Keep a rag on your paper towel rack and quit buying paper towels altogether! Use newspaper for washing windows. Use cheap paper napkins for food as needed. You'll be surprised at how often you'll grab that rag to wipe up a spill and you are saving lots of money. Have a bunch on hand and just wash up a load every once in a while.
By Laura from Mason, OH
We've even done away with the paper napkins and use cloth for everything including school lunches. My daughter's friends think it's cool that she is "so fancy" and my husband's co-workers think it's cool he's "green", some have even started following suit. (03/10/2009)
By susandreitmeyer@verizon.net
We've started doing the same thing. I would advise, however, to make some cloth napkins and keep them set aside for guests. I was so embarrassed to hand my guest a kitchen towel last week! I went to WalMart and bought some $1 fabric and made a few napkins. (03/10/2009)
I purchased some inexpensive wash clothes to use as napkins. I have nice cloth napkins for company. (03/11/2009)
By Danialle
Thanks, you're right! I just bought my last paper towels. I have some vintage cloth napkins that I treasure, found at a thrift shop. (03/12/2009)
The rags are a great idea. I had an old sheet that I cut into small rags (about 12 x 15 inches). I folded them and put them in a little basket on the counter near the paper towels. I told DH that every time he would get a paper towel to grab a rag. I do the same. I wash them when I do the towels. We also have used cloth napkins for several years. We use paper towels on really yucky messes but have reduced our paper towel use by probably 95%. Good for the budget and good for the environment. (03/12/2009)
By HJ
When my dishcloths and tea towels get too old and grubby for 'show' I start using them as cleaning rags. They're much sturdier than paper towels and work pretty well as stain-scrubbers. Keep them clean and hang them up after use to keep smells away. For really dirty or greasy cleaning I use those semi-disposable cloths you buy in packs in the grocery store; I try to reuse them but if they're too yucky I just toss them out. (03/17/2009)
It's a great idea. I haven't used paper towels for years. When your baby has grown out of muslins or swaddle cloths, they make great wipe-up cloths too. (03/04/2010)
By Lucy
Ma was raised on a farm during the depression and so we learned long ago to use newspapers and rags. When someone pulls a long roll of paper towels to wipe up a drop I cringe. (03/04/2010)
By Helen Hord
I've use rags for cleaning for many years. My favorites are my husbands old worn white work socks cut so they lay out flat (down through the back and heel side). I like to leave some in tack and turn them wrong side out and put them on like a glove. They are great that way for cleaning my stairway spindles. After cleaning the house, I usually rinse the rags a little then put them in with a load of jeans. (03/04/2010)
By Joan
I have been using rags for years and years. I refuse to buy paper towels or napkins. Instead, I use rags for clean-up and cloth napkins for meals including picnics. It's easy, cheap and more " efficient, plus they don"t add to the land-fill. I just save them until I have a decent washer load and do them all at once. Then I'm ready to go for a couple of months.
In the "old days" , over forty years ago, everyone used worn out cloth diapers for dusting and cleaning up. They were soft, lint free,absorbent and re, re, re-usable. Nothing ticks me off more than seeing a cart load of paper anything that is to be used once and thrown away. (03/05/2010)
I use napkins and old burp clothes as rags. I still use paper towels but I am phasing them out. I also use old phonebook pages for mirrors and windows. (03/06/2010)
By KayJayday
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