All things cloth TP?

[Thystle]

Ok just curious... it's a delicate question, but hey we are all adults!


What cloth do you use for TP?


Where do you keep it or in?


And then what do you put the "dirties" into?


Um do you use patterned cloth to hide any possible, uh stains? Come on... even cloth diapers get stains.


Anyone use cloth tp for "yellow" only and paper tp for "brown"?


Ever have any comments from guests? Do you keep paper tp for guests?





Ok who is going to be honest?

[Thystle]

And do you feel you have saved $$$ or just feel good for the enviroment?

[mamamilkers]

I LOVE our cloth TP. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. It took a while for me to warm up to the idea, but once I started using it, I'll never go back. My DD loves them, too. I also use them for snot rags (it's AMAZING how much tissue they save when three people have colds at the same time!) and ust general wiping up stuff rags.

What cloth do you use for TP? I cut up old t-shirts.

Where do you keep it or in? I keep them in a basket on the back of the toilet. I keep the back-stock in a bag under the bathroom sink.

And then what do you put the "dirties" into? I have a small trash can next to the toilet with a pedal-operated lid. I put a plastic grocery bag in it. On the top is a bright pink sign that says "not the trash" so that no one else throws anything in it!

Um do you use patterned cloth to hide any possible, uh stains? Come on... even cloth diapers get stains. No, I actually use white. That way I can bleach them if I need to (I haven't yet).

Ever have any comments from guests? Do you keep paper tp for guests? I keep regular TP for guests. The only comments I have gotten are from friends who figured out what they were and mentioned how neat they thought it was. I don't think other people use them (though I wouldn't care if they did).

And do you feel you have saved $$$ or just feel good for the enviroment? It's unbelievable how much paper TP they save. We used to go through a roll maybe e/o day and now maybe e/o week, depending on if we have guests or whatever. It's a huge money savings, as well.

[starry_mama]

We use all different kinds of cloth TP. I have a basket on the back of the toilet (which is in our only bathroom, upstairs). There are washcloths, homemade wipes made from receiving blankets, homemade wipes made from flannel, etc. We throw dirties into a little bucket next to the toilet, which is also our upstairs diaper pail. We also use those wipes as baby wipes when changing diapers upstairs. Occasionally we buy paper TP for guests, but not very often. I don't even walk down the paper products aisle at the grocery store.

[KariM]

I pretty much use flannel. I serge together two squares of flannel and yes I do pick patterns to hide any stains.

I store them in a flip top plastic wastebasket and wash about every other day or every third day. I just dump the whole pail into the washer and wash and dry on hot.

[nolonger]

I was nervous about the switch too, but now I HATE toilet paper! I bring my cloth along for runny noses when I'm out and about and am seriously thinking about bringing it along for my hoo-ha as well, especially as this pregnancy progresses and trips to public restrooms increase.

Anyway:

What cloth do you use for TP?

Cut up T-shirts and small pieces from worn-out flannel sheets. I like the flannel the best, because the fragile, well-loved cloth is SO soft and has such sweet memories. I thought it would make me feel sad to wipe my behind with my son's old Winnie-the-pooh sheets, but it makes me feel glad that they are still useful.

Where do you keep it or in?

It's basically a large plastic tub on the back of the toilet. I forget whether it used to hold ice cream or yogurt.


And then what do you put the "dirties" into?

Just the covered laundry hamper in the bathroom.

Um do you use patterned cloth to hide any possible, uh stains? Come on... even cloth diapers get stains.

I have some that is made from a navy blue T shirt that I try to use if I think there will be a stain. I use a Diva cup instead of pads, which helps, and got pregnant shortly after making the switch.

Anyone use cloth tp for "yellow" only and paper tp for "brown"?

That's me for now. I intend to start using it for poops after the baby is born and then wash the #2 cloth with diapers. I also have a teenaged son and two college students (dd and her partner) living with me who use toilet paper.

Ever have any comments from guests? Do you keep paper tp for guests?

Not really. Since I use the same cloth for blowing my nose, I just call them "hankies" and people can come to their own conclusions about why I have so many of threm and keep them in thre bathroom. I have been known to exclaim "I HATE TOILET PAPER!!!!!" in front of my young adult children (but not the squeamish teen) after coming home from long hours at work where I'm stuck with the scratchy, nasty stuff.

And do you feel you have saved $$$ or just feel good for the enviroment?

I definitely save $$$ even though it's just me using it and only for #1. I'd be going through a ton of it by now and would probably either have had some plumbing emergencies or else a LOT less room in my garbage can.

[ustasmom]

I serge double sided flannel.

Family members have their "own" print. However, in a pinch, nobody is particular.

I wash cloth TP twice a week. We are a family of 10. I have a large wastebasket in each bathroom. We stack them in their appropriate piles on the back of the toilet.

