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Create duel-sided unpaper towels to replace paper towels in your cleaning arsenal. Save money, save water, and enjoy re-purposing well-loved fabrics with this easy to follow tutorial. Use old towels on one side, for absorbency, and old flannel on the other for streak-free and lint-free cleaning. Unpaper towels take up no more space in your laundry than a standard facecloth.
Ditch Your Paper Towels
Make this year the year you ditch your paper towels. Spend one afternoon and save $100, two trees, and 2,000 gallons of fresh water. Paper towels have a huge negative environmental impact. The paper industry is the third highest polluter of any industry, with only commercial agriculture and textiles coming in higher. By using upcycled towels and flannel you also spare the textile industry and make use of a free resource. And you’ll have fun making unpaper towels.
Paper towels are bad for the environment
The average American household uses 100 kilograms (220lbs) of paper towels, tissue, paper napkins, and toilet paper each year – referred to collectively as “tissue paper products”. While toilet paper accounts for the biggest portion of this figure – about 40%, paper towels come a close second. The use of disposable paper towels and paper napkins, make up over half of this use. It takes 2 trees and 2,000 gallons of clean water to make enough disposable paper products for a family of 4 for one year. Those same two trees will produce enough oxygen for 6 people to breath. Canadian statistics are about half of the American statistics, on disposable tissue paper product use per capita. European usage of tissue paper products is about 1/3rd of American usage – but some homes have bidets, which you don’t see often in North America.
“If every household in the U.S. used just one less 70-sheet roll of paper towels, that would save 544,000 trees each year. If every household in the U.S. used three less rolls per year, it would save 120,000 tons of waste and $4.1 million in landfill dumping fees.” According to the Paperless Project.
Using paper towels is like throwing money in the trash can
Paper towels are expensive. And you throw them away after a single use. That’s like throwing money in the trash – over $100 a year in fact, for those families that go through just 1 ½ rolls of paper towels each week. A family with a moderate paper towel habit of 1 ½ rolls each week is spending $75 a year on paper towels alone. Those who are still using paper napkins or paper towels instead of linen napkins are spending more on disposable paper products – more like $150 to $200 a year. So changing from disposable paper towels to reusable cloth towels will have a significant environmental impact, as well as an impact on your budget.
Ways to break your single use paper towels habit
Cloth wipes replace paper towels for most uses except the grossest messes like puppy vomit. Single ply cotton fabric can replace paper towels in the kitchen and bathroom. Another option is toweling fabric. In rural areas fabric stores often still sell yards of fabric in a birdeye weave that women use to make towels. The fabric is premarked into towel lengths. You just need to hem each length of both ends.
But rather than craft unpaper towels from brand new materials there is a way to make a 2ply unpaper towel from materials you might already have around the house.
Don’t buy new towels, upcycle instead
Your good green efforts can make a more positive impact if you make your own unpaper towels from upcycled textiles, rather than by buying new cloth towels. As I mentioned above, the textile industry is the second highest polluter of any industry – increasing greenhouse gas emissions, polluting fresh water ways, and increasing pesticide and herbicide use. And then there is the waste problem.
“Americans throw away 68 pounds (31 kg) of clothing and textiles per person each year and we Canadians average about half that, or seven kilograms (15 lbs) of textile waste (clothes, bedding, etc.) annually.” (Looking good in green) Rather than tossing old textiles in the trash, they can be upcycled. By upcycling to make unPaper towels, you decrease both paper waste and textile waste and increase your good green impact, while saving $100 or more a year. Home up-cycling also uses less water than commercial level recycling of paper and textile wastes, even if you have to wash the item in your regular laundry.
Un Paper towels tutorial
This project is an easy beginner sewing project. If you can sew a straight seam on a sewing machine, you can make a set of 12 unpaper towels in an afternoon. This is a really fun beginner sewing project for your homeschool students, too, that teaches more than just sewing skills.
I made these unpaper towels in an afternoon using an old thread bare bath towel and a torn flannel nightgown. You can use any 100% cotton or linen textile that you want to recycle. They’ll still have great durability, even if they’re too worn for their original use. Look at cloth napkins, table cloths, kitchen towels, bath towels, flannel sheets, flannel pajamas, or even well-worn blue jeans. Make at least one layer from a heavier, more absorbent cloth. Cotton and linen are more highly absorbent than manmade fibers and blends. Skip the 100% microfiber textile for this use, and use it instead for your dust mop – where the microfibers will be put to their highest use.
Use a paper towel for the pattern
My unpaper towels are two layered with one layer being cotton flannel and the other layer being terry cloth. One bath towel made 12 unpaper towels 11 ½ inches wide by 6 ½ inches long. I used a paper towel folded in half for the pattern, to get an estimate for the size of finished paper towel that I wanted. Sizes are estimates, measure your own favorite paper towels for your perfect size.
Tear the fabric to size along the grain
I tore the selvedge edges off of the towel, and then folded the towel in half lengthwise. This was approximately the same width as the paper pattern. I made a small cut in the bath towel at the half way point, across the width, on the fold line. I tore the towel in half alone this line, lengthwise.
Then I used the paper pattern to estimate where the length of the next cut should be. Each half of the towel will make 6 unpaper towels. Rather than cutting the pattern out, I simply make a small cut to mark the tear line and then tore the towel fabric along the grain.
Once I had the towel torn into the right size rectangles, I measured and cut the flannel material in the same way. I just cut through any seams with scissors and tore each piece along the grain of the fabric. While I could have included seams in my fabric pieces, because I used a nightgown and had ample fabric, I was able to cut around the seams.
If you are following along you will now have 12 rectangles of toweling and 12 rectangles of flannel that are the same size and ready for seaming.
Stitch the two pieces together with a ¼ inch seam allowance
Place the fabric right sides together and pin with straight pins to hold them together. Sew with a straight stitch along 3 sides and ½ of the 4th side, as if you are making a pillow. I used a ¼ inch seam using the right edge of my pressure foot as a guide. There is no need to serge or zigzag the seams as they will be reinforced in the next step and that will reduce fraying.
This is the sewing machine that I use.
Clip the corners & turn right-side out
Clip the corners close to within 1/8th inch of the seam stitching to reduce the bulk at the corners.
Turn the rectangle right side out and press the seams so that they are smooth.
Fold the open seam to the inside of the pillow and pin shut, ready to stitch. Press this to make it lie flat.
Top Stitch
Using a straight stitch, top stitch ¼ inch from the edge, all the way around the rectangle. Because the unpaper towel is two layers, you want the layers to remain together to reduce wear. Quilt stitch the two layers together, using a straight stitch. If you are in a hurry, just stitch them corner to corner on the diagonal, making an “X” in the middle of each rectangle. If you want to be more creative you can stitch spirals, hearts, or even animal designs into the centre of each towel.
How to store your unPaper towels for use:
If your unpaper towels aren’t placed conveniently in your kitchen you won’t use them. So take a few minutes and strategize how to best place them so that it will be the first thing you grab when you have a spill.
Some unPaper towel makers put snaps on their towels so that they can fit them together around a paper towel holder in the kitchen. Realistically, for me though, I won’t spend time snapping my newly laundered unPaper towels back on the roll, every time I use them. For me a basket makes more sense. So I found a small rectangular basket that holds 10 towels. It works for now. But I might make another 12 unpaper towels later this week and then I may need to find larger basket. In a perfect kitchen set up, I’d find a way to put the basket on the wall, and off the counter. Maybe a wire CD rack would work? Or a cookie tin? But I didn’t want to await perfection before I shared this tutorial with you.
End of Life:
[Update: November 2022] After 7 years of using my first batch of unpaper towels daily, a few are thread bare on the flannel side. I’m excited though, because these were upcycled from an already thread bare flannel night gown. So getting an extra 7 years from it was amazing. The towel side of the unpaper towel is still strong. These heavy duty unpaper towels were made of 100% cotton textiles and can be composted easily. But since my towelling is still strong I will be adding a second layer of flannel, from a men’s flannel shirt that is worn in the collar and cuffs.
Some people had concerns about cleaning up pet urine or vomit with unpaper towels. That is very nasty and I would use paper personally for that kind of mess. Greasy or foul messes are the one area I do use paper for the clean up. However, if you have a plethora of worn textiles, cutting them into 8 x 8 squares with pinking shears will give you a generous pile of cloth that can be used in lieu of paper, then compost, if the fabric is 100% cotton or linen.
Some objections:
Some readers protest the idea of using a cloth that needs to be laundered in place of paper that can be thrown away, suggesting that this is an unnecessary waste of water. My own experience with these is that I don’t do a separate load of laundry just for unpaper towels, but rather fit them in with my other laundry. They are small and don’t take up any more room than a wash cloth or a tea towel. I can wash them when I wash other things. So personally, I don’t do any more laundry than I did before I started using these. And they don’t take up more space on the counter than a standard paper towel roll.
They aren’t like cloth diapers when you have a toddler, where you are doing an extra load of laundry every two days to keep up with the need. But perhaps you use paper towels more often than I do. If so, as in everything else, take away what’s useful to you and let the rest go. My goal is that this post will give you hope and inspiration for a more JOYful and self sufficient life. That means different things to each of us.
Thanks for reading. I hope you found some inspiration in this simple diy project.
Your Turn:
If this project seems over the top for you, consider some of the thoughtful comments below on how other people solve the problem of paper waste in their homes. Making unpaper towels from upcycled textiles is only one solution. There are many others below. Feel free to add your own ideas for reducing paper towel usage and being more sustainable in the comment section below.
Thank you, this is a great idea, tho I find it very hard to understand instructions without visuals!! Why do you say to fold the paper towel to get the measurements? Thank you.
do you use these for bacon to when you take out of pan to go extra grease off? how would you launder them to make them not look so horrible after fact.?
