Who needs paper towels and napkins?

[cornflakesdisease]

I never buy paper towels or napkins. Instead, the wife and I buy those white terry cloths for your car that come 12 for $3.00 at the discount store. You eat, use them, and then throw them in the wash and re-use them a zillon times. Save the paper stuff for fancy doo-dahs and when guests come over. Think about the savings over a year and how many trees you'll save.

$3.00 per year for a dozen white terry clothes which are superior in absorbancy

compared to:

$2.00 package of paper napkins x 12 months (or however many you use).

= $ 24.00 per year

This is even better if you have kids!

[sweeps]

Yes, but how much does the laundry detergent and the energy to heat the water and run the washer and dryer cost?

[Fern]

I try to limit the times i use paper towels to those instances when i don't want to contaminate a sponge, for instance,with the drippings from raw meat, or when the cat threw up a hair ball on the floor. Nice image, huh?

[bjl584]

I bought a six pack of paper towels about a year ago at the dollar store for around $3. I still haven't used all of them yet. I live alone, so it's not really worth me worrying about trying to save a few pennies on paper towels by using cloth.

[pearlieq]

I do try to use cloth for general kitchen clean up and for drying my hands after washing at the sink, but I definitely prefer disposable paper towels for gross or germy jobs.

I do need to get DH and I back in the habit of cloth napkins for meals too, I guess, but then you have to worry about crumbs everywhere!

[MonkeyMama]

We don't really use paper towels. Dish towels are fine. We do laundry all the time with cloth diapers. IT doesn't make a difference - you can squeeze in another dish towel or 2 every day in the same loads we always do.

BUT napkins we just use paper. I actually would not be opposed to cloth napkins in the least. We generally have piles and piles of free napkins for fast food so we use them. Not sure what else we would do with them except send them back. Since we have them might as well use them. I Swear every time we order a pizza we get a year supply of paper plates and napkins delivered with it. I am not talking about stealing - just what is given with our orders. So wasteful, but cheap for us I guess.

[lrjohnson]

Originally Posted by Sweepsplayer

Yes, but how much does the laundry detergent and the energy to heat the water and run the washer and dryer cost?

If you wash with cold and line dry and use low cost detergent moderately, the cost can be negligible. So can paper napkins on supreme sale, but I'm still a cloth gal...just feels a little nicer at dinner.

[DivaJen]

I've never had to run a separate load to wash cloth napkins or cleaning rags, so the extra cost of using cloth when it comes to cleaning them? Zero.

And anything that keeps trash out of the landfills is good, too.

[Hez]

I buy my paper napkins at the dollar store; $1 for 100 napkins. That definitely doesn't break the bank. I'm on my own, so I don't do laudry often enough to justify using cloth napkins...although I guess in the long run, even if I bought a lot of cloth napkins it would end up being cheaper eventually.

[zakity]

We have rag towels that we use to clean up non-gross messes. We have those bar towels/car rags too. I am constantly doing laundry so throwing in an extra towel or a bar towel/car rag thing is nothing.

[PRICEPLUS]

My wife goes through paper towels like nobodys business! Same with napkins!

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by PRICEPLUS

My wife goes through paper towels like nobodys business! Same with napkins!

She must be friends with my wife. I always tell her that before we were married, a roll of paper towels lasted me a month or two. Now, we change the roll a couple of times a week. If she spills something, she grabs a paper towel. If I spill something, I grab a sponge. If she's eating something, she grabs a paper towel/napkin. I grab a cloth napkin.

I definitely would go through very little of these on my own.

[tinapbeana]

i use the select-a-size papertowels and find they do help me cut waste. while i use dish cloths/rags for cleaning, mopping, etc, i use papertowels for food prep and eating. makes it easier to remember which one is the veggie towel and which one is the drippy meat-hand towel!

[cschin4]

I use paper towels to clean the toilet. E-coli is not easily killed in the wash and can be transferred to clothes, dish towels, etc. I use dish rags in the kitchen but I always wash them in a separate load with bleach.

[PrincessPerky]

I don't even use paper plates for company, we have nice plastic thin plates, and I love not having ot keep track of the mounds of garbage paper creates..we do use paper napkins though (for company) people seem to have a fear of real napkins..like they are for special occasions..they don't want to get them dirty!!! silly.

We also use real cups for company...it is easier to tell your oocahantas cup from my christmas one, much easier than a row of identical paper/foam ones!

[sweeps]

I also support reducing the amount of paper used. But my point was that the OP did not factor in the cost of laundering the cloth towels in his or her analysis.

[boefixepa]

No fear the tighwad gazette does the math and it is less expensive to do cloth. I know once I started using the terry cloth kitchen towels for most anything my paper towel usage when to near zero. Only for gross stuff.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I do use paper towels, but very few. I probably buy about two rolls per year. Depending on what they are used for, they may then go into the compost pile. If it came from the earth, it can return to the earth, and at certain times of the year the pile really needs the carbon material anyhow.

Also in the waste-not-want-not napkin department: My husband wears cotton shirts. He is a big guy , so when a shirt becomes too worn for work, I cut it down and get about four napkins out of it. More if I make small ones. It is a very easy sewing project, and one which I used to teach my kids basic sewing skills.

[Gruntina]

I admit I use paper towels to clean the bathroom with. I don’t like the idea of mixing cloth towels with cleaning supplies on them with a load of clothes. Also I really like the idea of once the bathroom is clean, then work am done and no smelly laundry waiting to be finished.

Living on septic tank, it is important for us not to allow much bleach (and other cleaning supplies) down the drain or large foods particle. I do my best to pour grease inside of another can or jar, put some waste in the compost pile and recycle much as I can with the exception of paper towels. One can not have a garbage disposal in the sink if using the septic tank system. This leads for me to use more paper towels.

However, I am open to learning and reading about ways I can improve on how to clean without paper towels with the caution of septic tanks. I am also looking for ways to make cleaning simpler. I have nerve damage in my arms from years of typing at work and strive to maintain a clean home.

[mom-from-missouri]

I use white washclothes. White ones are ONLY used for cleaning in my house. In the morning I put a small amount of soap, water and bleach in my bucket, with the washcloth. During the day, I add more water as needed, and clean up messes as we go along. At the end of the day, I wipe down the "bathroom of the day" with it. Then, I dump the bucket-(usually into a toilet to let the bleach soak it overnight) and hang the cloth up to dry. When dry, it goes into the white hamper. Next day same seniro. I can carry it from room to room. It gets used for the floor messes, wiping off dirty shoes..... Regular table and counter wiping is done with the regular dishrag.