try going barefoot and scooting a large towel around the floor with your feet. It provides more contact and pressure with the floor. Press gently, and be careful and slow. Even though this is the last step, the floor is not the best place to rest.

Recycling Update: Part 2, Plastic

2010-04-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

Probably the most significant fact about the process of plastic recycling is that one plastic product may end up being recycled into something completely different. One process is commonly referred to as "downcycling". This is when a material is recycled into something of lesser quality and/or reduced functionality.

Plastic bottles, the trade term is PET (polyethylene terephthalate), are crushed, chopped into flakes, and pressed into bales for resale. One very common and popular use for PET is the fabric industry. PET is spun into yarn and thread and woven into new polyester cloth. Uses are normally durable, strong products such as jackets, coat, shoes, bags, hats, and accessories. It is not usually used with anything that touches the skin because of irritation. But many new processes and innovations are pushing this growing industry. More and more companies are taking advantage of the growing demand for "green products", and are trying to incorporate these new fabrics into their product.

High-density polyethylene (HDPE) is used for telecom ducts, thicker bottles such as for laundry detergent, plastic lumber, chairs, and many other durable products. PVC has been more difficult to recycle, but recent technologies have been developed in the last decade that involve something called "up-cycling". This is when a product is recycled into something of more value than the original.

What makes plastic recycling difficult is that recycled material has to be sorted according to the plastic identification code, or PIC. Once that is done, there are other obstacles such as the dyes, fillers and additives that are used in plastics.

Sources:

Wikipedia: Plastic Recycling

Recycling Point.com

Recycling Update: Part 1, Paper

2010-04-05T10:02:00.000-07:00

Because we are in the business of supplying recycled products, we thought it might be interesting to take a look at the current state of paper recycling in the U.S.

In 1690, the Rittenhouse family established the first paper mill in the colonies to use recycled linen. This isn't all that big of a development because paper really has always been made of some type of recycled material. But in 1896, in NYC, the first major recycling center was started by the Benedetto family. They collected rags, newspaper and trash for paper making.

In the 1970s and 80s, it was very in vogue to use "recycled" paper and many corporations and businesses who specified "recycled" paper for their company literature, such as annual reports, wanted everyone to know about it. But there has been some confusion about exactly what "recycled" means. Virtually 100% of all paper is recycled. What matters most is how much "post-consumer waste" is in the content. In that period of the 70s and 80s paper mills even purposely came out with paper that even had little chips in it to demonstrate that it was recycled.

Recycled paper material comes in three types. The first is "mill broke". This is waste material recovered inside the paper mill during the paper making process. The second is "pre-consumer waste". This refers to paper that already made and may or may not have printing on it. It consists of printer's make-ready sheets, cut-offs, and rejected stocks. The last is actual "post-consumer waste". A large portion of this category are old newspapers, office and home waste, and used packaging.

In our current culture of climate change awareness and conservation in general, businesses around the world are "going green" and demanding some level of compliance to environmental concerns. 1993 marked the first year that more paper was recycled than was put in landfills. This was a historic milestone.

Some people do not want to work

2010-03-30T16:30:00.000-07:00

(This posting was published as a letter to the editor, in the St. Petersburg Times on 3/28/2010)

I am the office manager of a very successful recycling textiles company. We recently placed an ad on Craigslist for an inside and outside salesperson, with no results for the first three days. After revising the ad, we offered up to $45,000 a year. Two people answered. One turned it down because he wanted a car and $60,000, but he wanted to keep the door open for other opportunities. The other wanted to be inside sales only.

We eventually placed a different ad for a sales manager assistant. No money was mentioned, but we got many resumes. Eight were picked and scheduled for interviews. But to our surprise, only one person showed up and he was not sure about taking the job. He said he had to check with his wife. What is wrong with this picture?

Now I know why unemployment is so high. Someone I know who has been recently unemployed said: "I can retire for a year or two, receiving benefits, best thing that could have ever happened to me."

Maybe one of the reasons unemployment is so high is because it is too easy to be unemployed. Some people really do not want to work.

Marta Roman, RFI Inc., Clearwater

Industry Trends: Auto Repair Update

2010-03-22T11:20:00.000-07:00

As new cars sales continue to slump in the recession, some dealer service departments and auto repair shops are seeing an increase in business in 2010. Bobby Irby, general manager of Memphis Auto Repair Service says, "A lot of people now are fixing (older cars) up rather than buying new vehicles."

