Totally random question: Paper towels or no paper towels?
I was going to post this over on MoneySavingMom, but decided to post it here instead - just to mix things up a bit!
Inspired by this post left for Frugal Friday, I thought I'd throw this out for discussion: Do you use paper towels or not?
I'll go first...
We used to always have them on hand until one time we ran out and forgot to buy them the next week. I realized we didn't even miss having them around and so I stopped buying them and we started using cloth towels again. Since then, I bought a three-roll pack to have on hand after Kaitlynn was born since I thought they might come in handy. We slowly went through those and recently finished up the last roll. I've not bought any since.
What about you? Paper towels or no paper towels? Is the convenience of using them worth the cost to you or do you find it's a corner you can easily cut?
By the way, whether or not you use paper towels, I think you'll find Meredith's post interesting!
Graphic from Stacks and Stacks
posted by Crystal Paine at 11:09 AM
53 Comments:
I use them. I feel like there are probably other minor things I should or could cut before that.
Chrissy
We usually only buy them when we have a family get together planned. And then we only get the cheapest we can find, from the Dollar General in a pinch, or this week for Thanksgiving we got the 19 cent rolls from Walgreens. It's pretty wasteful otherwise and we stick to cloth kitchen towels. Since our laundry closet is in our kitchen we just toss the towels in the washer as they get dirty and turn it on when we've got a nice load going.
April
I use paper towels, but sparingly for things like soaking up grease while cooking/draining fried things, and shining my mirrors and windows. Otherwise I go through alot of cloth towels and rags for everyday spills and cleaning. It takes us quite awhile to go through one roll of paper towels. I'd much prefer to wash one load of rags every week than to go through a couple rolls of paper towels. With a toddler and a baby in our house there is always something to wipe up! :) We often use cloth napkins with our meals, too.
I use paper towels only for greasy things. Our family of 7 goes through about 3 or 4 rolls a year. I also usually keep a roll in the van, since I don't trust myself to bring the reusable cloths in regularly to wash them. Ziplock bags are my big nonreusable downfall.
I used to keep paper towels on hand at all times but we haven't bought any for close to a year. I found that cloth dish towels do the trick just as well and are easy to throw in the wash. I do keep paper napkins on hand and use those for greasy messes.
Kristy
I love to be frugal when and where I can, and I like the idea of saving trees just like the rest of you, but for me... paper towels are well worth it! Perhaps some day I will switch to a more economical/ earth friendly way, but for now... they are my best friend! Here's why...
I have way to many towels/burp clothes/wash clothes around already! We use DS's receiveing blankets as burp clothes now that he is bigger (and have been using them instead of tissues since his fountain of a nose began to flow a few weeks ago ~ they are so much softer than tissues too).
I do like the smaller paper towels... the ones that give you the option of what size you want/need. I will use a little one for most things... drips on the floor or counter etc. I just love them!
I do like the idea of buying them the most frugal way possible though!
Funny you should mention it, but I have recently eliminated my use of paper towels. I have found them more of a convenience then a necessity. Plus I am striving to be a better steward of our environment by not purchasing paper towels or napkins any more. There is definitely room to go in both directions, but I have felt burdened lately to play my part. I have found it to save me just a little...but every little bit adds up.
Nope, no paper towels here. The only disposable thing we use is toilet paper and if the thought of not using that didn't totally gross out my husband, I wouldn't use that either :-D We use cloth diapers, so what's the difference?
We use paper towels. I usually buy the more expensive brand - I find that I use them more sparingly than the cheap ones (which really aren't as absorbent). I've tried to cut them out, but can't seem to.
We do use cloth napkins at the table and I keep a dish towel in the kitchen for spills and hands.
We only use them when we are camping. I have a ton of kitchen towels, and we've just gotten used to using them. It's one less thing for me to buy at the store, which is always nice.
I only use paper towels for jobs like washing around the toilet. That really cuts down on how many you use. 1 roll lasts a long time. I also have instead of even using paper towels for that job, cut up old clothes, sheets etc and used those instead and just throw them away when I am done.
i am a little weird about contaminating my other laundry with stuff like that though, it is one of the main reasons I do not use cloth diapers.
I have not had to buy any paper towels in a very long time at all as I was given a very large pkg in July and still have alot.
We found a case of them on the side of the Highway once. Nothing wrong with the 12 rolls it took us about 18 months to go through them and those months included hurricane katrina and we used them alot then.
Its an expense I don't see spending on we have never really used them. We seem to prefer cloth napkins, hand towels, etc.