Thank you for writing this article! I’m in the wonderful process of eliminating all the things that I do not want in my self-sufficient life that I am going to bring to fruition THIS YEAR, no matter how hard it may be at times. I’m just SO OVER owning rooms full of stuff I do not need. I have 4 bath towels at the ready and a bin of left-over fabric scraps large enough to make the size you made. So, along with the cloth napkins I picked up at the thrift store ( brand new with tags still on them!), these will be in my kitchen in a few days. I love anything that helps me be more efficient and is kind to our planet.
I plan on making these and cloth napkins this year. I have wanted to make these for a while but I have to many projects going. I decided this is my year to go green and finish projects. So far I finished 2 quilts that were almost done. About ready to finish my 3rd. I bought some baking mats 2 weeks ago and haven’t used parchment paper since and I bake alot.
WOW. To those who made disparaging comments: If you don’t like the content, don’t come to a blog that is about resourceful living practices.
I love the content here and appreciate all the helpful suggestions made by others also trying to live a less wasteful life.
Why does everyone have to be so offended by every. little. thing. My gosh, no one is going to lose a job over me not using a roll of paper towels. And as for the bidet uproar…good grief!
Love your blog and content. Keep up the great work!
Hello-
I’m going to be making these soon and have a question. Why a layer of flannel & a layer of cotton? We have old clothes I want to repurpose and most are cotton. Do you really need the flannel layer?
Thank you
No. You can just use one layer of cotton. I was using scrap material and by making them two layers I enclosed the raw edge so I didn’t have to worry about fraying edges. Plus they are extra absorbant so I only need one to clean up a spill.
This is great! I love reading *SO* many people looking to eliminate all the waste in their homes. Myself, I grew up using tea towels for the kitchen so I never really got into the paper towel thing. Although I do have a lovely wrought iron paper towel holder for which I occasionally buy a roll. It always annoys me though because it’s so wasteful. I recently began using cloth in place of toilet paper. I wish I had heard of it sooner!! My teenage daughters will likely not use it, but I have hope that I can encourage my 7 year old. It won’t even be a discussion for my husband, there are some challenges I just can’t manage. 😉
I have *many* project ideas for my home and now have a renewed motivation to make cloth napkins. Well, it will have to wait a bit longer as I discovered over the weekend that my sewing machine seems to need a tune-up. grrrr.
Thank you and I look forward to reading more posts.
I wanted you to know I really like this post. Many years ago, about six, I used some fabric I already had and made 50 cloth napkins for my family. We just stopped purchasing paper towels. It was costing us too much money and seemed to be a waste for my family. We still however purchase toilet paper once every few months (a 32 double roll that is store brand for $9), because my husband won’t go without it. Our daughters and I use cloth wipes for toilet paper and I have a little one in cloth diapers. (My cloth diapers are majority homemade, however with our new little one someone gave us 6 pocket diapers as a gift.) This has saved us a lot of money. [Although we use a lot of cloth products (all recycled/reused items) our utility bill has been no more than $150 a month; which is water and electric together for a family of 7.]
Our extended family laughed at us and thought we were crazy when they would come to our home and see the things we did and use. Now as time has went by they have started to do some of the same things we do. They are always asking my husband or myself of ways to save money. People always assume a large family uses a lot of resources, but I will tell you as a very cheap person I do the best I can to use and and reuse. We eat cook meals and snacks at home, have one vehicle, use cloth wipes, cloth napkins, cloth diapers, buy in bulk, grow vegetables, and some day hope day to own our own land to grow even more food to share with friends and neighbors.
I applaud you in writing this post. I read the comments and was not shocked at how some people reacted. My husband and I have been called names too for reverting back to the ways of our grandparents.
I love this comment (and this post, of course)!! I was just given a bunch of ugly old flannel 😉 and got online to figure out what to use it for…. So glad this is one of the first things I found!
I have learned heaps here. I try very hard to be greener than in my past. I have stopped using so many paper towels, and when I do I try to keep them on the counter for other jobs. Each use goes further into dirty cleanups as I go. If it is chemical, grease related or meat/chicken related it goes in the trash. If it is anything else it goes into the compost to be broken down for the garden.
However, I am rethinking those bleached and formaldehyde laced paper towels now.
I have lots of rags for cleanup, and use baking soda or vinegar for scrubbing and disinfecting. As a quilter I use quite a bit of fabric and now have a use for used fabric that isn’t good enough for quilting! I like the idea of your two sided cleaning cloths and will be making them up this week! Thanks so much for your tutorial, information, and a special thanks to your readers who have shared their thoughts on the subject too. So informative!
I prefer using cloth in place of paper because it is much sturdier when scrubbing up a mess. I have always had a rag bag hanging in my utility room for really nasty messes. Cut the buttons off flannel shirts, tear the shirt up for rags and use the buttons on scrapbook pages. I also buy bar towels at Sam’s Club that are used for clean up of all kinds of things. Once they get really stained and nasty they get used for cleaning paint brushes, washing the car or scrubbing floors then tossed. Cloth cleaning rags, napkins, diapers and such are just more practical, sturdy and stronger than paper.
I loathe sponges. They are unsanitary.. I have about 40 microfiber squares and I use them for everything except draining greasy things. I do use paper towels for that. I used to use old newspapers but we don’t get a print newspaper anymore.
Exactly, Anne. Sponges really do need to be laundered, so gross!
.. And I stopped getting a newspaper too, so I borrow other people’s old ones for things 😉
Lovely tutorial. Wish I’d come across your post prior to that trip to Joann’s… my mom told me to wait…I also recently got rid of flannel pants before getting my first sewing machine and deciding on cloth towels. Anywho great post. I’m sure my extra fabric will be handy for other projects. I’ve started to upcycle fabric too for a trial at cloth sanitary napkins.
I love all of your tutorials and thank you for sharing these amazingly easy ideas that may not occur to a lot of us in our daily dash through life. I am in the medical field and have grown tired of the work, shop, spend cycle. This is a fantastic idea, especially when paired with your incredible theives vinegar and hand wipes tutorials. I can tell you after using the heavy duty sanitizers and disinfectants at work out of necessity and protocol, the chemicals are no longer used in my home. I can’t tell you how much I cringe when I see someone use a clorox wipe without gloves on, especially after taking care of several cancer patients who used to be cleaning ladies that never wore gloves. We have made lots of baby steps in the last few years: our house is off the grid and all solar and we use reclaimed dead wood from the local forests in the wood burning stove in the winter, making our own laundry soap, using vinegar to clean and soften laundry (the thieves is a huge hit in my house), cloth pads, repurposing the old clothes/pajamas/linens into rag quilts and now getting rid of the paper towels, and using coconut and olive oil to replace many cosmetics. We are not so good with the garden as the rabbits and elk are particularly crafty here, even with four large dogs, but we will continue to progress. As long as you keep sharing, I will keep reading! Thank you again!
This is a great idea, but it has its limits. If you don’t do laundry really frequently, these will need to be hung on a rack so that they don’t get putrid and moldy. Also, what about greasy spills? There’s no way one would want to throw greasy cloths in with other laundry.
For greasy spills I clean them up with rags that I hashes made from old towels or worn out wash cloths. I always hashed an abundances of cleaning rags, so I typically just toss them in the trash. If I had a burn permit which is required where I live, I would use them as a fire starter 🙂
The filthy messes are problematic. I understand that. This week we have a new born goat in the house. His pee we are cleaning up with towels, but the baby poop is a little more than a kleenex can bare. We are using paper towels for that. Guilty. But my washing machine and homemade detergent can’t do justice to feces. Everyone has to make these tough decisions for themselves.
I agree with Darcy. There is a warning on my washing machine that says that no detergent can totally clean greasy cloth and it should never be put in the dryer. I’m handicapped. I can’t go hang them on the clothesline.
I love using cloth napkins and have been doing that almost exclusively for about a year. Because I have an addiction to them, I buy plenty in seasonal colors and switch them out. (I hate sewing so I buy). When they get too stained to use on the table, I use THOSE for paperless towels. I use scent free detergent and wash on the sanitary cycle so that they are suitable for food prep as well as picking up spills. When I want to wipe grease out of a pan I use coffee filters (I know- still paper but much smaller and cheaper) OR I use paper from the recycle bin.
I have just finished making my first Unpaper towels. Only 7 to begin with, but I generally run a load of laundry every day, so I’m not concerned that I will run out. I am really pleased with them. They are made of 1 layer cotton, 1 layer flannel. I made just one up a week ago to see how the flannel coped with scrubbing counters and messes, and was very pleased.
What pleases me even more is that the flannel is leftover king-sized flat sheet (which has also been used to make bed curtains for my preschoolers bed, and in washable mentrual pads), costing only £1 in a charity store. The cotton is from an old duvet cover my mother-in-law ga me. It used to be my husbands as a child, and was also used by his nephew until recently. I have also used a portion of it to make a cover for my toddlers cot duvet. It amazes me just how much can be done with old items that would have otherwise been discarded, using just a little imagination.
Just found this blog and I love it. I plan to make some paperless towels with recycled fabric for icky messes, but I want to make some others with newer, white, non-fuzzy material because we sometimes use paper towels to dry food. Luckily, I live near a church that has a great rummage sale a couple times a year and I always find good-sized fabric scraps for 50c each. Those should do nicely for the better towels. I will probably cut as many as I can get out of the pieces and use two for each towel by pinning them together and serging the edges all around. Keeping them in a basket close to the sink is a great idea. Thank you!
Nice article, I got here through “how to clean an oil lamp” as I’m seriously considering it for economic reasons (I live in Austere Greece – otherwise a beautiful, wonderful country – transplanted (?!) from Canada).
Reading some comments I have to say that North America is sooo profligate – we (in Europe and elsewhere) have been living “green” out of necessity – hanging up clothes like we did before dryers, walking instead of driving to neighbourhood shops located on the ground floors of apartment buildings (that you can’t do over there because of inane zoning laws), smaller living space, one bathroom, etc.