Conventional wisdom has always said that the auto repair business is "recession-proof". Independent mechanics surveyed by the Automotive Service Association reported business up in 2009 over 2008. 76% expect more work in the recession. When someone is faced with a $1000 auto repair, they previously may have decided to trade the car. But now with budgets getting tighter and tighter, they just bite the bullet and do the repair. On the downside, there are also people who, when faced with that kind of bill, just turn to public transportation. There are a lot of people out there with cars just sitting in the driveway.

"People are hanging on to them right now, and they've got to keep them running," says Tim Smith of Bob Smith BMW/Mini in Calabasas, Calif. The median age for cars in 2008 was 9.4 years. Another problem is that may people are "upside-down" or "underwater" as the expression goes.

At RFI, Inc., we supply rags for the auto repair, auto body, and auto detailing industries. While the recession affects all of us, the recycled textile business remains steady and strong. We look forward to a great 2010.

Sources:
Commercial Appeal
The Early Show

Rags for a Greener Earth

2010-01-22T08:56:00.000-08:00

Most of us have to clean after ourselves or others. I am referring to house cleaning.
It's not a fun thing to do, but for some us that cannot afford to hire a housekeeper, cleaning our house is a chore we have to accomplish on a regular basis.

The question is: Do we use paper or cloths for cleaning and wiping?

For years I have used rags. There are many type of different rags that we can use for cleaning our houses and many types of clothing that we can turn into rags. Terry towels that are old or frayed, can be cut and use for cleaning in the bathrooms, the floors and kitchens. Old t-shirts are great for dusting and polishing. Also, old sheets can be cut are have many uses around the house. The possibilities are endless.

If you don't have any old cloths laying around, you can buy them from a rag company, such as RFI. We carry many different types of rags that can be used in our homes.
They are recycled, therefore we are contributing to keep our environment greener.
The rag industry in general, according to the Council for Textile Recycling,recycles
about 75,000 tons of textile waste every year into raw materials for many industries, including the rag industry. An approximate 20% of these materials becomes wiping and polishing cloths.

These rags are washable and reusable many times and last for a long time. Some people may say that cloth rags can spread germs, but there are ways to get rid of germs when you wash them. I personally prefer to use cloth rags rather than paper towels. Paper towels, whether they are made from recycled paper or not, originally they were trees cut in order to manufacture them.We can contribute to the environment
to make our planet greener and safer for future generations by recycling our old clothes, towels, sheets; we can donate them to different organizations to be used in other countries less fortunate than ours, the possibilities are endless.

Funny Stories

2009-07-31T08:56:00.000-07:00

Rags are a commodity that everybody needs and uses. Whether you buy them from us or any other rag company or make you make your own with old tee-shirts or underwear. So, throughout the years of being in the rag business, there have been a few funny stories that our drivers brought back to us after being out there delivering.

One of the most memorable ones was the one about the cross-dresser. Our driver went to deliver a bag of rags and out comes this scruffy-beard-looking guy, dressed in dress, high heels and a blonde wig on, to accept the 25 lb bag of rags for his auto mechanic shop. He didn't even shave his beard or for that matter his legs. Now, come on. A woman, as a general rule, shaves her legs when she is going to wear a dress.

Now, dogs present a problem when business owners have them in their properties. We had, past tense of course, a driver that was afraid of dogs. This big dog (could have been a small one), attacked him, or so he said, when he was making his delivery. Instead of controlling the dog like Cesar Millan does in the "Dog Whisperer", he hits the dog with a clipboard and almost kills the dog, or so the owner of the dog says. We lost that customer of course.....

The moral of these two stories is:
Men out there, please shave your legs when you are going to wear a dress. Please. It's not pretty otherwise. And last, about the dogs. Control yourself and your dogs and watch Cesar Millan, you learn a lot from him.

Per Pound Pricing

2009-07-21T11:15:00.000-07:00

Our pricing structure is by the pound. Sometimes this creates a little of confusion to our customers. When they see a 10 lb box, they don't think they are getting many rags, but in reality, one pound of, oh let's say, huck towels is approximately 64 pieces per box. Our rags vary in weight and volume according to the type of rag that it is; some of them are thin, some are medium and some of them are thick. When a rag is made of thin fabric, you will be getting more quantity per pound, than another type that is thick and larger in size. For example, our terry wipers are thicker and larger in size, so a 10 lb box has approximately 20 pieces. Different rags are used for different jobs. All the rags we carry are of the best quality available and we offer a satisfaction guarantee to all our customers.