I serged larger flannel squares for "paper" towels that we use as napkins as well.

We do save a lot of money each year. Probably at least $500 per year in TP alone, not to mention the kitchen wipes.

[LEAW]

Gah, we have different kinds of cloth around the house for different things.

I have single ply serged cream colored flannel for "baby wipes" that live on the changing table and go in the diaper bag. I bought 2 dozen "poo" colored washcloths at Target during back to school sales.. they were cream, bf poo yellow, brown, tan, chocolate, and a greyblue color. Those go in a basket in the bathroom for dd, she uses them to wipe her bum, to wipe her eyes in the shower, whatever. She tosses them into the tub all day and I move them all to the diaper pail in the evening.

I have 3 dozen white IKEA baby washcloths that are tie dyed all colors for kitchen rags, and they live in the kitchen, they go to the tub or diaper pail as needed.

My mama cloth and TP go into a pretty container in the bathroom when dirty, and get washed with dipes. The clean stuff lives under the sink usually, though I keep a few on the counter. I grab them when it's time to wash dipes.

My dh isn't on board, so he has TP in the bathroom, and guests use paper too.

EVERYTHING gets washed with the dipes. Kitchen rags, dishtowels, cleaning rags, etc. because it gets hot washed, and our clothing only gets warm at best.

It's saved us a lot of $ in wasted TP (dd still likes to unwind the roll) and I think we've used less than one roll of paper towels in the kitchen in the last year, mostly on dog puke and guests.

I'd like to get some medium wetbags and little garbage cans for all the bathrooms, but it's not high on my list yet.

[Danielle283]

What cloth do you use for TP? Cut up black t-shirts


Where do you keep it or in? A baby wipes container on the back of the toilet.


And then what do you put the "dirties" into? Another baby wipes container.


Um do you use patterned cloth to hide any possible, uh stains? Come on... even cloth diapers get stains. Nope, its black.


Anyone use cloth tp for "yellow" only and paper tp for "brown"? Yep


Ever have any comments from guests? Do you keep paper tp for guests? I've told people it was for wiping noses because we were going through so many tissues. We have TP out at all times since we use it sometimes.

And do you feel you have saved $$$ or just feel good for the enviroment? Both!

[kijip]

What cloth do you use for TP? I cut up some old jersey/t-shirt type sheets. I cut them up into squares of about 6-8 inches.

Where do you keep it or in? Folded in half in a stack on top of the toilets.

And then what do you put the "dirties" into? I have a stainless steel, lidded, round foot pedaled trash can in each bathroom.

Um do you use patterned cloth to hide any possible, uh stains? Come on... even cloth diapers get stains. I have not had any real staining issues and ours are solid.

Anyone use cloth tp for "yellow" only and paper tp for "brown"? This would defeat one of the main purposes for me...I feel that cloth does a 100% better job with wiping than paper.


Ever have any comments from guests? Do you keep paper tp for guests? No comments from guests, I doubt most even know what we are doing. Those that do know think it is great. We do keep paper tp on the main floor bathroom for guests.

I think it has saved money (bought 3 packs of paper in about 4 months, vs. 2 a week before?) but the main reason is environmental and also cleanness wise. We all get cleaner, faster, with cloth. The paper took a lot of wipes and often irritated us. :

[beansmama]

Originally Posted by Thystle

Ok just curious... it's a delicate question, but hey we are all adults!


What cloth do you use for TP?
We use those cheap seconds washclothes from walmart...and i have some single layer flannel ones cut up for DD (the washcloths were too scratchy for her).


Where do you keep it or in?
I have a "vintage" metal shelf over my toilet. I just fold them up and stack them on there (plain sight).


And then what do you put the "dirties" into?
LOL! We use a large stainless steel stockpot with lid (It was a cheapie one from big lots...)


Um do you use patterned cloth to hide any possible, uh stains? Come on... even cloth diapers get stains.
Nope. We don't really get stains because i wash them like everyday. Almost!

Anyone use cloth tp for "yellow" only and paper tp for "brown"?
Sometimes i do...when we have reg. TP (Dh requests it at times)...but i'm fine with using it for both.


Ever have any comments from guests? Do you keep paper tp for guests?
We *rarely* have guest...but yah, i'm embarrassed. If we did have a guest I'd get (recycled) paper TP. My dad often makes comments on us wiping with our hands??? PSH!





Ok who is going to be honest?

I was!!!

[isulari]

What cloth do you use for TP?

wahm made flannel/velour wipes i bought for cloth diapering. we use a mini shower as well. we bought it originally for rinsing off soiled cloth diapers, but now we use it for it's original purpose.

Where do you keep it or in?

i stack them neatly on a small shelf above the toilet.