Now to the paper, because I had to drastically cut back on expenses (the electricity bill is a HUGE amount). The first thing I did was to (easily) install a toilet hose spray (hose bidet) to get away from using toilet paper – such a ridiculous waste of a tree (and as you point out, and as I’ve read elsewhere, millions are cut every year for America’s needs alone). I cannot fathom the idea of reusing a cloth for that purpose – it is just as gross, to me now, as using paper – who would think of wiping feces or urine off with just paper if it were anywhere else on the body – we certainly wouldn’t consider it for babies! This is what is done in Asian/MEastern countries as well as some European countries anyway – so why not make this green, clean, economical leap and switch to water and cloth? I use a supply of old washcloths as drying towels and change them daily or every couple of days. They go in with the whites, washed at the highest temp (74 C or higher kills bacteria). My only regret is that I didn’t switch sooner.
I use wettex (microfibre) instead of paper towels, that’s what I’ve been using thus far. I haven’t cut out paper towels completely, but have cut back hugely.
And my last great paperless leap was cutting up old undershirts to use as hankies. Not for my DD – I cannot even imagine washing hers (that’s my “ick” button), but I do use them for myself, for “dabs” and “clean” blows, if you know what I mean. It is really fine. Who hasn’t reused an old paper tissue in a coat pocket?! It dries and it’s fine. I have a net bag I got for my DD’s baby socks so they wouldn’t get lost in the wash, and I now use that bag for washing the hankies.
We have used cloth napkins for ages – I put one in my DD’s school lunch as well – so we have massively cut back on paper use as well as garbage – if I had a garden it would go as compost and our “footprint” would really be minimal (as well as ditching toxic chemical shampoo/conditioner/body lotion – using rye flour/apple cider vinegar/olive oil). Have yet to switch from commercial toothpaste and soaps…
As for making paper towels, I got lost after making a half-seam up the fourth side – I think I’d just rip up an old towel and leave it at that – got a few of those around!
All the best from a native BC’er 🙂
While I do understand that many Americans are profligate, please, do not group us all as that. It is one thing to point out, as was done in this article, the days as it is, but it is completely different to do what seemed to me as targeting and talking down about our country. Though our country has been very wasteful, it happens in every country. Take into account that Americans are learning from our mistakes and taking major steps to become a much more green society. For the most part we were raised in a throw away society. Many values have been thrown out the window because many Americans are quite selfish and want bigger and better everything. Most of us are raised hearing these words from our parents, “I want better for you then we have.” Better typically meaning more money, more things. I beloved while I was growing up that I wanted a bigger house in the city with less property. Now my husband and I know we want for our family what I had growing up… a smaller house, in the country with more property. In the mean time we are utilizing the property we do have (which is more that most city dwellers in our city) and plant as much produce as we can and we keep animals that are within city code… chickens, ducks, pheasants, rabbits, goats, even a sheep. I stay home with our children now and they are homeschooled rather than public schooled. I learned to so, to can, to make jams and jellies, I reuse all our old clothing or give some to families in need, I make our cleaning supplies and soaps, I even render lard when I get pork from my brother who raises pigs. We have been making these changes for around 2-3 years and we have come a long way and have a long way to go. With all the changes we have made we don’t even miss my income which was pretty substantial. On the plus side, I know many others that are jumping on the band wagon and due to the things we do, many of our family and friends have began making strides to do things that we do. We love to show others what we do and help them to do the same. We are even beginning to buy unused lots in our neighborhood to turn into gardens, we are in the process of negotiating 6 lots with many more on the horizon. This will bring my husband out of the proverbial rat rrace and help with our expenses that are as minimal as we can make them at this time. The other major change that we are working toward is adding solar power so cut our energy cost and rehabbing the wood burning furnace that is in our basement for heat. My point is please do not feel ill regard for us, more of us are making changes then you are aware but it will take time to show in the numbers. Instead, be constructive and offer us words of wisdom as we are making our journey toward what do many of you all have known for so long. Most of us are making these changes on our own without help, so please give us a break and offer some encouragement instead.
This was my goal for 2013, by October we had succeeded. I do keep 1 roll of Viva on hand in my cake decorating supplies, but that is all I allow in. I started by using those re-usable wipes (blue and white striped) that are 5 for $3 at the store. At the end of the day I ran hot water over them, added some dish soap, and hung to dry. It has been my experience that I do not have more laundry. Also, I may have missed this if you or a poster shared, paper towels contain formaldehyde, when you wipe your counters or a piece of fruit, you are leaving traces of this behind. Just a thought.
Great ideas, but one of the reasons I use paper for some things is that I can clean something that has a lot of germs, and get rid of it. If you clean things and wash the cloths, make sure you are using very hot water, and high heat in the dryer, or at least use bleach. And then you have to consider how long the towel has been sitting, waiting to be washed, and what else might have been contaminated. I agree in using fabric napkins when we eat, and I raised two babies in cloth diapers, but I had a diaper service that made sure they were clean. Just asking each of us to think, think before you jump.
Sunshine is a wonderful disinfectant. Also in the old days, kitchen cloths were boiled once a week. Tea Towels were ironed. Handkerchiefs were ironed. Paper towels are a relatively new comer in household cleaning. To make sure I don’t use a bathroom cleaning cloth in the kitchen, though, I have two different sets of unpaper towels — one made with a light blue towel and one made with a navy towel. I agree it’s important to take extra steps to ensure good cleanliness.
Thank you for the idea of boiling the kitchen towels! I use tags for general cleaning but can’t wait to make the unpaper towels! I typically don’t use paper towels anyway but do use paper napkins and my grandma brings paper towels to our house every time she notices that I don’t have them :/ I have told her we don’t use them but she keeps bringing them and my mom always buys us a huge package of them at Christmas. That can be one more thing I can have her take off our household list she gets for is every year. We have already taken off dry sheets and laundry detergent. This year I will have her take off the laundry softener, paper towels, and paper napkins 🙂 That will basically leave trash bags and Dawn dish soap on our household list 🙂
Oh yes there will still be totem paper on our list. My husband refuses the idea of reusable to, but I will begin looking for a toilet with a bidet and that will greatly reduce the use of tp and I will add the reusable option to the bathroom as well until it catches on in our home.
I love this idea! I understand the delicate balance between logging, trucking, and the paper manufactures. I also understand that water and fossil fuels are not renewable.
That being said: I’ve thought of starting to make washable TP for the time when the earth has run out of fossil fuels or water to run the factories and trucks to do the job needed for the simple things in live we take for granted. Some muslin and stitch around the edges. My babies used cloth diapers, why not cloth T.P.?
My mother took our old bath towels and made wash cloths, she still has them and uses them after all these years!
There are so many ways we can save, but the most important, (in my most humble and age worthy opinion), is fossil fuels, water and trees.
Most excellent idea you have shared!
I’m not so worried about getting stains out of these unpaper towels. But you could use washing soda and hydrogen pyroxide. I just wash them with my regular wash. One change I’ve made since writing this last week though, I have one set for the kitchen and a second set in a different colour to clean bathrooms, just so I don’t end up using a bathroom towel in the kitchen. It might be fine but it has a “ewwww!” factor to me.
Really good idea. If you have a serger, there is no need to turn the fabric after sewing. Just quilt it with the regular sewing machine, then serge around the edges. I made soakers for my kids diapers the same way. Sandwich either felted wool (from old sweaters) or multiple layers of flannel between more flannel and serge. They lasted through two kids, getting softer and more absorbent over time. Also, in the bathroom, we use face cloth size fabric for drying hands and toss them in the laundry. Nobody reuses a dirty towel, especially important during cold and flu season!
I made myself 24 towels to use I haven’t bought paper towels in a year we were using three rolls a week, I just got finished making some for my son as he wants to try them at his house
What it the advantage to having two types of cloth sewn together? I think they look very nice, but I don’t understand why you would need both terry cloth and flannel quilted together. Is it just for absorbency?
I think if you used brand new towels you wouldn’t need to use two layers. I was using thread bare towels and worn out clothing and the two layers meant that I was able to contain the raw edge of the hem within the cloth, so no stray threads to unravel in the laundry. I think in this aspect they will last longer. But a new towel with a properly hemmed end would be fine as a paper towel substitute. It’s what they used before paper towels were invented.
This is great, I love turning something that most would through out into something useful. I also noticed in a couple of comments people are using paper towels for their bacon grease and are concerned about throwing it in with their clothes. We bake out bacon in the oven on a wire rack with a cookie tray underneath. All the grease drips below on to the sheet and you don’t need to soak it up. We also have a jar in the freezer for the bacon grease. I’m not sure why anyone would throw it out … it,s great for frying an egg.
OMG!! That is an awesome idea for cooking bacon. I have been baking my bacon in the oven but I have it on a cookie sheet so it sits in the grease. I love that idea, using a rack and cookie sheet below. The only thing is I’ve just switched to Turkey bacon, what a difference. It’s wonderful, less grease, less fat, and healthier. DON’T microwave turkey bacon it tastes so much better baked in the oven.
And Thank you so much for all the helpful advise. I can’t wait to make my unpaper paper towels.
I have one question though, I have seen several comments regarding cloth diapers, why can’t we use cloth diapers? I know they are bigger, but they are absorbent and already to be used. I’ve used cloth diapers and sewn decorative ribbon on them as gifts for new moms to use for burp clothes. Maybe the diapers would be better for house and bathroom cleaning and have the unpaper paper towels for use in the kitchen.
Oops, another question I just thought of, How do you handle raw meat, like chicken or beef. You know sometimes you have to pat the meat dry or clean up the mess left on the counter.
Thank you
Michele Tutwiler
I don’t see why you can’t used cloth diapers. Some of us are way beyond the years of having cloth diapers in the house, though. Someone mentioned using scrap clothing rags for that and then discarding. I thought that was a really good idea. When I cut up the nightgown for this project there were pieces left over that were too small for the unpaper towels but too good to toss. I’ve put them in a bag in the kitchen to use for bad messes. Once they are used they can be composted. The nightgown would have been tossed if I handn’t thought to make unpaper towels out of it. I think that’s a win-win. Less paper and less garbage. Cotton fabric can be composted. Papertowels on the other hand, don’t decompose well. Many have plastics embedded in them.