Another thing to consider when you are looking at our pricing is the fact that shipping is free in the contiguous United States. There are no shipping charges. So at the end when your purchase is made, the price in the website is it. No other charges will be added.

Continuation

2009-06-24T06:27:00.000-07:00

In the summer of 1997 Alvin had problems operating a computer and things got a little out of hand for him to handle all aspects of the business including all the leads Bobby was bringing in. A secretary was needed. Several people came and went; went mostly because he had to correct the mistakes they made. He saw an ad in the newspaper for somebody offering Quickbooks help. That was my ad. He called me on a Sunday night asked me to come over next day for an interview. I did and stayed ever since. I had worked for other small companies and had experience with a small business I owned.I enjoy and love working for a small company.

A few people have worked for the company, but through the years some of us have stayed longer. The following is the short version of the ones that persevered. In the process, we have all learned new skills and grown along with this organization.

As the business kept on expanding we needed more help not only for delivery drivers and warehouse personnel, but also for office administrative help. One of our customers, who had his own route selling rags, came as a full time employee. We purchased his route and he has been with us ever since. He brings 30 years of selling experience to our company and with him the ability also to learn any new task we give him. Frank loves to play golf; he is his grandchildren’s best fan at the ballpark, loves Civil War History (owns 112 Civil War books), country music and NASCAR.

George has being with us for many years since 2002. He moved from New York, after being an emergency medical technician, to sunny Florida and brought his sunny disposition to our office. George pretty much does anything. He is our facilities manager, driver and sales. He loves the Chicago Bears, fishing and spending time with his family. He also coaches girls’ softball.

Roberto is one of sales representatives; don’t let his name fool you, even though it sounds Spanish, he was born in Brazil; but he came to US early in his childhood and does not speak Portuguese or Spanish, but does speak a little of Indonesian. Robert started with us 2005 and travels all throughout Florida delivering our product.

Erica our latest office administrative assistant came aboard on 2007 and has shown us that she can do and learn anything. She is a great asset to our company. She is the best administrative assistant we ever had. Erica was driving south from Massachusetts her car broke down in Clearwater Beach and had no place to go. She stayed here. After some hard time economically, being the fighter that she is, recovered and made a good life for herself. She responded to our ad, got the job and has been with us ever since. She loves the beach, reading and sun tanning.

Mirtha is our latest addition to our office. She was born in Cuba but lived in Puerto Rico. Mirtha had her own business in the past; she speaks Spanish, has traveled all over the world and has a positive attitude to be admired. She loves to spend time with her four Bichon Frise dogs.

Over the years RFI has grown to cover sales not only in Hillsborough and Pinellas County, but all over the state of Florida, including Miami, Ft Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. We offer our customers the best service, price and quality available in the Florida. Please visit us at http://www.ragsforindustry and http://www.thebestragco.com for your wiping rag needs.

History of RFI Inc.

2009-06-18T06:13:00.000-07:00

RFI Inc. was established in 1992 by Alvin who had been self-employed for most his life and had sold among other things used uniforms and dust mats. He came upon some fabric material in rolls, decided to cut them and sell them as rags. Things were kind of scarce for him then, and did not own a pair of scissors, went to his neighbor and borrowed them.

You could probably say that was the true beginning of our company. Being the entrepreneur that he was, and still is, decided to add blue huck towels and white terry towels to his inventory to sell out of his truck to small body shops in the Tampa Bay area. His business started expanding and needed more help. He had rented a small warehouse and hired a couple of helpers to cut, sort and bag his rags. Around 1993, Alvin hired a tire salesman named Robert who came aboard as his first delivery man. Soon after he started, he showed Alvin that he had a great ability to sell, therefore expanding his business much more. Bobby, as we call him, got so many sales leads that a computer was needed to keep track of them, making the small shoe box method of filing obsolete.Computers at that time were just beginning to be used in small businesses and for Al, who had never used one, found himself learning how to operate the machine. He also bought the program Quickbooks and have been using it ever since.

Bobby can sell, of that we are sure! He has been a great investment in the expansion of our company. Bob likes spending time with family and friends. He was actually born in Florida, he loves fishing, NASCAR and most of all the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

To be continued..........

