I want to ditch paper towels, but how? - Page 2

[walkinbluesmama]

it's easier than you think

we've been paper towel and napkin free for about 4 years. my husband wears undershirts and goes through them pretty quickly, so we cut the old ones up for rags. we also cut up any old cotton clothing (socks, shirts, etc) as long as they aren't too worn out. i keep the rags near the cleaning supplies (also conveniently located off my kitchen with the laundry) and we use rags only for the pretty gross stuff- cleaning up meat juice spills, the bathroom, pet accidents/barf, etc. Then for the "cleaner" messes such as dishes, my baby's face, the counter, etc, we use dish towels and wash cloths.

occasionally a mess will be so nasty that we just throw out the cloth rag.

i toss any solids away in the trash from the mess (of course) and throw the rags in a plastic container on top of my dryer. towels, wash cloths and cloth napkins go in a separate laundry basket in the same location. i do laundry about 2x/week.

and yes, you will get looks. my brother in frustration once yelled "i hate that you don't have paper towels!!" no matter, i find the cloth to be a lot more effective on messes.

[bandyr]

Yes! I *really* needed this thread. The kitchen wet bag is a great idea. Thank you, thank you mamas! Now if I could just get DH to take the family cloth plunge

[painefaria]

The one thing that I would add is make sure they are accessable. That was the key for us. We have a large basket close to the sink for all of our towel needs. I also throw the used towels in the washer and they get washed with everything else. We seem to do laundry every other day so no stinkies here.

[Hey Mama!]

Our laundry room is right off the kitchen. I throw the wet towels and wash cloths on top the washer or right in front so I know they will be washed in the next load. I do laundry daily though so they don't get a chance to mildew or stink.

[busymama77]

Originally Posted by To-Fu

What about using a kitchen wet bag?

http://www.etsy.com/listing/30409949...-bag-14x20-w-2

Oooo... I like that idea. I'm looking for a different way to store our dirties, too.

[hteb83]

I really want to give up paper towels too - just trying to decide what to use instead. I hadn't thought about washing them put I'd probably put them in with other clothes unless they're really filthy!

[MiksMom]

Originally Posted by ladymeag

We have been thinking on getting some of the snap-together unpaper towels - anyone have 'em? Love? Hate?

I made like 2 dozen snap-together towels, one side upcycled towel and the other upcycled flannel sheet when I first decided to take the no-paper towel plunge. They are all turned and top-stitched cuz my serger was on the fritz. They're about 10x10 and at first I loved that they snapped together, although it was somewhat of a pain to unsnap them if you ended up elbow deep in a nasty mess. However, now I just toss them into a basket in the kitchen windowsill. Part of my original reasoning for snapping was that I didn't have counter space for a basket, we've moved and now I do... And it gave my daughter a way to help with the laundry. She would make a color pattern with the towels and then snap and roll them up...

Anyway, way too long but you get the point.

[Kim Allen]

I bought 24 preemie prefolds for "unpaper" towels.
They work great and are just the right size!!!

[joyfulgirl81]

Paper bags for fried foods

we just grab a little piece of a brown paper bag and stash the rest for future use- this won't work if you are cloth bag only- we are but always end up with some paper bags lying around anyway. It works well and seems a little more sanitary (or at least more ink free) than newspaper. This was my only issue with not having paper towels until we figured it out- good luck!

[mandica]

I have a plastic pail under the sink and wash them every 10 days or so. I have had some problems with mould though. Trying to get everyone in the house to hang wet towels to dry before putting them in there... sigh.

About the paper towel though - I've never really used it! Growing up we didnt either. Its always been a 'special occasion' thing for me. And at other peoples houses I feel bad when I go to use them (after not finding any cloths) - "you want me to waste your paper towel just for this little mess?"

[Pepper44]

If they are really wet I lay them over the edge of the laundry basket. Things in our house mold/mildew really fast and I've had no issues just laying them over the basket edge! I wash them with some tea tree oil to combat any nasties though.

We also have run into the issue with bacon. My grandma always brings us paper plates and paper napkins and styrofoam cups. I don't know why, she's old and she for some reason thinks we need them. Anyway, we just lay bacon on the paper napkins. I also use the napkins on any really scary messes, like dog barf.

[cottonwood]

Oh, I hear you. We live in a wet/coolish climate and things mildew overnight. In addition we have well water, and even with the filter bacteria gets through. If I leave a wet wash cloth on the sink overnight, it is guaranteed to stink in the morning. So gross.

What I do is I put my cleaning cloths outside to dry -- if they can get that air to them, they won't stink. It's almost magical it works so well. Sometimes this is not very convenient so I'm thinking about trying putting dirtied cloths in a bucket of water with a natural oxygen bleach, to keep until I'm ready to do a wash.

ETA: I save our bacon grease but I do occasionally need something to pick up grease (when I'm cleaning the cast iron skillet, which I almost never use water on) and for that I use old cut up t-shirts rags. I cut them into about 5"x5" squares. When they're dirty I throw them in with the dish water (I wash dishes by hand) to let the grease dissipate before putting them in the washer.

[Ruthla]

I just toss them in the bathroom hamper (the washer and dryer are in the bathroom, and that's the hamper that holds all household laundry: sheets, towels, tablecloths, and rags.) I wash them every 2-3 days, with hot water and non-chlorine bleach.

A few weeks ago, we had a guest who asked for a paper towel to wipe something up. He looked at me funny when I handed him a rag, but went ahead and used it.

[JudiAU]

I use super cheapo baby wash clothes from Toys R Us. They are cotton-poly blend and again, super cheap. They get used for everything from wiping toddler/lunch/kitchen messes etc. We go through a ton of them in a week and just throw them in a plastic trash sack in the kitchen. They don't mold, even if wet, unless they sit for more than a week. Actual kitchen rags or their fancy cousins dish towels get used for bigger jobs.