[carminex]

Do you use cloth instead of paper towels? What is your system? Do you have a hamper in your kitchen?
How do you have them?
Where to buy- spam - ok

I have 2 young kids so I am wiping tons of faces etc all day. I am just using regular towels and wash cloths and some paper now but it was wondering if something more uniform existed.

 

[karlin]

Burp rags or thin cloth diapers make great paper towel alternatives. I keep a sack under the sink that I toss them in when they are dirty.

 

[GruppieGirl]

I use cloth napkins and paper towels!

I have a basket on the kitchen table with a hodgpodge of different napkins...wedding gifts, Mom's old napkins, Grandma's old cloth napkins. You would be surprised how many people have cloth napkins that they would be more than happy to part with. I roll them in the basket and they look so cute.

For real clean-ups like wiping the counter, highchair, floor spills, etc. we went to Target and got a whole bunch of blue dishrags. Everyone know the blue dishrags are to be used with cleaning.

In my bathroom, next to the kitchen, we have a laundry chute. That takes care of the mess easily.

: Ok OK! I admit that I still own paper-papertowels. A roll lasts me a month or so. Sometimes there are messes that I really can't deal with!

 

[Ann-Marita]

I bought plain cloth diapers (the one-layer ones). I keep a stack of these (folded) in my kitchen. I use them for everything - cleaning, hand drying, etc. I have a hamper near the kitchen. I do let the really wet ones dry (laid over the side of the hamper) before I throw them into the hamper.

I got this idea from reading "Speed Cleaning" and use them for all kinds of cleaning situations.

We have one hung near the sink for hand-drying (and woe unto anyone that uses it for anything else).

I carry one (or more) in my car. My dd can spread one out over her lap when she is eating on the way to somewhere, and then she folds all the corners together to keep the crumbs in (so they don't get thrown all over my car).

When I wash them, I soak them overnight in an enzyme type laundry booster, then wash them. I don't care if they get stains.

We do still use paper towels some. A roll seems to last forever, though.

Ann-Marita

 

[Alkenny]

Wally-world and Dollar store sell big packages of plain jane washcloths, a dozen to 18 for around $3.

When they're dirty, I have a basket that's JUST for towels and washcloths (so the rest of the clothes don't get mildewy).

I soak diapers in the washer now, but before the baby was here we just threw them straight in the washer and when there was a full load, ran it.

 

[Rainbow]

I buy dish cloths by color and send them down an assembly line of sorts. I use them as napkins, dish cloths and cleaning rags and finally as garage rags. When I buy a new color they become the napkins and each color gets sent down one. for example right now I have yellow as my napkins/paper towels, green as dish cloths, blue as cleaning rags and various as garage rags. When I get a new color each one will go a step down.
I'm still debating how to handle the dirty ones. Right now I'm letting them dry overnight and putting them in a basket on top of the dryer. I would like to put a small towel bar under my sink though to let them dry on until I do a wash.
I remember making the switch and honestly I don't know why I didn't sooner. It is so easy, and it really doesn't make a dent at all in my life. I can't believe I used to buy a role of paper towels a week!

BTW- we did use "actual" cloth napkins for awhile and they just didn't seem absorbant enough for the mess my kids make. The dish cloths work so much better as napkins for us. And cheaper to! More durable it seems as well, so they get used longer.

 

[Jane]

I use cloth napkins. I stalk Bon-Macy's clearance section for the 50% off the marked price sales. I now have two sets, the utilitarian ones (white) and the pretty bordered ones (orange and turquois). I won't pay more than $1-1.25 each.
I use papertowels for icky stuff, though, like cat pee and patting meat dry.

 

[rainbowmoon]

we have been using cloth in the kitchen for about 4 years and do not buy paper towels or napkins.. I too have a basket of rolled up napkins on my kitchen table..they are cute and actually each one is different as I sewd them from quarters,we also have about 2 dozen birdseye diapers and flour sack towels for other messes and use wash cloths and dish towels. pretty much whatever is on hand at the moment..

 

[mamagranola]

I personally use some pieces of flannel surged around the edges. We use them for napkins, face-wiping, spill-wiping....you name it. I have a separate hamper for towels (for heavy duty spills I use a regular dish towel) so my other clothes don't get damp and mildew.

 

[pilesoflaundry]

I bought a hugh pack of dishtowels at bj's warehouse about 4 years ago and I use those all the time to wipe up spilled juice or water. I use small dishrags (again a hugh pack bought there) for wiping down the counters, table and smaller messes. I use homemade cloth wipes and washclothes for kids hands, faces and the baby's bum

. As for napkins I made some myself, but I'm thinking of buying a few too just for variety.

The wipes go straight in the diaper pail, the towels and cleaning rags get hung over the sink or the top of the washer (I leave the lid up to hang stuff on) until they are dry enough to toss in the hamper. Then after a few days I do a towel/rag wash load.

Walmart, target, sam's, costco all those places sell large packs of 'bar cloths' dishrags etc each store seems to call them something different but they all work great. If you get all white ones you could bleach them to get out germs. I just use a really hot wash and an extra rinse.

I still use paper towels to clean up meat spills in the fridge or to wipe down the counter after breaking down bigger packs of meat, I'm just not comfy with that kind of mess on a towel. Since that's all I use paper towels for they last forever.

 

[mother_sunshine]

The best baby gift I was ever given was a large pack of white washcloths. We have used them instead of paper towels for the past 7 years and they still work great! We keep a tiny trash can next to our regular and recycling trash cans. They get washed in hot water with natural detergent maybe once a week.

We used to go through probably a 3 pack of paper towels per week and now it takes over a month to just use 1 roll. I don't like the feel of paper towels any more and I don't even like to touch them because they're so scratchy in comparison.