Oh Thank you, I’ve learned another new thing. Great so the use of small scrapes of cotton fabric would probably work great for those gross clean ups and them turn into composite. Thanks.
I loved reading all these useful tips and have been using some of these ideas for a long time. I wonder why some folk use paper towels to clean up dog poop, I use a small hand spade and then flush the poop down the toilet. I do live in South Africa where our dogs are able to use our gardens mostly as we all have fenced gardens, perhaps this makes a difference.
I have been using old hand towels, one that are threadbare and ready to be thrown out to drain bacon on or anything of that sort for years and years. Plus no sewing involved. This is nothing new to me or my husband’s grandmother (who passed away in 1964).
Great tutorial! We don’t use paper towels, we are more of a napkin family. We go theough 1 large package of napkins per month, at a monetary cost of $5, for a family of six. We use washcloths as napkins quite often, as we have mostly younger children.
We cloth diaper part-time (and use real eco/compostable disposable diapers part-time), I enjoy using cloth menstrual pads and I just replenished our cloth napkin supply.
We are preparing for our fifth homebirth in the spring and I have a few sewing projects in the wings to replace disposable products and to burn through my fabric/unwearable clothing stash. I will be making a dozen waterproof under pads for sleeping on postpartum, more postpartum mama cloth pads (with double snaps), extra cloth diapers and covers and a few things for the baby, like changing pads and waterproofed blankets for all those newborn poop explosions.
Wanted to add: discarded unwearable clothing gets cut up and tossed in a basket with washcloths to be used as general cleaning cloths. If there’s a gross mess, we have no qualms about using cloths from the basket to thoroughly clean the mess and then toss them in the trash.
I think this is a great idea. I seem to always try to repurpose as much as possible. Our family has always used old tee shirts for dust cloths and for polishing silver, brass,etc. They work great as do old cloth diapers. I always save old worn towels for myriad purposes. The larger ones are used on my dog’s bed/ drying her off from coming in from the rain,etc. When they get extra ratty, ie holes, they can be patched with other pieces of old terry cloth. When the edges fray, an overcast stitch works great. Old hand towels work great for me in the kitchen. I use them for hand drying and as ” napkins”. The kitchen ones go in the laundry with the other household towels. The larger ones are put in their own pile and washed when I have enough for a full load. I try to save paper towels for hand drying when someone is sick. They wipe and are tossed in hopes we won’t spread germs that way.
I agree with you. When there is sickness in the house, disposables into the fire place are the best route to ensure that the rest of the house stays healthy. Common sense must prevail.
I only use paper towel for wiping grease out of pans and draining bacon. The rest of the time I use those cheap white wash cloths from Walmart. I have tons and use them for napkins , wiping the floor and doing dishes and pet messes. . I separate them by marking with an X for the ones I use for floor XX for really gross jobs and no x’s for the dish ones. works for me.
For draining bacon, I use brown paper (such as clean shopping bags inside out) and when the bacon’s eaten, I burn the paper in the woodstove to start our fires. Smells nice too 🙂 Thanks for this, Chris, love your blog!! A roll of paper town lasts us 3-6 months because we just rarely use it except for dog messes and the other truly gross stuff.
I cut up old towels for my unpacker towels, and use wherever possible. I am with Lu, however, on the dog (or cat) mess issue. It doesn’t happen often, but….when it does, yech. The only thing I do take issue with is that Europeans do NOT have a bidet in every home! I’m European, transplanted to Canada, and I have perhaps known…?two? people, EVER, to have a bidet. They were quite the thing in somewhat nouveau riche houses back in the ’70’s. Now they are regarded mostly as laughable.
I don’t buy paper towels ever and do fine. Not to gross civilized folks out but I don’t buy much toilet paper either. I use cut up towels and wash cloths for two reasons. One is to save a dime and the other is an allergy to most toilet papers (believe me that is miserable. I used cloth diapers for my kids and do the same thing to the wipe rags. After using I drop in a pail of disinfectant and wash frequently. I do keep a roll for visitors.
Inspiring. I haven’t moved to family cloth yet but my son and his wife have. And they are still thriving. Glad to know that it works. It may be my next trial.
Yikes. Slow down there. We live in a culture with a clueless up and coming generation. I am truly appalled at the lack of common sense these young people are showing. Some things that are quite obvious to us, are not even on the majority of the population’s radar. Blogs like these help people to care a little more and operate with a little more common sense.
Amen! I will never understand the crassness and unkindness of some. I think it’s an excellent article. I doubt that I will ever have any unpaper towels quite as fancy as these, but I think they’re lovely and if I sewed I would make some similar. I’ve been planning on going paperless in the kitchen lately and I think I’ll likely just buy one color of cheap small washcloths from Walmart or Amazon to use. Thank you for this blog,
I agree! My husband and I are working to change that in our family and we are showing our “new found” knowledge with everyone who will hear us. I pray my children utilize everything we are teaching them when they have families of their own.
I hadn’t thought of making my own towelettes, great idea! I buy very inexpensive slightly used cloth napkins at my local Thrift Store to use for these jobs described (not the gross stuff). I take them to work along with my own silverware to use at lunchtime instead of paper napkins and plastic ware.
That’s a great idea, too. I love giving new life to unloved textiles. We use linen napkins at the table and if I had more they might become un-paper towels. But they aren’t quite as absorbant as these. I was thinking of just using ripped up towels — I have a lot of thread bear towels. But the thought of all the ragged edges and fraying ends clogging up the filter of my washing machine was unpleasant. And I loved that I used something that was going to be trashed anyway.
Five years ago I bought several yards of chenille in pink and blue on sale for $1.00/yard with the idea of making baby quilts. I never made the quilts and I have been in a quandary about what to do with the 10 yards of chenille that stare me in the face every time I open the craft closet. I’ll be making new “unpaper towels” for all my daughters and friends soon. Even if I use chenille for both sides, I should be able to create about 150 6×11 towels for less than $10. Maybe I’ll make 2 sizes (6×11 and 12×11 in different colors so they are easily distinguishable!) We’ll be saving $$ and not wasting the chenille that I was sure was destined to be part of my estate. Not enough ways to say “thank you” for giving me this idea!
I take your point but you should check your facts before you write otherwise it calls your whole story into question
NO . . . ALL houses in Europe do NOT have a bidet
Not even MOST have a bidet
I “kicked” the Paper Towel habit & my Dogs Wee-Wee Pads a year ago and saved well over $600. The cheap rolls are $1 each -> you can easily go through 2 Rolls a week (savings/year = $104 taxes not included). An average family could go through 3 – 5 rolls per week, doubling/tripling that amount. Another way I saved is with my 2 dogs, who were raised on Wee-Wee pads. The cost of the pads can be anywhere from $15/ 20 pads & much higher. I lucked out and thought $17/100 pads was a good deal for a couple of years until I realized how much money I was wasted. I purchased 7 large incontinent pads from a medical supply company (you can purchase the fabrics and make your own). When the pads are dirty I throw them in my 5 gal bucket half-way filled with water, soap and a little bleach to soak until I have a load of wash to do. I pick up the poop with newspaper or the left-over plastic bags from the weekly newspaper, vegetable bags from the grocery (or grocery bags when I forget to bring my recyclable shopping tote bags). Necessity breeds innovation.
I use paper towels for jobs involving grease such as draining bacon. I don’t think I want to wash that grease out in my washing machine! Any thoughts or suggestions?
I would use them for that, too. Also I still use paper towels to clean up feces and vomit. but I did see a suggestion of using squares of cloth from clothing that is too worn to be used for other purposes and then just tossing the soiled cloth. Since the garment was going to be tossed anyway, it is no loss to toss it after this use.
How about this, from the doggie pad person .. “I throw them in my 5 gal bucket half-way filled with water, soap and a little bleach to soak until I have a load of wash to do.”
Hmm – I use paper towels primarily for cleaning up dog waste. For everything else, I use old dish towels. Not so sure I want reusables for cleaning up pet waste…
I agree that you wouldn’t want to wash towels used for poop. But I disagree that washing cloth towels outweighs the water saved in the manufacture of disposable tissue paper goods. 2000 gallons a year per family is a lot of water being tossed in the trash. On the other hand, the number of cloth unpaper towels used per week in most households wouldn’t amount to an increase in laundry loads. Unpaper towels are small — 12 equals just one bath towel. And smaller laundry items fit very nicely into loads that have large items. Think of socks, underwear, and facecloths. It would be very unusual for a household to add a whole load of laundry a week in just socks and underwear, for instance. Those items fit very nicely in larger loads of bath towels or jeans. I still use paper towels for cleaning up vomit, poop, and other really gross things, but I use unpaper towels for wiping up spills, water, drying hands. It sounds like you’ve got a system that works for you.
Sorry, but I disagree. While I like soft towels and other various cloth items for jobs around the house, I’m not going to wash an oily furniture rag in a load of mixed clothing or even in with my bath towels. And the electricity to run a small load of laundry is nearly that of a large load.
And while you dis the paper companies, please be reminded that they employ thousands, my husband included, and keep many trucking firms in business. They utilize tons of recycled paper and cardboard as well to make paper products. I appreciate that you wish to leave a smaller footprint during your earthly stay, as many of us do, but there are always two sides to the story, and this is no exception.