Erika
at Pioneer Homemaker
I couldn't imagine giving up my paper towels. However, in our house there are definite guidelines for what constitutes a legitimate use for them. Like Meredith, I keep clean towels available to use for general cleanig and minor spills. I tried once to stop doing the paper towel, but it just doesn't work for us.
While I do buy paper towels, most of our clean ups are done with these neat machine washable towels a friend recommended from Aldi. They are called Wonder Cloths and come in 2 20" x 23.5" sheets that we cut down into 12 washcloth sized cloths for less than $2.
I do buy paper towels, but our family of five only use about 3 rolls a year. I use them for greasy things and occasionally for a really really bad mess that I don't want to hassle rinsing out cloths for. Overall we just use a lot of cloths. I throw them in a bucket to soak, much like I did with cloth diapers, then wash them with the towels.
I am not addicted to paper towels, but there are a few ways I use them (laying over bacon in the microwave, patting on hamburger in the skillet to absorb grease, etc.) in which cloth dish towels just aren't the same.
I don't use paper towels to clean up spills... I just go through a zillion dishcloths that I throw in the washer each night. However, I use paper towels to clean the toilet. It grosses me out to think of cleaning a toilet with a cloth. uck.
We have a large family so it is cheaper for me to use marked down paper towels right now instead of piling on more laundry. I already do abotu 2-3 loads every day so this would not save me money because I could be using that time to research more sales, clip coupons or sell things and make more than the few cents I would save on not buying them.
For me, it's not an issue of cost, it's one of space. When we moved here, I just stopped keeping them around because we have a doll's kitchen. When I really need one, like for greasing my Dutch ovens, I just use a paper napkin.
For everything else I use kitchen towels and dish cloths, and change them often to avoid cross-contamination.
I'll admit to keeping them on hand, because Hubby finds them indipsensible.
But the real reason I'm speaking up is because I have the exact paper towel holder in your image, and I love it. It was a thrift store find, and just what I wanted!
We don't buy them anymore but still have several rolls around. Right now we use the paper towels to clean up the occasional "cat splat", but that's about it, and the paper napkins from takeout would do the job as well :)
I haven't used them in ages. I have gotten used to cloth rags and I really think they do a better job.
My rags are arranged in descending order--pretty dishclothes to look at, then when someone wipes their hands on them they become drying towels for by the sink, then when they get stained for cleaning the table and counter, and when they're downright ugly, I use them on the floors. :D
We have them on hand but we don't use them all that often. Cloth just cleans up better and since we have to do laundry anyway...
I like to keep paper towels on hand, but I use them very sparingly. Like, for instance, cleaning up vomit. We've had WAY too much of that in the past month, and I'm very thankful to have had paper towels to wipe and toss!
We use paper towels but my husband and two of my three daughters all are allergic to dust mites, pollen, dander, mold, etc and my little one is also asthmatic so paper towels can remove these allergens out of my home much easier than cloth towels and are recommended by our doctor. If we have a spill we use kitchen towels, bibs, burp cloths and napkins.
For the most part I use cloth rags instead of paper towels. I truly like cleaning with rags a whole lot more. I think they work better. I do generally have paper towels on hand for the purposes of: Eating on trips(this will be our plate when eating a meal), Draining something greasy like bacon (We don't eat this stuff very often so it doesn't use them up very fast.), and cleaning up a mess with broken glass in it. Other then those things we stick to rags so one roll lasts quite a long while.
Wow! I never thought anyone besides my household discussed the issue of using paper towels or not.
We don't use them. We keep an abundance of washcloths on hand and I was them in our daily loads of laundry. When we do have them on hand it's usually because there's a special occasion.
Recently though I've thought I need to get some good, cloth napkins to have on hand for when company come so they don't have to use our well-used, everyday washcloths.
We always have them on hand, but I rarely use them. I use cloth towels for dishes and rags for clean-ups, and on the few occasions when I do use paper towels, I usually tear off a small piece rather than using the whole sheet.
My dad, who's our roommate, uses paper towels -- and often! -- so they're always in our place.
But as for my husband, daughter, and I? No we don't use them. I used to use them for everything, like my dad -- spills, grease, greasing pans, etc. But I slowly stopped using them as I found other ways (ex: for greasing a pan, you can take a sandwich bag, put your hand in it, then get the grease and spread it on your pan ... the sandwich bag can then be kept in with the shortening for use next time) ... and I just stopped buying paper towels altogether a few years ago. Don't miss 'em at all. To me, they're no more convenient than a cloth rag.
