Comments on: Bye Bye Paper Towels

By: Alex

Alex — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 17:54:06 +0000

That’s wonderful, Marvia! What a great way to recycle and commemorate. I would love to see photos!

By: Marvia

Marvia — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 18:18:20 +0000

This is great! A couple years ago when I was visiting my mom, I went through her vintage fabric. This fabric was probably purchased by a grandma or great aunt…. they’re old. Anyway, these neatly folded pieces of fabric have been taking up space all my life. I know each pattern well. So, I did just what you’ve suggested, I cut and sewed them into towel napkins that have served as paper towels and everything under the sun. They are fun, colorful and make any table setting alittle unique and funky! It’s little things like this that help impact our environment in a positive way.

By: Weekend Cowgirl

Weekend Cowgirl — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 15:00:40 +0000

This will serve to inspire me! Less paper. I do use tons of vinegar at our farm. In the summer you can even use it to kill weeds.

By: Alex

Alex — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 17:28:34 +0000

Vinegar is like some kind of cure-all miracle formula I think! It does everything…love it!

By: Monica Jensen

Monica Jensen — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 03:32:31 +0000

this discussion just made me think of what My great grandma used to do, she would put a half cup of vinegar in every load ( with cold water) she said that it helped keep your fabric strong and colors deep!

By: Alex

Alex — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 18:49:16 +0000

Thanks, Dee and Rochelle for the comments. Good luck on getting to your zero paper towel goal, Dee! And, Rochelle, thanks for the tip on using vinegar and dryer balls. I prefer to wash in cold water as well, but hadn’t thought about using vinegar to help with disinfecting.

By: Rochelle

Rochelle — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 18:15:07 +0000

Or, if you want to wash in cold water, you can add a cup of vinegar to disinfect! We wash everything in cold, even dirty cloth diapers.

To Dorothy and Zack, I’ve found that reusable dryer balls work great in place of fabric softeners. If you Google “dryer balls”, you’ll see exactly what they are.

By: Dee

Dee — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 18:09:01 +0000

I just posted yesterday about using washcloths as napkins on my table! I still have several rolls of paper towels from a large package of them I bought at the price club a few years ago. WE use them so infrequently, it takes months to go through one roll. I am working towards ZERO one-use paper products in my household. Getting there!

By: Alex

Alex — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 17:53:29 +0000

Thanks for your comments, Dorothy and Zack. Doing away with liquid fabric softeners and dryer sheets has done wonders for our kitchen and bath towels. They don’t just push moisture around anymore…they actually soak it up.

Zack, we just read your blog on using cloth towels. I like how you broke down the benefits into Environmental, Social and Financial. I was happy to learn that we might save as much as $200/year by switching to cloth towels. Thank you!

By: dorothy

dorothy — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 17:00:13 +0000

You are my hero. I do use lots of rags and not so many paper towels. The fabric softener fact is new to me. Thanks mommmer