Can you live without paper towels?

[Quail_Antwerp]

I just bought the first two rolls of paper towels that have come into this house this year last week and it was to put new peeps on

We rarely have paper products of any kind in our house. I use dish rags to wipe up spills, cloth diapers for house cleaning (like wiping down windows, furniture, the pc) and we dry our hands on the kitchen or bathroom handtowels.

 

[Dixiedoodle]

My last roll has been on the holder for three weeks and there are still a few on the roll.. I have started handing dh a cheap hand towel instead of p-towels. Two yrs. ago I purchased three dozen for two dollars at an estate sale (all but two still had the tags on them). I do love the pt under fried foods.. but have learned that if I place a cooling (type) rack under my fries, fish I don't really need the pt.. Dixie

 

[shareneh]

My last roll has been on the holder for three weeks and there are still a few on the roll.. I have started handing dh a cheap hand towel instead of p-towels. Two yrs. ago I purchased three dozen for two dollars at an estate sale (all but two still had the tags on them). I do love the pt under fried foods.. but have learned that if I place a cooling (type) rack under my fries, fish I don't really need the pt.. Dixie

Great idea about the rack, I think I will try that.

 

[Wildsky]

I love my paper towels, for cleaning up animal "accidents' (we have a puppy) and cat throw up.

 

[Cassandra]

That has actually happened once since I quit buying paper towels, just the other day. Hadn't thought about it because it happens so rarely.


Dog poop from a well house-broken female that passive-aggressively challenges my alpha status from time to time. grrrr Not only do I bark louder than her, I bite harder, too!!

Anyway, I picked it up with toilet paper. I don't think TP would work as well for something like cat hairballs (gag) or vomit. But, having little dogs who are prone to getting low blood sugar, I will have dog vomit every once in a while. Thankfully, this only happens when they haven't eaten--and it's their own fault! I leave food out all the time! And it's just clear yellow gunk. It cleans up best with a wet towel, then I have a carpet spot cleaner to run over it.

Cassandra

 

[Wildsky]

My puppy is still young, not yet 5 months old, so she does stil have accidents - mostly on puppy pads (worse than paper towels!)
All in all its getting better.

My biggest issue was getting over using those wet clorox type wipes. I still have a container of those.... I now use a spray bottle, mixed water and bleach to spray and wipe down my counter tops (and yeah, I use paper)
I need to get cracking on making kitchen cloths.

I did crochet a pad for my swiffer - so I don't have to buy those pads every five minutes. I need to adjust the size I made - but its pretty easy to spray the floor - then wipe with the swiffer (with cotton crochet cloth)

I'm getting there.......................

 

[Cassandra]

ohhhhh thos disinfectant wipes callllll to me every time I pass them in the store. I have to give myself a mental thrashing to keep from taking any home. They are so AWESOME (waste of money.)

That's pretty brilliant about the swiffer pad thing. I wonder if I still have my swiffer mop. I quit using it because of buying the pads... can't remember if I kept the mop...

A while back, I bought this bag of yarn at the thrift store. I didn't get to FEEL the yarn before I bought it, though (cause it was in a bag). So I didn't realize was I was getting... hey it was only a dollar. Anyway, it wasn't actual yarn like you'd use to make a sweater, it was yarn that you would use to make carpet! It feels like it's got iron shavings in it it's so rough and heavy!

I bet that stuff would make awesome swiffer pads for scrubbing. But I don't know how absorbent it would be. I have been planning to make some scouring pads out of it.


Cassandra

 

[cknmom]

I used to use lots of them. Every few years I get tired of wasting paper and money so I cut down. DH used to use several to dry his hands, but I did also sometimes as 1 doesn't always dry them sufficiently. Now he dries his hands on the kitchen towel. We use them for meals to wipe our mouths and keep food from falling on our clothes, but we use them over and over. When they get dirty, we throw them out. When I use one for something small or to wipe something up, I will leave it on the counter to be used next time I spill something. We went through aroll about once aweek, sometimes more, sometimes less.

A couple of weeks ago I opened the last one we had and didn't want to buy any. So I got out our cloth napkins(I prefer them anyway), so now for meals it's cloth, so we don't hardly use the paper towels at all.

When I fry things I put down newspaper and a paper bag on top of that, put a rack on top of that. It works great. With bacon, a lot of times I am only doing a couple of slices at a time so I use a half sheet of paper towel folded in half, then I use it to wipe out the pan.

I keep paper shop towels around but usually use rags for cleaning. Newspaper is THE best for windows, your hands get black, but it washes off.

Monica

 

[Henrietta23]

We use about 4 rolls a year. We have a pile of cloth diapers we use for cleaning up messes. I use them for draining greasy foods on mostly or covering things in the microwave.

 

[cknmom]

I use waxed paper squares that I buy at sams club to cover food when nuking. They last forever and I use them for so many things. I know, it's just as bad as paper towels, but I reuse them many times also before throwing away.

Reading all these posts make me wish I still had all my old diapers. After the kids were potty trained, I did use them for everything! I think I finally reluctantly gave them to a friend that couldn't afford to buy any or buy disposables. I will have to go get some. I also want to get some flour sacks, I have been eyeing some.

Monica