No, I don't use paper towels and haven't bought them for years.
We just use wash-cloths to clean up spills and the dish-cloth to clean up any messes in the kitchen.
I have a question. For those of you who don't use paper towels at all, what do you use for your bathroom cleaning? I use them on the toilet, floor, and mirror. I also use them on windows. What are the alternatives?
Addy
I have been married for 26 years and haven't ever bought paper towels to use in our home. That being said my husband does bring home the roll ends from work that were headed for the garbage (with permission). He uses them for wiping the oily stuff when he is lubricating bike parts or changing the engine oil in the car. That is about it.
For cleaning the bathroom, we use rags. I use a wet one for cleaning the mirror and then it gets used to clean the sink, tub and the outside of the toilet, drying off with another rag. We have a "bunny tail" brush for cleaning the toilet bowl.
Ann
We use them very sparingly. Just for things like soaking up cooking grease while draining meat and other things. We use cleaning rags most of the time and cloth napkins.
dccdmom: Actually, you can wash and reuse ziploc bags. The cheap ones will last a few uses, and if you splurge and buy the more expensive name-brand, it will last you a VERY long time.
Addy: I have a special set of washcloths -- I even marked the tag with a "C"--that I use for germy jobs like the toilet. I keep them in a little bucket, and at the end of the day or after a few days of collecting them I run them on HOT with bleach in my washer. My washing machine has water-level control, so there's not wasting water. I bleach out the container too, although I've also just lined it with used plastic grocery bags (when I've forgotten to bring my cloth ones) and thrown the grocery bags away afterward.
I have far too much laundry to add extra hand towels to, so we use paper towels. I never go for cheap because I feel it's important to avoid chemicals, and the enviroment is also a concern of mine.
Mrs. T,
I also wash my ziploc bags and hang them on the clothesline on our patio. I get teased for this, but I'm saving tons of money! I can get the most expensive plastic bags at Walgreens on sale for less than the cheapy dollar store ones and they will last a long time! We use them constantly too.
Addy:
I have one sponge that's specifically for toliet cleaning. When I'm done cleaning the toliet I will rinse out that sponge well and let it air dry in a little bin of cleaning stuff under the sink. My hubby recently showed me the fine art of cleaning a toliet with paper towels and I must admit it's very nice to do it that way, though more expensive and wasteful! I have to agree with my husband that some things are worth paying for. I would rather have paper towels on hand to clean up vomit or diarrhea messes any day than to use cloth! But we use cloth most of the time! And any paper towels we buy are bought at rock-bottom prices.
I, too, am a big Siploc bag reuser. Unless it's had raw meat or something like that in it, I always wash and reuse.
I store my bags in the freezer when they are not in use. Maybe that seems weird, but it's handy for me and I guess I feel like it keeps any germs that didn't get washed out from fermenting or something! :)
Nope! The waste created outweighs the benefits. And besides, one can use rags (or buy cloth) and hem it to make cleaning wipes. It seems silly to spend a few dollars on a pack of paper towels that can only be used once instead of buying some cloth (for the same price) for multiple-use towels.
Wow! It is so great to hear many people have been able to make the switch to cloth! For those of you who find that it won't work for you, can you imagine if everyone would buy paper towels made from recycled materials rather than the main stream stuff? If everyone here did that, it would make a big impact!
I use them daily and to make baby wipes.
First, I have to laugh because I have that exact same paper towel holder in my kitchen.
But, with that said, I'm moving towards eliminating many disposable things from our home. I nixed the swifer and bought a neat micro fiber mop from Target and make my own floor solution. It actually works much better! I also bought a micro-fiber dusting cloth and have moved to dry dusting and polishing with lemon oil every couple of weeks instead of pledge and paper towels. I'm working towards eliminating paper towels all together. We have an over abundance of bath towels, so I'm going to cut up the older and worn ones. Not so sure about the ziplock bags. I only use those for freezing meat anyway, so I wouldn't have the stomach to reuse those. I try to use tupperware as much as possible. I'm not sure how much money all of this will save, but I've started to feel pretty bad (ugh, convicted) about how much stuff I throw away.
Have you noticed how many one use cleaning products there are out there! I wonder how many people use all of those! Paper towels are nothing compare to a lot of the things on the market now.
