Help me break my paper towel addiction!

Oh, I am addicted to paper towels too! It is my last vice and I am trying to give it up. I don't have any answers for you but maybe we could join Papertowels Anonymous together.

I bought a 12-pack of cheapo white washcloths. Since they're not very thick (they were REALLY cheapo :LOL ), they don't leave lint anywhere.

Good for you guys for trying to cut back on the paper towels!

Oooh, I love my prefolds for cleaning (especially spills). For smaller jobs I just use cheapie wash cloths and then wash them with towels or something. We haven't bought paper towels in I don't know how long.

I, too am a paper towel addict. I was recovered at one point, but then my DD and I suffered from recurrent thrush in the early months of BF. And it was back to paper towels to beat the yeast.
But now I am inspired to reform!

I went to Bed Bath and Beyond, and bought a bunch of terrycloth squares called Bartender's Cloth, or something like that. I use these in the kitchen instead of paper towels - wiping up spills on the countertop, wiping my hands while cooking, etc. They are great.

I also bought plain white cloth napkins. We haven't bought paper napkins since.

These two things I throw in one little basket (kept in the laundry room) together, along with dishtowels, whenever they get dirty. When almost every dish towel and cloth napkin is dirty, I wash the load (it's only one load's worth).

For cleaning rags, I have a collection of several things: I bought some of those microfiber cleaning cloths, which are great for dusting or anything that might leave streaks (windows, mirrors, tv, etc.). I also have a bunch of those cheapo rags that you can buy at Target or Costco, often in the automotive section. They are meant to be thrown away, but I end up washing and reusing most of them. I also cut up towels when they just become too stained to actually be used in the bathroom anymore, or old stained t-shirts.

I throw dirty cleaning rags in a separate little basket, which has a cloth liner (got it at Target). That way I can throw the cloth liner in with the cleaning rags, and all the nastiness is washed away together.

I can't tell you how much all this has cut down on our paper towel and paper napkin consumption. And it's maybe an extra load of laundry per week. It takes a whole lot of cleaning rags to constitute a full load of laundry.

And plus, all these cloth items do a much better job than the paper towels do. I still keep a roll of paper towels in the kitchen, but honestly, a roll can last a month or more, whereas before we would go through several in a week. I can't tell you how much nicer it is to use paper napkins!

About a year ago, i told myself no more paper towels! I cut up some of my old favorite shirts that i couldn't just dump and everytime i use them i think of the memories (i know silly, but hey, whatever makes my day seem more interesting! ). I dump this into a special container under my sink and when i am all out, i throw them in the laundry and wash. I have also old towels i use for really big messes and spills. I keep these all in a little cupboard in a basket so i can just grab that basket and run around the house and clean up. I also got some flour cloths (i think that is what they are called) and use those to dry my dishes.
I bought some cheap washclothes at the dollar store about a year ago as dipe wipes, they are still holding up. We use cloth napkins to eat with...and this is my first month using the Keeper, so i am feeling pretty good about being 'paper-free' though we still use tp here!
I think it is fun to challenge yourself to be better on the planet and think of new ideas...i can't wait till i can compost. Right now, my dogs are kinda compost bins!

We use socks with holes in them, old tshirts and old towels for cleaning around the house too.

i'm on board w/ the cloth diaper suggestion. CPF's work really well. we have some crappy ones we got as a gift ("for burp rags!" ) when my son was a baby, and those are some of the best, most absorbent rags we have.

i've heard good things about these, too: http://www.gaiam.com/retail/product....09%2D9195+MSTR

more often than not though, when things need to be cleaned up, we just grab a dish rag. when we're done, we rinse, ring it out, toss it over the side of the bathtub to dry, then wash it with the rest of the towels / washcloths.

for scrubbing, we have sponges ~ i actually have two sets: one for dishes, and several just for cleaning / scrubbing things like counters, sinks, etc. that way i know i can sanitize the one i use for the dishes and keep it really clean and nice. i don't really care about the cleaning sponges as much because i always wipe down the counters w/ a clean rag after i'm done scrubbing them clean. we also have some hard-bristled brushes for cleaning too.

when we need to buy paper towels (i sometimes fry things, and fried things need to drain on paper towels ~ rags just get them all fuzzy... ) i try to always buy the made-from-paper kind... they're like, Green Earth or something. i think Seventh Generation also makes some. you can get coupons for Seventh Generation products on their website (or at least, you used to be able to, not sure if you still can).

I went to Bed Bath and Beyond and bought 48 washcloths. I think they were 12 for $3.99. We've been using them for almost everything. The one exception was when I made bacon in the microwave. That took 3 paper towels and they were of course soaked in grease when we were done.

So far things are going great. My DH has gotten behind the plan and we are just figuring out where to keep the towels to use, where to throw the dirties, etc. Our house is small so these things require a lot of thought.

We have decided to load the washcloths into those cloth tubes that are normally used to store plastic grocery sacks. We can even hang the tube from our old paper towel dispenser bar!

We want to get some kind of bag to put the dirty cloths into. Since the washcloths are sometimes wet I think we need something with some degree of water-resistence so the bag doesn't drip. I'd like something that is washable though. Any ideas?

I think we are going to buy another 36-48 washcloths so that we have a full load of laundry plus some extras to use while the bulk are being washed and dried.

I went to the drug store (which is the place to shop for various household sundries in our neighborhood) and I didn't have to buy any paper towels. I was so proud and it was much easier to carry home my purchases (we mostly walk) since my bags were not bulky from paper towels.

I'm so happy this is working. Thanks so much for all your ideas and support.