Family cloth?

[hornbeck0920]

Hi. I've been thinking about giving up TP due to sever financial difficulties and sensitivities in private parts. Even 5 year old DD gets red and raw sometimes. I know that different soaps have that effect on us, but lately I've realised that certain brands of TP do, too. Plus, we go through a roll of that stuff every day, TWO rolls when I'm on my period (and I use tampons!). I just need to know how to make my own. I can't really sew, but I'm planning to borrow my sister's machine soon to try to make some dipes. (Wish me luck!) But I've read that you can just cut up old t-shirts into squares. Does that really work well? With my second baby, DH was out of work for MONTHS before DS was born so I stocked up on dirt cheap flannel recieving blankets at yard sales to use as dipes, and I cut a few up for wipes. The wipes got all stringy every time I washed them and they got tangled together a lot. I never used a t-shirt, though. Would that happen with a t-shirt, or was it just the flannel that unravels? Also, do old t-shirts make good mama cloth? Could I just cut, layer, and sew (by hand probably) without having to worry about strings sticking out every which way?

Thanks for any help!

[VeganCupcake]

Yes, cut up tee shirts will be fine with no sewing. Just cut them to the size you like. I like a square about 5 x 5.

I used washcloths cut into fourths. I don't have a Serger, but I do have an ancient sewing machine, so I zig-zagged around the edges to try to cut down on fraying. They frayed and unraveled a little bit for the first couple of washes, but since then, they haven't frayed any more.

They work great--I can't believe how much TP we save. DH still uses TP, but I don't, and I was the major TP user in our house. We used to use a roll every couple of days, but now a single roll lasts a month or more.

I think tee shirts would also make ok mama cloth. A single layer probably isn't very absorbant, so it would take several layers to do the job. But it's worth a try.