The only reason I use paper towels generally now is for making my diaper wipes.. diaper wipes are expensive and it's cheaper and easier to make my own. one pack of 8 rolls of paper towel will give me 16 containers of wipes with 80 wipes per container! I use an ice cream container about the size of the roll. I put in about 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon liquid baby soap(two things I always have in the house) and about 1 cup warm water. Mix that around and then put half the paper towel roll(which i cut in half with a serated knife and pull out the center cardboard) in the solution put the lid on turn upside down till the towels have soaked up the liquid. They are quick and easy to use when you start pulling from the middle. Anyway.. a good word for the frugal use of papertowels.
Amy
Yes, we use them! I am particular about paper products and buy the more expensive brands because I feel they hold up better. Cheap ones just fall apart and don't absorb well--but there's always the off chance that a cheap brand will be just as good as a more expensive kind.
We find them indespensible for car trips--they can be anything in the car--wipes, napkins, etc (not to mention good window cleaners).
I do use dishcloths, though, for wiping down counters and we have our old cloth diaper stash for cleaning the bathroom and other chores.
Sometimes (IMO) only a paper towel will do:)!
Mrs SM
I keep them around for occasional use, but one roll lasts me for months.
We have both paper towels and napkins, but very rarely use them as we have cleaning rags and from reading some frugal things have started to use our cloth napkins. My cloth napkins are pretty, but I couldn't justify them just sitting there not being used to keep them pretty.
My mil made dc bibs out of tea towels, so they wipe their mouths and hands on these. I love these bibs. I use to buy the plastic ones and they'd eventually crack and you were always having to wipe them down. Now I just toss them in the laundry and I've never had one wear out yet either.
Edwena
Like most I use them for soaking grease. No one mentioned this, maybe I am just clumsy, but I tend to drop an egg or two once in a while and I can't get myself to clean up with a cloth. I do use cloths to clean the bathroom but I wash them seperately even if it is not a full load, just because I cannot wash them with other laundry. I also do another load with the kitchen towels.
The church gave us a "pounding" 2 years ago when hubby became pastor. As you would imagine, we got lots of paper towels - good paper towels, not the cheap stuff. But because I rarely use them, we are nowhere near the end of the supply. I clean with worn out bath towels that I have cut down and hemmed.
I have a stack of white washclothes I keep in the kitchen for cleaning faces and hands of little ones.
I keep a roll of paper towels in the kitchen just in case someone needs one - but that is rare. Mostly for warming baked goods in the microwave.
Great question!
We use quite a few paper towels around here. Kitchen is the most often used place for paper towels. We also use many cloth towels in the bathrooms and for drying dishes.
Just one thought I had about paper towels: I tend to prefer paper towels more during the cold/flu season as I think it helps to cut down on spreading sickness. Otherwise, I would recommend changing all your cloth towels at least daily and probably more often if little people are wiping snotty noses on them. :)
I think we probably use too many but not nearly as many as toilet paper rolls! I would bet a single roll doesn't last longer than 2-3 days around here if it is in the main floor bathroom. I would be interested in tips for conserving on TP. :)
We use them as a last resort. I can make a roll of paper towel last two months. I only use them for toilet cleaning. I use a cloth towel for the rest of the cleaning. Tea towels (those thin ones) are used for window washings. However my dh bought me a squeegie so no more towels used on our windows.
Holly
We do not use them, but sometimes I do keep one roll hidden away for "emergencies". We do use paper napkins (the cheapest ones). They are much cheaper. We're trying to switch to cloth napkins though. I notice guests feel pampered by them, and once we have enough, we'll make the complete switch. This is much more economical even having to add the extra laundry every couple days.
I like how you keep the bin under the sink. I worry about leaving my sopping rags too long, and I end up washing a small load sooner than I would if I didn't worry about them moulding. I'll try to keep them in a way they can air better. Then I won't feel I need to wash them right away. Hanging over the side of a basket sounds good.
Nope... we use newspapers for washing windows/mirrors and old rags for cleaning. Kitchen spills are handled with kitchen towels, and I made a ton of cloth napkins. We also cover plates w/ cloth napkins instead of using paper plates for things like toast, sandwiches... those little things that aren't worth washing the plate over. I find it's being a good steward of both our finances and environment. As for the above commenter about using them for diaper wipes, have you ever considered making your own washable flannel ones?
I bought good wrinkle free cloth napkins after Christmas at leat 20 yrs. ago. I bought somewhere around 30 of them. I am still using them. They don't wear out.
I use paper towels often. I do it mostly because of food sanitation and germ concerns. I've learned too much about sanitation to not use them. I do use towels for drying hands and dishes but I change them often. Towels can just get so filled with germs and bacteria that I would rather use paper towels.
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