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86ing paper towels??

May 12th, 2009 at 01:15 am

Hi guys. I am thinking of doing away with paper towels, or at least trying to significantly reduce our usage. Do you have any suggestions for what type of washable towels might be the best replacements? I need something that is sturdy, all purpose and can clean up baby food messes.

Thanks!

11 Responses to “86ing paper towels??”

  1. aevans1206 Says:
    1242091237

    Denise, I use old cut up bath towels, old cloth diapers, just about anything. All work just fine and it's lovely not buying paper towels. You can also get very cheap cloth napkins so there's no need to paper napkins either.

  2. crazyliblady Says:
    1242094249

    I think this is a great idea and while it will not save you a lot of money by itself, it is still worth doing. If you are doing a $20 Challenge, you could figure out how much you are saving every time you wash a towel instead of using a paper towel and put it into your Challenge. I like the towels and cloths they have at Dollar General. You can get a big bundle of them for a couple of dollars. Another place to look is thrift stores. One day, I couldn't afford to buy the Dollar General towels, so I went to the Goodwill. I found two towels for $0.50 total. They were exactly what I needed and didn't have any holes.

  3. whitestripe Says:
    1242099614

    apparently old tshirts work really well, i have read in a cleaning book. i am thinking of doing the same for environmental reasons - but i will still have a pack of paper towels on hand anyway just in case. i was going to use old sheets for cleaning and wiping and any old tshirts. and i like the idea of getting them from op-shops because you are sort of recycling Smile

  4. thriftorama Says:
    1242139620

    This is mostly for environmental reasons. I switched to 100 percent recycled paper towels recently, and the next step is to start using something not paper. Thanks for the suggestions!

  5. simpleyme Says:
    1242140012

    I have a whole drawer full of kitchen towels and I just use them ,some are floursack type fabric the rest are terrycloth type ,I am a neat freak and do not like random peices of fabric piled up

  6. monkeymama Says:
    1242143399

    I find your question kind of silly on some level (no offense meant at all). We use wash clothes for napkins and dish-towel-sized towels instead of paper towels. Since paper towels are just thin pieces of paper it seems like just about any cloth will be far superior (why I found the question kind of funny). But we do steer away from official "napkins" and "dish towels" because they are so thin.

    Anyway, the cheap stuff you find in the stores work just fine. I just bought some really nice wash clothes online for $1.50 a piece. Sorry I don't remember where but they are of higher quality than any we bought before. You don't have to spend much to find something to do the job. (I have a pile of old/cheap white dish rags for house cleaning as well. We have different "kinds" so napkins are napkins, kitchen paper towels are kitchen paper towels, toilet cleaning rags are toilet rags, etc.). The white rags were literally handed down to me like 15 years ago actually. !! Those things just tend to last forever.

  7. Natural Says:
    1242156190

    i say get rid of them. i stopped using them a long time ago. i wipe my hands on a towel. i have just 2 towels and i wipe up spills with a sponge.

  8. Natural Says:
    1242156232

    or what about a shamwow

  9. baselle Says:
    1242883720

    Also think about a small whisk broom to use for the dry messes (flour, sugar, herbs, spices, grated cheese, and crumbs)...won't work for baby food, but maybe when the children get older. Big Grin

  10. zetta Says:
    1244501937

    There's a brand I've always used called HandyWipes. Sometimes you can find them at Lowes. I think they do a better job on messes like baby food than t-shirt rags do. I even prefer them to paper towels. Wet one first, and wring it out, then use it to wipe up messes, sticky hands, kitchen counter tops, etc.

  11. Ed D'Onofrio Says:
    1249327670

    Why do away with paper Towels when you can use a new unique dispensing system to generate a revenue stream and offset, if not eleminate, the cost. The paper used is green seal certified and economical in it's own right. The dispensing system is offered by Merfin Systems with a window for advetising messages, that could be sold as ad space to servera different cmpanies that want alot of impressions with everyday people, like Verizon, Coca Cola, Sprint, Fed-x, etc.

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