You should definitely write your side to this story on your own blog. Or perhaps you could have the paper company your husband works for write it on their blog. That’s what the internet is for, for everyone to have the priviledge of telling their own story. That is exactly how two sides to a story come out — or maybe there are many more sides than two. I heard something similiar from a farmer who grows a paper tree plantation, fearful that folks would stop buying paper towels and put him out of business. But that isn’t going to happen. For every brave soul that steps off the path that every one else is on and tries to be more contientious and sustainable, 1000 more (Perhaps I exaggerate.) blindly continue on the same path and bring their children along for the ride. I live in a wild forest of douglas fir, spruce, cedar, and pine in British Columbia. Most of the wild forest around me is sent to the pulp mill near us to be made into paper products. They are a “managed” forest, meaning the forest is clear cut and then replanted with young pine trees. 25 years later (or so) it will be clear cut again. In between, the wild deer, cougar, bear, lynx, bob cat, moose, elk, and smaller mammals come down to find refuge in the trees on our farm. It isn’t a simple issue. Each person can decide for themselves how best to work out their life in balance with nature. It is a dance not a march. This is my story.
Bravo! The few of us who do things a little differently are not going to majorly impact people and companies doing “business as usual”. But it is important our voice is heard. Many people dream about alternatives to living like everyone else in priveleged consumer cultures but don’t know what those alternatives are.
Julianesays
Yes, there are often many sides to any issue. I don’t find anything disrespectful or rude about Lynn’s contribution to the conversation.
Doesn’t a different perspective enrich the conversation?
This is not a simple issue.
Almost every industry has a dark side and a bright side. Lynn’s example is the bright side- what could be better than a product filling a need for consumers and providing life to a community through employment?
There is even a dark side to cotton (what could be better than cotton towels and t-shirts and flannel?)
For example, the cotton industry is rife with controversy too- it’s not just paper production that has it’s problems.
It can take more than 20,000 litres of water to produce 1kg of cotton; equivalent to a single T-shirt and pair of jeans.
2.4% of the world’s crop land is planted with cotton and yet it accounts for 24% and 11% of the global sales of insecticide and pesticides respectively. Unsafe use of agricultural chemicals has severe health impacts on workers in the field and on ecosystems that receive excess doses that run-off from farms.
I’m not advocating that people boycott cotton, any more than I believe people should boycott paper whole sale. But that’s my respectfully stated opinion which nobody else is responsible for and nobody else need adopt.
Each person must follow where their own conscience dictates. Each person is in a different place in their journey. In my journey I am LOVING these washcloth plans. 🙂 I have some old towels and my sewing machine JUST got a tune up so I’m planning on making these up soon. Thanks for the great ideas, the forum to discuss differing opinions respectfully, and I am sure it will be a great 2015!
Joybilee Farmsays
Yes, I appreciate the differing opinions, too. I didn’t suggest boycotting anything. And I agree with your cotton perceptions. That’s why I suggest repurposing rather than buying new.
Margaret | Live Like No One Elsesays
These are so adorable. We haven’t been using paper towels or napkins (except for parties) for over 3 years. I didn’t need to make my own though, as I found some really neat cloth napkins at a church thrift several years ago for 10 cents each.
We once bought 2 big boxes at an auction for a dollar. Under the older, torn table cloths on top, we found more than 100 large cotton and linen napkins. The linen ones are with my China. The cottoh ones are my “unpaper towels”. They’re getting pretty ratty now, after 10 years. I have several yards of unbleached muslin I found on sale for 50 cents a yard that I’m going to make towels from. The only thing I use paper towels for is to drain Bacon. 1 roll lasts about a year.
What are you planning to use the muslin towels from? I was thinking of doing the same with some I found, but didn’t know if they’d be absorbent or what they’d be useful for. Maybe to cover food in the microwave?
I saw a great idea on Pinterest on how to store them but I’m not sure where it came from. Someone made a button hole at the top and hung them, using that buttone hole, onto a command hook on the kitchen wall to save on counter space. Hope that helps someone!
I was raised using the same towels/rags my Mother made from recycled towels, sheets, etc. It’s good if the coming generation will try some of the things that save our planet. So many have no clue or desire…..
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Thank you, this is a great idea, tho I find it very hard to understand instructions without visuals!! Why do you say to fold the paper towel to get the measurements? Thank you.
do you use these for bacon to when you take out of pan to go extra grease off? how would you launder them to make them not look so horrible after fact.?
Thank you for writing this article! I’m in the wonderful process of eliminating all the things that I do not want in my self-sufficient life that I am going to bring to fruition THIS YEAR, no matter how hard it may be at times. I’m just SO OVER owning rooms full of stuff I do not need. I have 4 bath towels at the ready and a bin of left-over fabric scraps large enough to make the size you made. So, along with the cloth napkins I picked up at the thrift store ( brand new with tags still on them!), these will be in my kitchen in a few days. I love anything that helps me be more efficient and is kind to our planet.
i will be making these this month. This will start my new year 2018 with purpose living.
I love what you are doing!
I plan on making these and cloth napkins this year. I have wanted to make these for a while but I have to many projects going. I decided this is my year to go green and finish projects. So far I finished 2 quilts that were almost done. About ready to finish my 3rd. I bought some baking mats 2 weeks ago and haven’t used parchment paper since and I bake alot.
WOW. To those who made disparaging comments: If you don’t like the content, don’t come to a blog that is about resourceful living practices.
I love the content here and appreciate all the helpful suggestions made by others also trying to live a less wasteful life.
Why does everyone have to be so offended by every. little. thing. My gosh, no one is going to lose a job over me not using a roll of paper towels. And as for the bidet uproar…good grief!
Love your blog and content. Keep up the great work!
So much YES on this! ‘Good grief’ is right!
Hello-
I’m going to be making these soon and have a question. Why a layer of flannel & a layer of cotton? We have old clothes I want to repurpose and most are cotton. Do you really need the flannel layer?
Thank you
No. You can just use one layer of cotton. I was using scrap material and by making them two layers I enclosed the raw edge so I didn’t have to worry about fraying edges. Plus they are extra absorbant so I only need one to clean up a spill.
This is great! I love reading *SO* many people looking to eliminate all the waste in their homes. Myself, I grew up using tea towels for the kitchen so I never really got into the paper towel thing. Although I do have a lovely wrought iron paper towel holder for which I occasionally buy a roll. It always annoys me though because it’s so wasteful. I recently began using cloth in place of toilet paper. I wish I had heard of it sooner!! My teenage daughters will likely not use it, but I have hope that I can encourage my 7 year old. It won’t even be a discussion for my husband, there are some challenges I just can’t manage. 😉
I have *many* project ideas for my home and now have a renewed motivation to make cloth napkins. Well, it will have to wait a bit longer as I discovered over the weekend that my sewing machine seems to need a tune-up. grrrr.
Thank you and I look forward to reading more posts.
I wanted you to know I really like this post. Many years ago, about six, I used some fabric I already had and made 50 cloth napkins for my family. We just stopped purchasing paper towels. It was costing us too much money and seemed to be a waste for my family. We still however purchase toilet paper once every few months (a 32 double roll that is store brand for $9), because my husband won’t go without it. Our daughters and I use cloth wipes for toilet paper and I have a little one in cloth diapers. (My cloth diapers are majority homemade, however with our new little one someone gave us 6 pocket diapers as a gift.) This has saved us a lot of money. [Although we use a lot of cloth products (all recycled/reused items) our utility bill has been no more than $150 a month; which is water and electric together for a family of 7.]
Our extended family laughed at us and thought we were crazy when they would come to our home and see the things we did and use. Now as time has went by they have started to do some of the same things we do. They are always asking my husband or myself of ways to save money. People always assume a large family uses a lot of resources, but I will tell you as a very cheap person I do the best I can to use and and reuse. We eat cook meals and snacks at home, have one vehicle, use cloth wipes, cloth napkins, cloth diapers, buy in bulk, grow vegetables, and some day hope day to own our own land to grow even more food to share with friends and neighbors.
I applaud you in writing this post. I read the comments and was not shocked at how some people reacted. My husband and I have been called names too for reverting back to the ways of our grandparents.
Look forward to reading more.
Good job! It’s amazing what we can live without when we decide to. And how much more we have when we choose to do things the old fashioned way.
I love this comment (and this post, of course)!! I was just given a bunch of ugly old flannel 😉 and got online to figure out what to use it for…. So glad this is one of the first things I found!
I have learned heaps here. I try very hard to be greener than in my past. I have stopped using so many paper towels, and when I do I try to keep them on the counter for other jobs. Each use goes further into dirty cleanups as I go. If it is chemical, grease related or meat/chicken related it goes in the trash. If it is anything else it goes into the compost to be broken down for the garden.
However, I am rethinking those bleached and formaldehyde laced paper towels now.
I have lots of rags for cleanup, and use baking soda or vinegar for scrubbing and disinfecting. As a quilter I use quite a bit of fabric and now have a use for used fabric that isn’t good enough for quilting! I like the idea of your two sided cleaning cloths and will be making them up this week! Thanks so much for your tutorial, information, and a special thanks to your readers who have shared their thoughts on the subject too. So informative!
I prefer using cloth in place of paper because it is much sturdier when scrubbing up a mess. I have always had a rag bag hanging in my utility room for really nasty messes. Cut the buttons off flannel shirts, tear the shirt up for rags and use the buttons on scrapbook pages. I also buy bar towels at Sam’s Club that are used for clean up of all kinds of things. Once they get really stained and nasty they get used for cleaning paint brushes, washing the car or scrubbing floors then tossed. Cloth cleaning rags, napkins, diapers and such are just more practical, sturdy and stronger than paper.
Those are great ideas for cutting down on waste. Thanks for sharing what you do.
What about using sponges instead? They can be rinsed and reused for quite a while and don’t need to be laundered???
I loathe sponges. They are unsanitary.. I have about 40 microfiber squares and I use them for everything except draining greasy things. I do use paper towels for that. I used to use old newspapers but we don’t get a print newspaper anymore.
Exactly, Anne. Sponges really do need to be laundered, so gross!