And then what do you put the "dirties" into?

in a small trash can with a lid. it was the cloth diaper pail now re purposed.

Um do you use patterned cloth to hide any possible, uh stains? Come on... even cloth diapers get stains.

one side is a light pink floral pattern and the other is white. it does not matter which side is used. they never seem to stain and i don't use bleach. honestly though, stains don't bother me.

Ever have any comments from guests? Do you keep paper tp for guests?

i keep tp in the guest bath... which we never use. we have not bought tp in a really, really long time. anyone lucky enough to use the family bathroom knows our secrets... and yeah, they make comments but usually the supportive good kind.

And do you feel you have saved $$$ or just feel good for the environment?

i do feel we save money and resources. we don't use any paper napkins or paper towels either. i don't think it is any harder and i actually prefer the cloth in all situations.

[annethcz]

Originally Posted by Thystle

Ok just curious... it's a delicate question, but hey we are all adults!


What cloth do you use for TP?

Mostly cheap washcloths (the type you can get from Target a pack of 12 for $3), old baby wipes, old baby washcloths

Where do you keep it or in?

They just sit on the back of the toilet in nicely folded piles.

And then what do you put the "dirties" into?

a small lidded wastebasket (from Ikea)

Um do you use patterned cloth to hide any possible, uh stains? Come on... even cloth diapers get stains.

No, but I prefer dark colored washcloths for this reason.

Anyone use cloth tp for "yellow" only and paper tp for "brown"?

If anything, I'm more likely to use cloth for BMs because it's more comfortable and it cleans SO MUCH BETTER than paper TP.

Ever have any comments from guests?

no.

Do you keep paper tp for guests?

yes. (and also for the times that I don't keep up with the laundry )

Originally Posted by Thystle

And do you feel you have saved $$$ or just feel good for the enviroment?

Both. But the biggest advantage is that cloth is much more comfortable and it cleans much better.

[mommyddeville]

What cloth do you use for TP?

I made some two layer flannel wipes. We've also gotten a few other wipes as samples from WAHMs and I love hemp fleece and velour for wipes now, too.

Where do you keep it or in?

It's in an old baby wipe container sitting on the back of the toilet.

And then what do you put the "dirties" into?

We have a diaper pail sack in the bathroom, and the dirties go in there.

Um do you use patterned cloth to hide any possible, uh stains? Come on... even cloth diapers get stains.

Actually, it's never stained.

Ever have any comments from guests? Do you keep paper tp for guests?

I think people just assume we use them as kleenex.

And do you feel you have saved $$$ or just feel good for the environment?

I'm sure we save money! My two year old blows his nose about 20 times a day, and he only blows into each tissue once. It's SO nice to hand him a stack of cloth wipes and not worry about how wasteful he's being.

[AGlimmeringHope]

Originally Posted by annethcz

Mostly cheap washcloths (the type you can get from Target a pack of 12 for $3), old baby wipes, old baby washcloths

The ones from Target- would these work as baby wipes as well? I never used cloth wipes with dd, just cloth diapers. So I'm at a loss as to what to use for wipes with this baby. I'm buying a bunch of these washcloths for hb supplies, so I was thinking after the birth they could be repurposed as wipes for baby.

[Twinklefae]

AGlimmeringHope - That's what I use!

[Llyra]

We use cloth baby wipes. Kissaluvs terry wipes, actually. I keep clean ones in a little basket on the back of the toilet, and chuck the dirties in the diaper pail. I have two diaper pails, one in each bathroom, so this works well.

I don't worry too much about stains, although if we had a lot of staining I might sun them.

I keep paper TP in the house. I mostly use cloth, and so does DD1, but DH is hesitant, and I wouldn't ask guests to use our cloth.

[kathirynne]

Temporary hi-jack

For those of you who've made your own flannel wipes - what are the dimensions of the wipes (like the size of a hanky????), and did you serge the edges, or just leave them or what?

TIA

(Sorry for the hi-jack!)

[songbird45]

In India everybody washes up with water... there was always a mug and a tap within easy reach of the toilet. I always thought that would be so much cleaner than tp but I hated putting clothes on over a wet butt! Here's an idea - having washcloths or whatever around, rinse with water, dry with washcloth, put clothes on! This could work! And then you don't have to separate #1 & #2 or anything.

[KariM]

Originally Posted by kathirynne

For those of you who've made your own flannel wipes - what are the dimensions of the wipes (like the size of a hanky????), and did you serge the edges, or just leave them or what?

TIA

(Sorry for the hi-jack!)

I cut rectangles about 7" x 8" and use two pieces (front and back) per wipe. The first batch I zig-zagged the edges and trimmed close. After I bought my serger, then I just serged the rest of them.