One of our goals in 2017 was to reduce waste at home. Last January we had one roll of paper towels left and we vowed not to buy any more. Amazingly enough, an entire year later and we have not purchased ONE roll of paper towels!
So, how’d we do it, since I know it seems unrealistic to most people. We did it with a $4 pack of wash cloths. The best cleaning rags are cheap wash cloths, ones that aren’t soft and fluffy. Ones that you wouldn’t want to wash your face with because they’re too rough.
Mom tip: throw them in a basket in a low cabinet. No joke this kept him busy for 20 minutes.
Walmart is where I found the most towels for the cheapest price – 18 towels for $4 and since they’re rag towels I wanted the cheapest ones possible. Same towels are here, but a bit more expensive. We use these to clean the kitchen, clean up food messes, clean the house – anything you would use a paper towel for.
We have a hook right near the kitchen sink for a dish towel to dry hands with and we always have clean dish towels available.
Occasionally we do an extra load of laundry in a week for towels and rags, but normally I just throw them all in on hot with our bath towels, sheets, etc. We only do extra loads if it’s a week our house keeper cleaned (she uses them too!), we were sick or doing a lot around the house.
But the thing is, it wasn’t hard at all to make this shift! The first few weeks were an adjustment just because we were used to grabbing for a paper towel, but it shortly became our norm and remains that way. For us, it’s more about the environmental impact than the cost savings, but I’d say we saved a few hundred bucks last year.
So, maybe in 2018 challenge yourself to go paper towel free – or at least try it for a month, you might not even notice a difference!
Just picked up our 18 washcloths…no paper towels. I like this idea. K
Yes!!! I would love to know how it goes for you!
So….we ONLY use paper towels for cleaning car windows and the sliding glass door/bathroom mirror [and occasional cat barf (eeew)]….do you use cloths for glass too? I find it’s always streaky and full of lint. Environment vs linty glass—I suppose the choice is clear but I was just wondering if you found anything good for glass and mirrors?? Thanks.
Hi! I do use the cloth for glass too. I find that if I wash with cleaner then do a wipe down with a dry rag it eliminates the lint. But it could also be the cloth you’re using that is leaving behind lint! Maybe try a different type of cloth? Good luck!