I saw a post about recycling cloth towels by cutting them in to 12 inch squares and using them as cleaning rags. I thought "why not be creative and quilt those squares into new bath towels, beach towels or picnic blankets?" You can cut the quilt pieces to any size you wish and not only would the finished products be unique but also would have an extra life before becoming cleaning rags.
By Deeli from Richland, WA
Wow! This is a great idea! I have tons of rags made from old towels. Your idea would make a perfect beach blanket. Now, why didn't I think of that? Thanks.
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We all know we can recycle bath towels that are worn in spots to become potholders or washcloths. But, another nifty way to recycle them is to make them into braided rugs.
About two months ago I went through my towels. I had some of my own which were old and some I had inherited. I had a lot, some of which were cheap and worn.
When my bath towels start looking worn or shabby I cut them into 4 pieces, hem them, and use them for dish towels. When these have served their purpose, I cut a notch in them and use these for rags.
After I have used my dishtowels for awhile and the the design is fading, I use them to dry my hands on in the kitchen instead of paper towels. And they are also great to use to clean up spills on your carpet instead of using paper towels.
Our hand towels always seem to wear out at either end. Why make the entire towel into a rag? Cut a 12 inch square out of the good center part, do a fine zigzag stitch around edges.
When our bath towels get worn around the edges, usually the center portion is still nice and plush. I cut them in either 4 equal pieces for hand towels, or 6 pieces for wash cloths.
We took several well worn towels out of our RV that had become favorites and "old stand-bys". They are getting a new life; crocheted into a rug, mat, seat cushion, or other useful item.
Instead of tossing the occasional ripped towel, we make them into washcloths. This can be done very easily by sewing a zig zag stitch around the edge.
After I shower, I use my damp towel to dust my bedroom furniture and lamps. By Peggy Williamson
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
If you have old towels that are stained or have holes in them, you can use them to protect your counter tops from spills, as tub mats, or as throw rugs in front of your doors.
By Linda from Union Grove, NC
Editor's Note: Do you have any other uses for old towels? Post them here!
I use old towels to wipe down the bath and shower and taps after use. Also use others to rub dog down after a wet walk. They are useful in the car too to protect ends of long things being transported from scratching the glass at either end of the car.
I use them for insulation for: coasters, hot pads, covers for hot dishes, batting for small quilting projects, for washing/drying cars, using for paint splatters, covers for heating pads.
I have used them as liners when making bibs, the size for toddlers, like a lobster bib. This is absorbent. Also, have gone through mine, picked out aging towels and gone with them to our vet clinic. They use them when pets have had surgery, a nice soft old towel for them to curl up on, be covered with if they are cold, etc.
My smaller but not worn towels have been gathered up and given to new teen moms, a small soft bath towel is perfect for a newborn's body, too big and fluffy ones are hard to fit into little spots needing wiping. I had bought a medium bath towel sized, about a dozen at Sam's Club, used them for my grandbabies until they grew into the larger sized ones. These new moms struggle for many things and a half dozen towels for each mom helped.
Another area, our church 5-6th graders collected still usable hand and bath towels to put into health kits to send off to missions with other supplies. And I have nice neighbors/friends who share gifts at Christmas, etc and those towels always seem to be replaced! In seeing that, my gift to graduates is always a nice huge bath towel to start their college dorm days off with. Sometimes I get their names put on it by a friend. Wal-mart tends to run good prices for the 30 x 54 inch sized bath towel. $4 or less.
I have an old pot scrubber made from an old towel that my sister bought for me at a farmer's market years ago. I am trying to find out how to make them. It is just a common towel with something on it to make the terry towel loops hardened. It is the best pot scrubber I have ever had that is safe to use on non stick pans.
I can see Amazon sells them for $5.99 for two! I want to make my own like the lady at the market did. Since my sister bought it years go and for like 50 cents she does not remember from whom or where to even ask.
The only ones I seem to find are ones that you will need to knit or crochet. I would suggest that you take the old one you have and make your own pattern out of this one. Youj can take it apart to get the exact size that you are looking for. Use a piece of paper or even newspaper to make your pattern.
You can soak your towl in resin to harden it to use in your kitchen. Resin is a good for many things. It would make perfect sense that they would use resin to do this with.
Many of my smaller towels have edges that are frayed and old. What should I do with them? They are still useful, but not pretty.
I'd cut the towels down and hem them for hand towels or washcloths. I prefer using cloth cleaning rags to paper towels.
My second lives for towels include going to the car for sitting on, on hot days and mopping up spills in the car, handing by the door for easy access for drying wet dog paws and belly, or I sew them up the sides (leave top open) and use for ice packs and hot water bottle covers.
The third life is cleaning up dog accidents, and other extra icky messes.
After that if there are any thread left, they go out in the spring for bird nesting materials.
I second everything said here; that's where I get both my rags, washcloths, and kitchen drying towels.
You might also use them, especially if they have an interesting pattern, as pillows by sewing them together and adding stuffing.
Cut them up into squares and make quilts.
Same here, I'll cut and sew worn out towels into smaller pieces for rags, and hand towels or wash cloths too, I'll sew with the sewing machine all around the edges so the frayed ends don't end up shedding in the washer or dryer.
I've never tried this particular thing I'm going to mention, but having looked at some of mine too, when the edge (s) are frayed, I have "thought about" sewing either bias tape or some kind of lace around the edges, which would bring them back to a new life, or make them look newer anyways, since they're really *the towel part inside* is still in great shape, as some only have one of the sides that might be frayed, or even just an edge.
I use old towels for washing windows, our cars, as doggie drying towels to wipe off rain after going outdoors to potty and after their baths, for shop rags when husband has to work with a messy task, and I've used them for wiping off wood stain when I refinish furniture or to put wet/soiled shoes on when coming indoors. I also apply wax on car with old towels. Towels can also be donated to a local animal shelter, dog grooming business, and if you have a crafty talent, you could use towels to make stuffed pet toys with squeakers or a stuffy cloth ball for child or pet.
Buy seam or blanket binding, or better still, make your own from fabric scraps. Trim the frayed edges of your towels and sew on the binding. Inexpensive, colourful and thrifty! I have rescued many towels this way and love the way they look.
All very good suggestions..
I usually have 3 bags/containers of "rags".
I use #1 for cleaning, dusting easy thing so "rag" can be washed and reused.
#2 is for the next step of cleaning; spills that may stain but rags still washable for reuse.
#3 is for dirty things that are just too "much" and need to be thrown away.
I also throw mismatched socks in these bags and so I always have an appropriate rag ready to be used.
I agree with all the other answers and I also use one to cover a cat basket if I had to take her to the vet and it was cold and windy. I just made a hole in the middle of the towel to accommodate the basket handle and it covered the sides beautifully.
When bath towels get frayed around the edges, I cut them into four or six pieces. Then I go through my fabric stash and make bias binding, using matching or coordinating colors.
Recently, my kitchen hand towels were getting worn out, so I cut some bias binding out of blue mattress ticking and sewed it around the edges of four pieces of white towels. I like to keep towels separate in the kitchen--some for dishes and some for hands. Luckily I use red in my kitchen, too, because when I bleached these towels, the blue ticking turned red.
If I cut the towel in 6 pieces, I do the same thing and make washcloths. I've always been a scrapsaver, and this is a good way to use them up.
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We are looking for all the practical uses for old towels that are no longer in good enough shape to use in the bathroom.
Tips for reusing towels that are past their prime. Post your ideas.
I look at our old towels and start to see the telltale strings at the side. I know it's time to throw them out. I certainly can't use them for guests but I can see a perfectly good towel still in the center.