.. And I stopped getting a newspaper too, so I borrow other people’s old ones for things 😉
Lovely tutorial. Wish I’d come across your post prior to that trip to Joann’s… my mom told me to wait…I also recently got rid of flannel pants before getting my first sewing machine and deciding on cloth towels. Anywho great post. I’m sure my extra fabric will be handy for other projects. I’ve started to upcycle fabric too for a trial at cloth sanitary napkins.
I love all of your tutorials and thank you for sharing these amazingly easy ideas that may not occur to a lot of us in our daily dash through life. I am in the medical field and have grown tired of the work, shop, spend cycle. This is a fantastic idea, especially when paired with your incredible theives vinegar and hand wipes tutorials. I can tell you after using the heavy duty sanitizers and disinfectants at work out of necessity and protocol, the chemicals are no longer used in my home. I can’t tell you how much I cringe when I see someone use a clorox wipe without gloves on, especially after taking care of several cancer patients who used to be cleaning ladies that never wore gloves. We have made lots of baby steps in the last few years: our house is off the grid and all solar and we use reclaimed dead wood from the local forests in the wood burning stove in the winter, making our own laundry soap, using vinegar to clean and soften laundry (the thieves is a huge hit in my house), cloth pads, repurposing the old clothes/pajamas/linens into rag quilts and now getting rid of the paper towels, and using coconut and olive oil to replace many cosmetics. We are not so good with the garden as the rabbits and elk are particularly crafty here, even with four large dogs, but we will continue to progress. As long as you keep sharing, I will keep reading! Thank you again!
Good for you, Cressi! It sounds like you’ve got this.
This is a great idea, but it has its limits. If you don’t do laundry really frequently, these will need to be hung on a rack so that they don’t get putrid and moldy. Also, what about greasy spills? There’s no way one would want to throw greasy cloths in with other laundry.
For greasy spills I clean them up with rags that I hashes made from old towels or worn out wash cloths. I always hashed an abundances of cleaning rags, so I typically just toss them in the trash. If I had a burn permit which is required where I live, I would use them as a fire starter 🙂
The filthy messes are problematic. I understand that. This week we have a new born goat in the house. His pee we are cleaning up with towels, but the baby poop is a little more than a kleenex can bare. We are using paper towels for that. Guilty. But my washing machine and homemade detergent can’t do justice to feces. Everyone has to make these tough decisions for themselves.
I agree with Darcy. There is a warning on my washing machine that says that no detergent can totally clean greasy cloth and it should never be put in the dryer. I’m handicapped. I can’t go hang them on the clothesline.
I love using cloth napkins and have been doing that almost exclusively for about a year. Because I have an addiction to them, I buy plenty in seasonal colors and switch them out. (I hate sewing so I buy). When they get too stained to use on the table, I use THOSE for paperless towels. I use scent free detergent and wash on the sanitary cycle so that they are suitable for food prep as well as picking up spills. When I want to wipe grease out of a pan I use coffee filters (I know- still paper but much smaller and cheaper) OR I use paper from the recycle bin.
I have just finished making my first Unpaper towels. Only 7 to begin with, but I generally run a load of laundry every day, so I’m not concerned that I will run out. I am really pleased with them. They are made of 1 layer cotton, 1 layer flannel. I made just one up a week ago to see how the flannel coped with scrubbing counters and messes, and was very pleased.
What pleases me even more is that the flannel is leftover king-sized flat sheet (which has also been used to make bed curtains for my preschoolers bed, and in washable mentrual pads), costing only £1 in a charity store. The cotton is from an old duvet cover my mother-in-law ga me. It used to be my husbands as a child, and was also used by his nephew until recently. I have also used a portion of it to make a cover for my toddlers cot duvet. It amazes me just how much can be done with old items that would have otherwise been discarded, using just a little imagination.
That’s awesome, Selena.
Just found this blog and I love it. I plan to make some paperless towels with recycled fabric for icky messes, but I want to make some others with newer, white, non-fuzzy material because we sometimes use paper towels to dry food. Luckily, I live near a church that has a great rummage sale a couple times a year and I always find good-sized fabric scraps for 50c each. Those should do nicely for the better towels. I will probably cut as many as I can get out of the pieces and use two for each towel by pinning them together and serging the edges all around. Keeping them in a basket close to the sink is a great idea. Thank you!
Nice article, I got here through “how to clean an oil lamp” as I’m seriously considering it for economic reasons (I live in Austere Greece – otherwise a beautiful, wonderful country – transplanted (?!) from Canada).
Reading some comments I have to say that North America is sooo profligate – we (in Europe and elsewhere) have been living “green” out of necessity – hanging up clothes like we did before dryers, walking instead of driving to neighbourhood shops located on the ground floors of apartment buildings (that you can’t do over there because of inane zoning laws), smaller living space, one bathroom, etc.
Now to the paper, because I had to drastically cut back on expenses (the electricity bill is a HUGE amount). The first thing I did was to (easily) install a toilet hose spray (hose bidet) to get away from using toilet paper – such a ridiculous waste of a tree (and as you point out, and as I’ve read elsewhere, millions are cut every year for America’s needs alone). I cannot fathom the idea of reusing a cloth for that purpose – it is just as gross, to me now, as using paper – who would think of wiping feces or urine off with just paper if it were anywhere else on the body – we certainly wouldn’t consider it for babies! This is what is done in Asian/MEastern countries as well as some European countries anyway – so why not make this green, clean, economical leap and switch to water and cloth? I use a supply of old washcloths as drying towels and change them daily or every couple of days. They go in with the whites, washed at the highest temp (74 C or higher kills bacteria). My only regret is that I didn’t switch sooner.
I use wettex (microfibre) instead of paper towels, that’s what I’ve been using thus far. I haven’t cut out paper towels completely, but have cut back hugely.
And my last great paperless leap was cutting up old undershirts to use as hankies. Not for my DD – I cannot even imagine washing hers (that’s my “ick” button), but I do use them for myself, for “dabs” and “clean” blows, if you know what I mean. It is really fine. Who hasn’t reused an old paper tissue in a coat pocket?! It dries and it’s fine. I have a net bag I got for my DD’s baby socks so they wouldn’t get lost in the wash, and I now use that bag for washing the hankies.
We have used cloth napkins for ages – I put one in my DD’s school lunch as well – so we have massively cut back on paper use as well as garbage – if I had a garden it would go as compost and our “footprint” would really be minimal (as well as ditching toxic chemical shampoo/conditioner/body lotion – using rye flour/apple cider vinegar/olive oil). Have yet to switch from commercial toothpaste and soaps…
As for making paper towels, I got lost after making a half-seam up the fourth side – I think I’d just rip up an old towel and leave it at that – got a few of those around!
All the best from a native BC’er 🙂
Many excellent points here. Thanks for the inspiration.
While I do understand that many Americans are profligate, please, do not group us all as that. It is one thing to point out, as was done in this article, the days as it is, but it is completely different to do what seemed to me as targeting and talking down about our country. Though our country has been very wasteful, it happens in every country. Take into account that Americans are learning from our mistakes and taking major steps to become a much more green society. For the most part we were raised in a throw away society. Many values have been thrown out the window because many Americans are quite selfish and want bigger and better everything. Most of us are raised hearing these words from our parents, “I want better for you then we have.” Better typically meaning more money, more things. I beloved while I was growing up that I wanted a bigger house in the city with less property. Now my husband and I know we want for our family what I had growing up… a smaller house, in the country with more property. In the mean time we are utilizing the property we do have (which is more that most city dwellers in our city) and plant as much produce as we can and we keep animals that are within city code… chickens, ducks, pheasants, rabbits, goats, even a sheep. I stay home with our children now and they are homeschooled rather than public schooled. I learned to so, to can, to make jams and jellies, I reuse all our old clothing or give some to families in need, I make our cleaning supplies and soaps, I even render lard when I get pork from my brother who raises pigs. We have been making these changes for around 2-3 years and we have come a long way and have a long way to go. With all the changes we have made we don’t even miss my income which was pretty substantial. On the plus side, I know many others that are jumping on the band wagon and due to the things we do, many of our family and friends have began making strides to do things that we do. We love to show others what we do and help them to do the same. We are even beginning to buy unused lots in our neighborhood to turn into gardens, we are in the process of negotiating 6 lots with many more on the horizon. This will bring my husband out of the proverbial rat rrace and help with our expenses that are as minimal as we can make them at this time. The other major change that we are working toward is adding solar power so cut our energy cost and rehabbing the wood burning furnace that is in our basement for heat. My point is please do not feel ill regard for us, more of us are making changes then you are aware but it will take time to show in the numbers. Instead, be constructive and offer us words of wisdom as we are making our journey toward what do many of you all have known for so long. Most of us are making these changes on our own without help, so please give us a break and offer some encouragement instead.
I agree. The stats are American but this isn’t targetting Americans but all of us in the consumer world, regardless of ethnicity and nationality.
This was my goal for 2013, by October we had succeeded. I do keep 1 roll of Viva on hand in my cake decorating supplies, but that is all I allow in. I started by using those re-usable wipes (blue and white striped) that are 5 for $3 at the store. At the end of the day I ran hot water over them, added some dish soap, and hung to dry. It has been my experience that I do not have more laundry. Also, I may have missed this if you or a poster shared, paper towels contain formaldehyde, when you wipe your counters or a piece of fruit, you are leaving traces of this behind. Just a thought.
Oh, and thanks for the step by step towels, I will be making some soon.
Good reminder. Yes, I had forgotten about the formaldehyde.
Great ideas, but one of the reasons I use paper for some things is that I can clean something that has a lot of germs, and get rid of it. If you clean things and wash the cloths, make sure you are using very hot water, and high heat in the dryer, or at least use bleach. And then you have to consider how long the towel has been sitting, waiting to be washed, and what else might have been contaminated. I agree in using fabric napkins when we eat, and I raised two babies in cloth diapers, but I had a diaper service that made sure they were clean. Just asking each of us to think, think before you jump.
