We use up 8 rolls of paper towels in one week - best way to use less but keep things sanitary?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, I am just agog at the idea of using 8 rolls of paper towels a week. I am just trying to imagine how it would be possible to do this? I don't know if I could even do this if I tried? I am not even trying to be snarky; I guess maybe if I doubled and tripled and quadrupled the wads I grab each time, maybe I could come close? I don't know!

But, that's neither here nor there. Add me to the list of those who have gone paper towel-less for two reasons: 1) $$ and 2) environment. We use dish towels and hand towels and sponges and wipes, and wash everything in hot water and bleach. We also microwave our sponges every few days in the micro. That pretty much keeps all germs at bay.

I basically try not to buy anything that will end up in the garbage (paper products, etc.) I read somewhere that was like throwing $$ away; if you buy something that will end up in the garbage, why not just skip a step and throw your own $$ directly into the garbage? So, the only paper product- type thing I buy is (of course) toilet paper. All else, we use cloth. We do bring home paper napkins (excess) from places like restaurants and have those on hand in case there are particular meals where DD might need paper napkins, but otherwise, she has a cloth at her side which is designated just for her as a wipe for when she eats. Then, I wash this in hot water. I have about 14 of these so obviously we have enough to keep in rotation and wash regularly.

I just re-read this, and it sounds really crunchy. However I am a conservative Republican. So for everyone out there who thinks Republicans are just "mean," well, here's one at least who cares about the environment and does all of the above in order to try to always be a better steward of the Earth!

[Anonymous]

paying 15 every 2 weeks for paper towels is better than a $500 deductible for medical bills.

[Anonymous]

This is amazingly wasteful to me. My wife is on immuno-suppression as a transplant patient. She catches colds from people that walk by her and the kids bring home colds from daycare and she catches everything. And yet, we use wash clothes and sponges regularly. We have 3 wash cloths for different purposes that just get rinsed and cleaned in the sink on a per-use basis. We have two sponges, one for dishes and one for counters and such. The cloths and sponges get rinsed every day. Cloths are swapped out weekly, sponges are run through the dishwasher weekly. And even my immuno-suppressed wife isn't catching anything unless she encounters someone with a cold. Even I think you're overly paranoid and pretty wasteful there. As for our wash clothes, we purchased two big 12 packs so we have a lot. The used ones, after drying, sit in a pile on the washing machine until the next load of towels which is at least every other week, so we don't do any more laundry just for the wash cloths.

[Anonymous]

Yikes! I use about 4 rolls of paper towels a YEAR--I reserve them for really yucky things like dog accidents.

We use dish sponges to wash dishes and I use microfiber, super absorbent dish cloths I bought at Trader Joes for almost everything else, plus I have a whole stack of kitchen towels for wiping my hands and random cleanups. I just throw them in the laundry.

The thought of using them to dry my hands after washing just boggles my mind. Do you do this in the bathroom as well?

[Anonymous]

Here. Trader Joe's Super Amazing Dishcloths. They really are super. And amazing.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/trader-joes-sup-30252

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you mean you dry your hands with paper towels? That's crazy! Just use a hand towel and wash them regularly (once or twice/week).

We do the same thing - drying hands with paper towels. I just think it's more sanitary. Yeah, that equals quite a few rolls a week but I'm fine with that.

I don't understand - presumably you are washing your hands, then drying them on hand towels, so why are you worrying about bacteria? Your hands should be clean already. And the towels should be fairly clean. Paper towels are a relatively new invention - before the 70s or 80s, people used hand towels and dish rags and there was no crazy bacterial epidemic going on then!! You guys are over the top.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:paying 15 every 2 weeks for paper towels is better than a $500 deductible for medical bills.

(a) Who has a $500 deductible?

(b) You all are paranoid, you're not going to get sick from using hand towels!! WTF???

[Anonymous]

For those of you who overuse paper towels and are super concerned about sanitary conditions in your kitchen - do you also not ever eat out at restaurants or go over to someone else's house for dinner?

[Anonymous]

Great, now we need a bigger SUV for the twice-weekly trip to Costco for more paper towels and trash bags. Say what you will but there has been no outbreak of cholera in our household with this arrangement.