Need to step it up and replace paper towels

wabadee1

I can't seem to give them up. I do use them pretty often, more than I should. I use them for everything from spreading oil around a frying pan to cleaning the bathroom mirror and everything in between. I do pretty well with being green but I seem to be stuck on this. Help! Any suggestions?

SDgirl22

My favorite things to use to scrub the counters in the kitchen/bathroom and other cleaning chores are the 10 pk. CHEAP washcloths from Target. They're white and come with a ribbon tied around them...I think they're 3.49/10pk. and have a great surface for scrubbing (which means they sucks as a real washcloth)

pixieprincss

We use cut up old T-shirts and they work great, were free, and repurposed something at the end of its life. Win, win, win! Here is my blog entry on them. While I wouldn't use them for spreading oil, you can use a pastry brush for that. Pretty much the only thing we use PTs for is blotting bacon grease.

Alisha_A

That's funny, when I read your title, I thought 'what all do people really use them for anyway?' and then you answered! I didn't grow up with paper towels so even using them to wipe up a spill seems a little odd, but to spread oil in a pan!? I've never heard of that! Why not use a Misto, or a silicone (well heck, any) basting brush? Or if you mean for baking, just use the butter wrapper.

Start with putting the paper towels out of sight and hard to reach, like in a high cabinet, and put out a towel for drying, and a few rags, just to start changing your habits. I don't really leave rags out though, just get one to use, clean, and then stick in the wash room.

Joenali

Alisha_A:

That's funny, when I read your title, I thought 'what all do people really use them for anyway?' and then you answered! I didn't grow up with paper towels so even using them to wipe up a spill seems a little odd, but to spread oil in a pan!? I've never heard of that! Why not use a Misto, or a silicone (well heck, any) basting brush? Or if you mean for baking, just use the butter wrapper.

Start with putting the paper towels out of sight and hard to reach, like in a high cabinet, and put out a towel for drying, and a few rags, just to start changing your habits. I don't really leave rags out though, just get one to use, clean, and then stick in the wash room.

I agree. How is it hard for people not to use paper towels. We have so many rags and towels that we use for everything.

CDMay2006

I think the only thing we use them for is to clean up oil, as it doesn't clean off them and can be a fire hazzard.  Everything else is cleaned using a rag/scrubber/cloth/brush.  I agree with the pps' suggestions to get a pack of cheap washcloths and put your paper towels in an inconvenient place so you have to really want them to bother.  I used to use paper towels to oil muffin tins, etc, but now i use the butter wrapper or butter/oil spread around with my hands (small spaces) or a spatula (larger pan).   You can do it!

Fringle

I made some small cloth wipes.  I store them in the drawer with the dish towels and we use them for almost everything.  I put the used ones in a basket in the laundry room and just toss them in with whatever laundry I'm washing that day.

uncannycanuck

My cleaning rags are a bunch of old socks. DH decided he needed new ones (the elastic wasn't holding up, a few had small holes). They're a nice size to use once and toss in the laundry.

I wash the bathroom mirror with the hand towel before I toss it in the wash. Saves time (as it's there, and I keep the homemade cleaning spray in the bathroom too), and makes no extra laundry.

Jen&Joe06

Do you guys serge the side of your cloths or just cut them from old t-shirts etc and start using them?

pixieprincss

Jen&Joe06:

Do you guys serge the side of your cloths or just cut them from old t-shirts etc and start using them?

No serging needed, at least with the100% cotton shirts we've used. The ends curl under a little bit, but they don't fray.

SuperGreen

We used to go through 2 rolls a month, now it's 1 every other month (we only really use them for pet messes now).  I bought some rags, and started using them for wiping up messes and cleaning instead of PT.  I also hid the PT roll, which keep DH from grabbing it the way he always had.  After awhile, he started using the rags and now we have a whole system of these rags are used for this, and these rags are used for that. I have waffle-weave dish towels from BB&B for drying dishes and hands, tight-knit no fuzz towels from Crate & Barrel for washing & drying our cast iron pan, cheap bar towels from BB&B for spills and other messes, Twist brand bamboo cloths for dusting, Twist brand reusable sponges, and a bunch of random cut-up t-shirts for really messy stuff like when DH changes the oil in his motorcycle.  We only use paper towels for pet messes.

Alisha_A

SuperGreen:

(we only really use them for pet messes now). 

This is when I REALLY wish I had paper towels. But I don't, so I make do, and thankfully it happens rarely enough, that by the time I'm at a store, I have forgotten, and don't buy paper towels. lol

SuperGreen

Alisha_A:

SuperGreen:

(we only really use them for pet messes now). 

This is when I REALLY wish I had paper towels. But I don't, so I make do, and thankfully it happens rarely enough, that by the time I'm at a store, I have forgotten, and don't buy paper towels. lol

DH aren't at the point yet where we can deal with scraping cat puke or whatever off a rag into the trash, washing the rag, then having to not think about that cat puke or whatever when we use that rag to dry dishes.  We both draw the line there.  We're also wimpy about smushed bugs.  Unless I wipe up a spider or whatever with a paper towel (we always buy select-a-size so it's only a third of a square) then it's somewhere in our laundry machine and therefore on our skin.  We're okay with a roll a month, I doubt we'll ever get below that.

Alisha_A

SuperGreen:

DH aren't at the point yet where we can deal with scraping cat puke or whatever off a rag into the trash, washing the rag, then having to not think about that cat puke or whatever when we use that rag to dry dishes.  We both draw the line there.  We're also wimpy about smushed bugs.  Unless I wipe up a spider or whatever with a paper towel (we always buy select-a-size so it's only a third of a square) then it's somewhere in our laundry machine and therefore on our skin.  We're okay with a roll a month, I doubt we'll ever get below that.

lol!!! y'all are hilarious! I guess I never use cleaning rags for anything but cleaning, but even if I did, I wouldn't be able to keep track so I wouldn't know. Thankfully I hardly ever have pet accidents, especially since I switched the kitties to raw. Its usually a foster dog, or Greta when she first got here and I kept giving her weird foods!

I don't smush spiders, that's the cats' job, and I let dishes air dry!

uncannycanuck

My cloths/rags have a caste system. Dish towels are for dishes and hand, dish cloths are for washing dishes and wiping counters (and spots on the floor just before the go in the wash), old socks and t-shirts and the like are for cleaning the toilet and other less glamorous tasks.

I do still use minimal paper towels if the cat pukes or something of equal grossness occurs, but it's less than a roll a month. A 6 pack lasts me a year, at least. Hardly the worst of my eco-sins.

Rink08

for cleaning I use old rags or ripped up articles of clothing such as a worn out t-shirt or I personally like do use DH's old A-shirts because they are ridged. We try not to use paper towels or tissues which astounds some of my family because they own a paper plant which makes them.