Sunshine is a wonderful disinfectant. Also in the old days, kitchen cloths were boiled once a week. Tea Towels were ironed. Handkerchiefs were ironed. Paper towels are a relatively new comer in household cleaning. To make sure I don’t use a bathroom cleaning cloth in the kitchen, though, I have two different sets of unpaper towels — one made with a light blue towel and one made with a navy towel. I agree it’s important to take extra steps to ensure good cleanliness.
Thank you for the idea of boiling the kitchen towels! I use tags for general cleaning but can’t wait to make the unpaper towels! I typically don’t use paper towels anyway but do use paper napkins and my grandma brings paper towels to our house every time she notices that I don’t have them :/ I have told her we don’t use them but she keeps bringing them and my mom always buys us a huge package of them at Christmas. That can be one more thing I can have her take off our household list she gets for is every year. We have already taken off dry sheets and laundry detergent. This year I will have her take off the laundry softener, paper towels, and paper napkins 🙂 That will basically leave trash bags and Dawn dish soap on our household list 🙂
Oh yes there will still be totem paper on our list. My husband refuses the idea of reusable to, but I will begin looking for a toilet with a bidet and that will greatly reduce the use of tp and I will add the reusable option to the bathroom as well until it catches on in our home.
Good for you!
I love this idea! I understand the delicate balance between logging, trucking, and the paper manufactures. I also understand that water and fossil fuels are not renewable.
That being said: I’ve thought of starting to make washable TP for the time when the earth has run out of fossil fuels or water to run the factories and trucks to do the job needed for the simple things in live we take for granted. Some muslin and stitch around the edges. My babies used cloth diapers, why not cloth T.P.?
My mother took our old bath towels and made wash cloths, she still has them and uses them after all these years!
There are so many ways we can save, but the most important, (in my most humble and age worthy opinion), is fossil fuels, water and trees.
Most excellent idea you have shared!
I have washcloths for TP and a closed bucket next to the stool to presoak them
What do you use to get stains out? I am afraid kool-aid and coffee wouldn’t be very easy to clean?
I’m not so worried about getting stains out of these unpaper towels. But you could use washing soda and hydrogen pyroxide. I just wash them with my regular wash. One change I’ve made since writing this last week though, I have one set for the kitchen and a second set in a different colour to clean bathrooms, just so I don’t end up using a bathroom towel in the kitchen. It might be fine but it has a “ewwww!” factor to me.
Really good idea. If you have a serger, there is no need to turn the fabric after sewing. Just quilt it with the regular sewing machine, then serge around the edges. I made soakers for my kids diapers the same way. Sandwich either felted wool (from old sweaters) or multiple layers of flannel between more flannel and serge. They lasted through two kids, getting softer and more absorbent over time. Also, in the bathroom, we use face cloth size fabric for drying hands and toss them in the laundry. Nobody reuses a dirty towel, especially important during cold and flu season!
Good ideas.
All good ideas.
I made myself 24 towels to use I haven’t bought paper towels in a year we were using three rolls a week, I just got finished making some for my son as he wants to try them at his house
Excellent. Pass the baton to the next generation, too. I love it.
What it the advantage to having two types of cloth sewn together? I think they look very nice, but I don’t understand why you would need both terry cloth and flannel quilted together. Is it just for absorbency?
I think if you used brand new towels you wouldn’t need to use two layers. I was using thread bare towels and worn out clothing and the two layers meant that I was able to contain the raw edge of the hem within the cloth, so no stray threads to unravel in the laundry. I think in this aspect they will last longer. But a new towel with a properly hemmed end would be fine as a paper towel substitute. It’s what they used before paper towels were invented.
This is great, I love turning something that most would through out into something useful. I also noticed in a couple of comments people are using paper towels for their bacon grease and are concerned about throwing it in with their clothes. We bake out bacon in the oven on a wire rack with a cookie tray underneath. All the grease drips below on to the sheet and you don’t need to soak it up. We also have a jar in the freezer for the bacon grease. I’m not sure why anyone would throw it out … it,s great for frying an egg.
OMG!! That is an awesome idea for cooking bacon. I have been baking my bacon in the oven but I have it on a cookie sheet so it sits in the grease. I love that idea, using a rack and cookie sheet below. The only thing is I’ve just switched to Turkey bacon, what a difference. It’s wonderful, less grease, less fat, and healthier. DON’T microwave turkey bacon it tastes so much better baked in the oven.
And Thank you so much for all the helpful advise. I can’t wait to make my unpaper paper towels.
I have one question though, I have seen several comments regarding cloth diapers, why can’t we use cloth diapers? I know they are bigger, but they are absorbent and already to be used. I’ve used cloth diapers and sewn decorative ribbon on them as gifts for new moms to use for burp clothes. Maybe the diapers would be better for house and bathroom cleaning and have the unpaper paper towels for use in the kitchen.
Oops, another question I just thought of, How do you handle raw meat, like chicken or beef. You know sometimes you have to pat the meat dry or clean up the mess left on the counter.
Thank you
Michele Tutwiler
I don’t see why you can’t used cloth diapers. Some of us are way beyond the years of having cloth diapers in the house, though. Someone mentioned using scrap clothing rags for that and then discarding. I thought that was a really good idea. When I cut up the nightgown for this project there were pieces left over that were too small for the unpaper towels but too good to toss. I’ve put them in a bag in the kitchen to use for bad messes. Once they are used they can be composted. The nightgown would have been tossed if I handn’t thought to make unpaper towels out of it. I think that’s a win-win. Less paper and less garbage. Cotton fabric can be composted. Papertowels on the other hand, don’t decompose well. Many have plastics embedded in them.
Oh Thank you, I’ve learned another new thing. Great so the use of small scrapes of cotton fabric would probably work great for those gross clean ups and them turn into composite. Thanks.
I loved reading all these useful tips and have been using some of these ideas for a long time. I wonder why some folk use paper towels to clean up dog poop, I use a small hand spade and then flush the poop down the toilet. I do live in South Africa where our dogs are able to use our gardens mostly as we all have fenced gardens, perhaps this makes a difference.
I have been using old hand towels, one that are threadbare and ready to be thrown out to drain bacon on or anything of that sort for years and years. Plus no sewing involved. This is nothing new to me or my husband’s grandmother (who passed away in 1964).
Great tutorial! We don’t use paper towels, we are more of a napkin family. We go theough 1 large package of napkins per month, at a monetary cost of $5, for a family of six. We use washcloths as napkins quite often, as we have mostly younger children.
We cloth diaper part-time (and use real eco/compostable disposable diapers part-time), I enjoy using cloth menstrual pads and I just replenished our cloth napkin supply.
We are preparing for our fifth homebirth in the spring and I have a few sewing projects in the wings to replace disposable products and to burn through my fabric/unwearable clothing stash. I will be making a dozen waterproof under pads for sleeping on postpartum, more postpartum mama cloth pads (with double snaps), extra cloth diapers and covers and a few things for the baby, like changing pads and waterproofed blankets for all those newborn poop explosions.
Wanted to add: discarded unwearable clothing gets cut up and tossed in a basket with washcloths to be used as general cleaning cloths. If there’s a gross mess, we have no qualms about using cloths from the basket to thoroughly clean the mess and then toss them in the trash.
I think this is a great idea. I seem to always try to repurpose as much as possible. Our family has always used old tee shirts for dust cloths and for polishing silver, brass,etc. They work great as do old cloth diapers. I always save old worn towels for myriad purposes. The larger ones are used on my dog’s bed/ drying her off from coming in from the rain,etc. When they get extra ratty, ie holes, they can be patched with other pieces of old terry cloth. When the edges fray, an overcast stitch works great. Old hand towels work great for me in the kitchen. I use them for hand drying and as ” napkins”. The kitchen ones go in the laundry with the other household towels. The larger ones are put in their own pile and washed when I have enough for a full load. I try to save paper towels for hand drying when someone is sick. They wipe and are tossed in hopes we won’t spread germs that way.
I agree with you. When there is sickness in the house, disposables into the fire place are the best route to ensure that the rest of the house stays healthy. Common sense must prevail.
I only use paper towel for wiping grease out of pans and draining bacon. The rest of the time I use those cheap white wash cloths from Walmart. I have tons and use them for napkins , wiping the floor and doing dishes and pet messes. . I separate them by marking with an X for the ones I use for floor XX for really gross jobs and no x’s for the dish ones. works for me.
Clever identification system!
For draining bacon, I use brown paper (such as clean shopping bags inside out) and when the bacon’s eaten, I burn the paper in the woodstove to start our fires. Smells nice too 🙂 Thanks for this, Chris, love your blog!! A roll of paper town lasts us 3-6 months because we just rarely use it except for dog messes and the other truly gross stuff.
I cut up old towels for my unpacker towels, and use wherever possible. I am with Lu, however, on the dog (or cat) mess issue. It doesn’t happen often, but….when it does, yech. The only thing I do take issue with is that Europeans do NOT have a bidet in every home! I’m European, transplanted to Canada, and I have perhaps known…?two? people, EVER, to have a bidet. They were quite the thing in somewhat nouveau riche houses back in the ’70’s. Now they are regarded mostly as laughable.
I don’t buy paper towels ever and do fine. Not to gross civilized folks out but I don’t buy much toilet paper either. I use cut up towels and wash cloths for two reasons. One is to save a dime and the other is an allergy to most toilet papers (believe me that is miserable. I used cloth diapers for my kids and do the same thing to the wipe rags. After using I drop in a pail of disinfectant and wash frequently. I do keep a roll for visitors.
Inspiring. I haven’t moved to family cloth yet but my son and his wife have. And they are still thriving. Glad to know that it works. It may be my next trial.
Stupid. It’s a kitchen rag. Nothing new.
But this kitchen rag was made from something that was going to be tossed in the dump. And save a tree or two. One baby step at a time.
Yikes. Slow down there. We live in a culture with a clueless up and coming generation. I am truly appalled at the lack of common sense these young people are showing. Some things that are quite obvious to us, are not even on the majority of the population’s radar. Blogs like these help people to care a little more and operate with a little more common sense.
