NIGP 73575: Recycled Rags, Shop Towels and Wiping Cloths

NIGP 73575 Recycled Rags, Shop Towels And Wiping Cloths, an Item code, covers commodity purchases of low-lint cotton rags and related wiping cloth products used by state and local agencies in maintenance, custodial, and operational settings. State and local governments procure these supplies on recurring, often multi-year blanket or open-ended bases for ongoing facility operations and equipment maintenance. Issuing bodies soliciting under this code include county governments and school districts, with activity reflecting the distributed nature of custodial and maintenance operations across public facilities. Competitive sealed bids and RFPs are the predominant notice types, with five-year contract terms and annual price adjustments based on Consumer Price Index formulas typical of the commodity category.

Recent activity shows geographic spread across the Sun Belt and Texas. Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners in Florida posted ITB 2026-00351 on July 23, 2026, requesting competitive sealed bids for 100% bleached or unbleached cotton flannel weave rags in 25-pound boxes, with an estimated five-year contract value of $160,000 and bids due August 7, 2026. Northside Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas released RFP 2026-071 on May 13, 2026, for custodial supplies with a June 4, 2026 response deadline, requiring vendors to acknowledge that failure to respond would jeopardize continuity of supply beyond the expiring prior contract's July 31, 2026 termination. Both solicitations emphasize specification compliance—Hillsborough County mandates delivery within 15 days to four Tampa-area locations and no minimum purchase guarantees—and inclusion of all ancillary costs such as shipping and handling in the bid price.