(My cat lazing about, thinking about wiping his paws on my precious paper towels.)
Lately I have really been guilting myself over our household's use and misuse of paper towels. Here are my concerns:
- Expense. I coupon and get great deals on paper towels, but I am still spending more that I would like. Serious grocery-budget-eaters.
- Waste. Save a tree, use a hand towel.
- Space. I don't have many locations to cram roll upon roll of stockpiled paper towels. I always have a leaning tower threatening to explode out of a cabinet at any moment.
I have dreams of being found buried alive under a mountain of dirty bath towels. That's another post though, I digress.
So, I've decided to go for it. I'm going to chop up a ton of old rags and stow them conveniently under my kitchen sink. Maybe if I limit buying paper towels, I will be forced to turn to the rags. Or, I'll just have soaked pants from wiping my hands all over them. Not a good look.
Do you use paper towels, rags, or handtowels? Or a combination? Is it working for you?
What frugal challenge do you have for yourself this week?
10 comments:
We use a combination of paper towels and re-usable "paper towels." Cutting up old shirts or rags is a good option, but if you don't have any on hand, I highly recommend Etsy seller AthenaCreates for quality re-usable paper towels. I bought a set of 26 and I use them in place of paper towels for when we are eating and for small messes. I still like to have paper towels on hand, but we have drastically reduced how much we use. A used cloth goes into something called a "wet bag" (my friend has a cloth diaper business and she makes wet bags that don't mildew or smell. She gave me one to use for our cloths and I <3 it!)which hangs in our laundry room. (Its nice because I can also put dishtowels in there.) When it gets full, dump it into the washer (along with the bag) and voila!
I have heard about the wet bag alternative - how often do you find yourself washing a load? Do you mix it with your other laundry or just solo? Maybe with a load of bath towels?
I will have to look into the Etsy site - thanks for the tip! :)
We only use rags, dishtowels and tea towels. Started because I had an obsession with cute tea towels and now I have too many to justify buying paper towels. (Win/Win?)
I also have a wet bag that hangs from my stove handle and it just toss all the dirty ones in.
Aaaand my frugal challenge is that this week I started full-time cloth diapering again! I'm "settled" enough in this house after the move not to start again. :)
Oh WOW, Amy, that is amazing! I have my shameful pile of starter diapers I never even prepped >__<
Question: When cleaning off a toddler, do you use the same towels? How often do you wash the bag?
These questions sound so personal, don't they?? LOL, oh the mundane of the day to day ;)
I have no wisdom - BUT I have been struggling with this issue LOL = Erin you READ my mind! I use paper towels for EVERYTHING ;(
To Towel or Not to Towel,that is the Question!
i use a combow of all too,Tea towels,hand towels & paper towels.
I told my family i will only buy one roll of paper towel a week and if they waste it they will be wiping there hands on there Tshirts!! Amy has so meny Tea towels she turns them into cute little aprons!! :)kx
Hi Erin. I know what you mean about the paper towel storage issue; we buy our paper towels at BJ's. Not that we use that many paper towels...Mary and I do most of our kitchen cleaning with dish rags.
For really big messes, like when a power outage leads to puddle of melt water next to the fridge, we keep a pile of old bath towels in a rag drawer in the garage.
That's a great method Kim - I think we will have a mix as well. I just need to limit the urge to just grab one for unnecessary messes. Plus limit buying them!
Thanks Jim - I just hate all the waste!
While growing up, my mom always used a wash cloth to clean. I've been married for almost 18 years, and do all my cleaning with a white wash cloth. I have a stash of them. I use different things to clean my messes, whether it be diluted bleach, vinegar, or soap in a spray bottle.
I have been relying on vinegar a lot more too! Ants hate it :) Mixed it with some Dr. Bronner's lavender - genius. The less chemicals, the better!
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