Amen! I will never understand the crassness and unkindness of some. I think it’s an excellent article. I doubt that I will ever have any unpaper towels quite as fancy as these, but I think they’re lovely and if I sewed I would make some similar. I’ve been planning on going paperless in the kitchen lately and I think I’ll likely just buy one color of cheap small washcloths from Walmart or Amazon to use. Thank you for this blog,
I agree! My husband and I are working to change that in our family and we are showing our “new found” knowledge with everyone who will hear us. I pray my children utilize everything we are teaching them when they have families of their own.
I hadn’t thought of making my own towelettes, great idea! I buy very inexpensive slightly used cloth napkins at my local Thrift Store to use for these jobs described (not the gross stuff). I take them to work along with my own silverware to use at lunchtime instead of paper napkins and plastic ware.
That’s a great idea, too. I love giving new life to unloved textiles. We use linen napkins at the table and if I had more they might become un-paper towels. But they aren’t quite as absorbant as these. I was thinking of just using ripped up towels — I have a lot of thread bear towels. But the thought of all the ragged edges and fraying ends clogging up the filter of my washing machine was unpleasant. And I loved that I used something that was going to be trashed anyway.
Five years ago I bought several yards of chenille in pink and blue on sale for $1.00/yard with the idea of making baby quilts. I never made the quilts and I have been in a quandary about what to do with the 10 yards of chenille that stare me in the face every time I open the craft closet. I’ll be making new “unpaper towels” for all my daughters and friends soon. Even if I use chenille for both sides, I should be able to create about 150 6×11 towels for less than $10. Maybe I’ll make 2 sizes (6×11 and 12×11 in different colors so they are easily distinguishable!) We’ll be saving $$ and not wasting the chenille that I was sure was destined to be part of my estate. Not enough ways to say “thank you” for giving me this idea!
What an awesome use for the chenille. I bet they’d make awesome burp cloths and baby wipes, too. Very soft, I imagine.
I take your point but you should check your facts before you write otherwise it calls your whole story into question
NO . . . ALL houses in Europe do NOT have a bidet
Not even MOST have a bidet
I did take that information off of a reputable article from France. I will correct my article. I guess the originator was mistaken.
I “kicked” the Paper Towel habit & my Dogs Wee-Wee Pads a year ago and saved well over $600. The cheap rolls are $1 each -> you can easily go through 2 Rolls a week (savings/year = $104 taxes not included). An average family could go through 3 – 5 rolls per week, doubling/tripling that amount. Another way I saved is with my 2 dogs, who were raised on Wee-Wee pads. The cost of the pads can be anywhere from $15/ 20 pads & much higher. I lucked out and thought $17/100 pads was a good deal for a couple of years until I realized how much money I was wasted. I purchased 7 large incontinent pads from a medical supply company (you can purchase the fabrics and make your own). When the pads are dirty I throw them in my 5 gal bucket half-way filled with water, soap and a little bleach to soak until I have a load of wash to do. I pick up the poop with newspaper or the left-over plastic bags from the weekly newspaper, vegetable bags from the grocery (or grocery bags when I forget to bring my recyclable shopping tote bags). Necessity breeds innovation.
You are a master. Thanks for the suggestions. They are things I hadn’t thought of.
I use paper towels for jobs involving grease such as draining bacon. I don’t think I want to wash that grease out in my washing machine! Any thoughts or suggestions?
I would use them for that, too. Also I still use paper towels to clean up feces and vomit. but I did see a suggestion of using squares of cloth from clothing that is too worn to be used for other purposes and then just tossing the soiled cloth. Since the garment was going to be tossed anyway, it is no loss to toss it after this use.
How about this, from the doggie pad person .. “I throw them in my 5 gal bucket half-way filled with water, soap and a little bleach to soak until I have a load of wash to do.”
Sounds a bit like my old cloth diaper routine, just change the poop-er’s species!
Europeans have bidets in every home? Really? Maybe we Brits aren’t in Europe then!
Actually my relatives were born in GB and so I don’t think of it as Europe. Sorry. My mistake.
Hmm – I use paper towels primarily for cleaning up dog waste. For everything else, I use old dish towels. Not so sure I want reusables for cleaning up pet waste…
I agree that you wouldn’t want to wash towels used for poop. But I disagree that washing cloth towels outweighs the water saved in the manufacture of disposable tissue paper goods. 2000 gallons a year per family is a lot of water being tossed in the trash. On the other hand, the number of cloth unpaper towels used per week in most households wouldn’t amount to an increase in laundry loads. Unpaper towels are small — 12 equals just one bath towel. And smaller laundry items fit very nicely into loads that have large items. Think of socks, underwear, and facecloths. It would be very unusual for a household to add a whole load of laundry a week in just socks and underwear, for instance. Those items fit very nicely in larger loads of bath towels or jeans. I still use paper towels for cleaning up vomit, poop, and other really gross things, but I use unpaper towels for wiping up spills, water, drying hands. It sounds like you’ve got a system that works for you.
yea sounds logical to me 😀
Sorry, but I disagree. While I like soft towels and other various cloth items for jobs around the house, I’m not going to wash an oily furniture rag in a load of mixed clothing or even in with my bath towels. And the electricity to run a small load of laundry is nearly that of a large load.
And while you dis the paper companies, please be reminded that they employ thousands, my husband included, and keep many trucking firms in business. They utilize tons of recycled paper and cardboard as well to make paper products. I appreciate that you wish to leave a smaller footprint during your earthly stay, as many of us do, but there are always two sides to the story, and this is no exception.
You should definitely write your side to this story on your own blog. Or perhaps you could have the paper company your husband works for write it on their blog. That’s what the internet is for, for everyone to have the priviledge of telling their own story. That is exactly how two sides to a story come out — or maybe there are many more sides than two. I heard something similiar from a farmer who grows a paper tree plantation, fearful that folks would stop buying paper towels and put him out of business. But that isn’t going to happen. For every brave soul that steps off the path that every one else is on and tries to be more contientious and sustainable, 1000 more (Perhaps I exaggerate.) blindly continue on the same path and bring their children along for the ride. I live in a wild forest of douglas fir, spruce, cedar, and pine in British Columbia. Most of the wild forest around me is sent to the pulp mill near us to be made into paper products. They are a “managed” forest, meaning the forest is clear cut and then replanted with young pine trees. 25 years later (or so) it will be clear cut again. In between, the wild deer, cougar, bear, lynx, bob cat, moose, elk, and smaller mammals come down to find refuge in the trees on our farm. It isn’t a simple issue. Each person can decide for themselves how best to work out their life in balance with nature. It is a dance not a march. This is my story.
Bravo! The few of us who do things a little differently are not going to majorly impact people and companies doing “business as usual”. But it is important our voice is heard. Many people dream about alternatives to living like everyone else in priveleged consumer cultures but don’t know what those alternatives are.
Yes, there are often many sides to any issue. I don’t find anything disrespectful or rude about Lynn’s contribution to the conversation.
Doesn’t a different perspective enrich the conversation?
This is not a simple issue.
Almost every industry has a dark side and a bright side. Lynn’s example is the bright side- what could be better than a product filling a need for consumers and providing life to a community through employment?
There is even a dark side to cotton (what could be better than cotton towels and t-shirts and flannel?)
For example, the cotton industry is rife with controversy too- it’s not just paper production that has it’s problems.
It can take more than 20,000 litres of water to produce 1kg of cotton; equivalent to a single T-shirt and pair of jeans.
2.4% of the world’s crop land is planted with cotton and yet it accounts for 24% and 11% of the global sales of insecticide and pesticides respectively. Unsafe use of agricultural chemicals has severe health impacts on workers in the field and on ecosystems that receive excess doses that run-off from farms.
I’m not advocating that people boycott cotton, any more than I believe people should boycott paper whole sale. But that’s my respectfully stated opinion which nobody else is responsible for and nobody else need adopt.
Each person must follow where their own conscience dictates. Each person is in a different place in their journey. In my journey I am LOVING these washcloth plans. 🙂 I have some old towels and my sewing machine JUST got a tune up so I’m planning on making these up soon. Thanks for the great ideas, the forum to discuss differing opinions respectfully, and I am sure it will be a great 2015!
Yes, I appreciate the differing opinions, too. I didn’t suggest boycotting anything. And I agree with your cotton perceptions. That’s why I suggest repurposing rather than buying new.
These are so adorable. We haven’t been using paper towels or napkins (except for parties) for over 3 years. I didn’t need to make my own though, as I found some really neat cloth napkins at a church thrift several years ago for 10 cents each.
I love repurposing cloth napkins. Most of the ones I find at thrift stores have never, ever been used. My favorites though are linen ones.
We once bought 2 big boxes at an auction for a dollar. Under the older, torn table cloths on top, we found more than 100 large cotton and linen napkins. The linen ones are with my China. The cottoh ones are my “unpaper towels”. They’re getting pretty ratty now, after 10 years. I have several yards of unbleached muslin I found on sale for 50 cents a yard that I’m going to make towels from. The only thing I use paper towels for is to drain Bacon. 1 roll lasts about a year.
That’s perfect. I love my linen napkins, too.
What are you planning to use the muslin towels from? I was thinking of doing the same with some I found, but didn’t know if they’d be absorbent or what they’d be useful for. Maybe to cover food in the microwave?
Definitely worth it, love this idea!!
Glad you like it, Christine.
I saw a great idea on Pinterest on how to store them but I’m not sure where it came from. Someone made a button hole at the top and hung them, using that buttone hole, onto a command hook on the kitchen wall to save on counter space. Hope that helps someone!
I was raised using the same towels/rags my Mother made from recycled towels, sheets, etc. It’s good if the coming generation will try some of the things that save our planet. So many have no clue or desire…..
Me too! Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. We mainly ‘Reuse’.