The cloth things on the end of strings...

[AwkwardBass]

I have three questions about the cloth on the end of strings.
The first is, do they have any actual purpose, or do they just look cool?
The second is, do they have an actual name?
And, the last question is whether there is a place I can buy them, and after that, how would I go about stripping/replacing them from and to the string. All help with these questions would be appreciated.

[tjh]

I think you are referring to the 'silk' on the ends of some strings, usually always on flats to protect the windings as they wrap around the tuning posts ... they come from the string mfr. the way you see them, and they are not reusable ... not sure if this answered your question or not ...

[berwick63]

I'd say the silk is on there both as a brand identification, gauge, ect, as well as to protect the tuning gear's finish from being scratched by the string as you wind it.

[trayner1]

Also it reduces slippage on the tuners. There's a double purpose: they protect the tuning/tuners, and usually look friggin' sweet.

[SLaPiNFuNK]

Protection for the hardware is one of the main reasons. It helps with brand identification as well... but some brands will use the same color across all their string lines...

You pretty much can not remove and replace the silk, I mean you can try... I remember years ago I removed the silk from the tuning peg end on an old set, took a while... They start to look raggidy if you remove the strings and boil them.

You can always get really thin yarn from a craft store and attempt your own wrapping, but it will never look as slick as a fresh factory set of silk wrapped strings.