The History of Rags

2009-06-05T12:57:00.000-07:00

Who would have thought that the business of recycling is an old idea and not a new concept as many of us think. The history of recycling textiles started with the invention of paper. It is believed that the Egyptians used a material named “tapa” which was made with figs, daphne and the inner bark of paper mulberry to create paper. Later, the Chinese invented the spinning wheel therefore the creation of woven clothes. Ts’ai Lun is credited for the invention of making paper with waste from textiles using rags in AD105.
http://www.paperonline.org/history/history_frame.html

Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1450 and used paper made out of linen rags to print the Bible. This paper was called cloth parchment. Previously he had used parchment paper to print the Bible and it would take the skin of 300 sheep to print just one book.
http://www.conservatree.org/learn/Papermaking/History.shtml/

According to the Salvation Army’s website, in the 17th century in England, a man named Benjamin Law, used old clothes, re-spun them and made them into yarn to be used again into new clothes. Later in the 20th century also in England, the term “Rag and Bone Man” was given to men who would take old stuff and clothes in exchange for different items. These “Rag and Bones Men” would drive their horses and carts around the cities collecting stuff and the old clothes to be used as “Mungo and Shoddy”.

“Rag and Bone Man is a british phrase for junk dealer”. (Wikipedia). The rag part of the name was given to them because they collected old rags to make paper and more textiles; the bone part of the name was given because they collected bones to make glue. (I imagine the bones where from animals such as pig, chickens, turkeys, etc.).

The definition of Mungo is the process of turning old clippings from tailors and combined them with shredded wool and turning them into a new type of yarn.
Shoddy’s definition is the process of taking old shredded rags and re-spun them into another type of rag called Shoddy.
http://www.maggieblanck.com/Land/Shoddy.html

There are some interesting results if you do a search for Rag and Bone Man in the internet. One of them is about David Beckam, the famous soccer player from England, being the son of a Rag and Bone Man.

In 1690, the first paper mill in Philadelphia used rags to manufacture paper. In the 1600’s the creation of newspapers started what was called “the rag wars”. Newspapers were used to communicate political information, therefore, the demand for newspapers increased and the supply for rags decreased and several countries instituted laws that prohibited rags from being taken out of their countries and so, the smuggling rag business made a lot of people rich during this time.
http://www.conservatree.org/learn/Papermaking/History.shtml/

Today, according to the Council for Textile Recycling, about 75,000 tons of textile waste, is recycled each year into raw materials for many industries, including the rags that our company sells. An approximate 20% of these materials becomes wiping and polishing cloths.

Our industry is contributing to reusing waste material to be incorporated into our daily lives, by utilizing these “rags” in any type of business that requires polishing, wiping, staining, painting, cleaning and many other uses. For all your “rag needs” go to:
htpp://www.ragsforindustry.com

World Record Car Wash Attempt

2009-05-27T11:05:00.000-07:00

Occasionally, in this space we will report and comment on amazing stories of cleaning, polishing, and just about anything to do with rags. What follows today is some interesting news of very enterprising group of young kids.

On May 7,1983, students of the Carroll High Schoolin Yakima, Washington set a record that has stood for 26 years. 3,844 cars were washed that day. They set a Guinness Book of World Record's "most cars washed in 8 hours."

This past April 25, 300 students from Catholic Central and West Catholic High Schools in Grand Rapids, Michigan, made an assault on that record. They offered a free, "eco-friendly", car wash to anyone in the community. Unfortunately, rain, high winds, and finally lightning put a stop to things. A little less than 200 cars were washed in the effort. They will make another attempt in 2010. We'll be eagerly waiting for more news on this and bring it to you when it happens.

(Source: www.worldrecordcarwash.com)

Our Blue Huck Towel and Terry Towels are excellent choices for car washing. The Blue Huck Towel is a durable, virtually lint-free rag. Our Terry Towel is hemmed on 3 sides, pre-washed, and very absorbent. Visit http://www.ragsforindustry.com if you need rags for a world record attempt, or even just for your normal business.

A Rag Blog

2009-05-15T02:35:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the first edition of "Threads", the blog of RFI, Inc. We are a supplier of cleaning, wiping, and polishing rags. RFI offers cotton terry, cotton jersey/knit, cotton flannel and many other types of new and recycled rags.

This blog will cover a range of topics as it seeks to inform, enlighten, educate, and entertain. For 14 years, manufacturers, auto body shops, auto painting shops, mechanics, and many other industries have benefited from RFI's service and selection.

Please check back with us as we boldly go where no rag has wiped before!