Home Improvement Painting Interior Painting

What Is Tack Cloth & How Do You Use It?

How Tack Cloths Work, Alternatives, and More

Folded yellow tack cloth on wooden surface

The Spruce / Almar Creative

Dust is one of the biggest enemies of a flawless paint job, but with a tack cloth, you can thoroughly remove the smallest particles from surfaces in preparation for painting, staining, or finishing. 

To prep a surface, use a shop vacuum or cotton rags to take off most of the debris, then use a tack cloth to pick up any fine dust that remains just before painting. Use tack cloths on baseboards, trim, cabinets, and furniture.

What Is a Tack Cloth?

A tack cloth is a large sheet of loosely woven cheesecloth impregnated with beeswax. Cheesecloth is any loosely woven fabric, much like medical-grade gauze. The tack cloth sheet can be cut into smaller sizes.

A tack cloth is much like a damp cloth—but much better. It picks up dust and grime from wood surfaces but it does so without water. Water is anathema to raw wood. It raises the grain, necessitating re-sanding, which necessitates cleaning once again. Using a damp cloth is a vicious cycle that can be broken one way—by using a tack cloth.

Since beeswax is tacky, dust and other light particles cling to it. A tack cloth is used until it is loaded with too much debris to be effective any longer, then it is discarded.

How a Tack Cloth Works

Using a tack cloth can be likened to wiping down a surface with a damp cloth, but without the harmful effects of water on your porous surface. The loosely woven, gauzy fabric of the cheesecloth is impregnated with natural beeswax, which operates like a magnet for dust but does not penetrate the pores the way that water does. 

Tack cloths are packaged as large sheets that are tightly sealed in plastic. Most users cut them into smaller sections for use. Professional painters and woodworkers use tack cloths to clean off surfaces like baseboards or trim before painting, staining, or top-coating with varnish. After a light wipe-down with a tack cloth, the surface will be entirely smooth and dust-free. 

A tack cloth is a one-use item, meaning it cannot be rinsed out and reused. When it is full of sawdust and particles, you must throw it away.

Where to Use a Tack Cloth

Use a tack cloth for cleaning small interior areas or items for paint or finish as it excels at picking up sawdust, metal shavings, and other dry construction-related particles. Appropriate surfaces and uses for tack cloths include: 

Where to Avoid Using a Tack Cloth

Tack cloths are not appropriate for every use. Surfaces need to be relatively clean for the tack cloth to do its job of removing the finest of dust particles. Soil in large quantities will just smear when rubbed with a tack cloth. Tack cloths work well for removing the last remnants of dust, but they do clog quickly and should not be used as scrub cloths to perform the main cleaning chores. Avoid or be careful when using a tack cloth for:

  • Damp surfaces
  • Glass
  • Metal
  • Ceramic or porcelain
  • Rough areas
  • Leather or cloth

Tack Cloth Alternatives

When you can't use tack cloth, you have several alternative options. None of these will leave the sticky residue you can sometimes get with tack cloth.

  • Synthetic tack cloth
  • Swiffer sheet
  • Microfiber towel
  • Damp cloth

How to Use a Tack Cloth

A tack cloth is simple to use. A work surface with a 4 square foot area can be wiped down with tack cloth in less than a couple of minutes. While not essential, it is recommended that you wear latex or vinyl gloves when handling a tack cloth. Beeswax is not noxious or toxic but it can be annoying since your hands could remain tacky for a day or two.

  1. Cut Tack Cloth

    Using shop scissors or a utility knife, cut the tack cloth into roughly 5-inch by 5-inch squares. A tack cloth tends to gum up scissor blades, so avoid using good fabric scissors to cut a tack cloth. 

    Tack cloth being cut with scissors next to measuring tape

    The Spruce / Almar Creative

  2. Clean Surface First

    Before using the tack cloth, vacuum off or wipe down the surface with a clean, dry cotton towel or rag. The aim is to remove as much dirt and debris as possible before using the tack cloth, but without forcing the dirt into the surface.

    Vacuum brush cleaning dust-covered surface

    The Spruce / Almar Creative

  3. Clean With the Tack Cloth

    With very light strokes, draw the tack cloth across the surface to be cleaned. Lighter pressure is always better.

    Caution

    Do not exert hard pressure on the tack cloth, as this will embed the surface with wax rather than removing dust. This has a retrograde effect of gumming up the pores of the surface (if wood) with wax residue, which may need to be removed with fine-grit sandpaper. After sanding, you would need to use a tack cloth once again and only lightly, to remove the dust created by the sandpaper.

    Folded tack cloth cleaning surface with gloves

    The Spruce / Almar Creative

  4. Check Your Progress

    You can visually test for dust and debris by shining a light across the surface at a low angle with the room lights turned off or down. This will highlight any particles remaining on the surface. It also helps to have a clean white cloth on hand to draw across the surface to check for remaining debris.

    Flash light shining light across surface to check for dust

    The Spruce / Almar Creative

  5. Dispose of the Cloth

    Dispose of used tack cloths in standard household garbage. Do not burn them. Tack cloth is generally not recyclable and it cannot be washed out.

    Used tack cloth disposed into trash bag

    The Spruce / Almar Creative

How to Make Your Own Tack Cloth

Tack cloth is inexpensive and is available at most home centers, hardware stores, and dedicated paint stores. So, the cost is rarely a motivator for making your own tack cloth. However, if you find yourself in a pinch, you can create your own the way that experienced woodworkers do, with white cotton dishtowels, turpentine, and varnish. 

Begin in a well-ventilated area, wearing latex or latex-substitute gloves.

  1. Fold the Cloth

    Thoroughly launder and dry a white cotton dish towel, then fold it in half several times to form a pad.

    White cotton dish towel folded on wood surface

    The Spruce / Almar Creative

  2. Moisten the Cloth With Turpentine

    Pour several ounces of turpentine (not mineral spirits or paint thinner) onto the towel and work it into the folds. The cloth should be fully moist but not soaked.

    Turpentine poured on white folded cotton cloth

    The Spruce / Almar Creative

  3. Add Varnish

    Pour several ounces of varnish onto the dampened cloth and work it into the folds until it is fully distributed. When finished, the cloth should be tacky to the touch but not sopping-wet. 

    Varnish poured on white folded cotton cloth

    The Spruce / Almar Creative

  4. Store the Cloth

    Keep the cloth in an airtight plastic bag or glass jar until you need it. When necessary, you can renew the tackiness by adding a few additional drops of turpentine and varnish. 

    Cotton cloth stored in airtight plastic bag

    The Spruce / Almar Creative

FAQ
  • Are tack cloth and cheesecloth the same thing?

    Tack cloth is made from cheesecloth, but they are not the same thing. Tack cloth is cheesecloth that has beeswax or another sticky wax embedded.

  • What can I use instead of a tack cloth?

    You can use a microfiber cloth, synthetic tack cloth, Swiffer cloth, or a damp cloth in place of a tack cloth.

  • What is the purpose of a tack cloth?

    A tack cloth is used to pick up dust and debris before painting a surface. Its sticky texture will clear any small particles that could cause an uneven surface.

  • Do you wet a tack cloth?

    It is not necessary to dampen a tack cloth with water. Tack cloths are meant to clean dust from porous wood surfaces without water, which can be harmful by raising the grain. Adding water will also gum up the properties that make tack cloths tacky.

  • What is a microfiber tack cloth?

    Microfiber tack cloths are finely woven, hemmed cloths made of polyester and polyamide microfiber used as an alternative to tack cloths. These reusable, soft microfiber cloths—often sold in packs—are not treated with beeswax, or turpentine and varnish, like a traditional tack cloth.