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.

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.

Why? What exactly do you think you are going to catch from drying your hands on a towel? You need help...that isn't normal.

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't know why, but I processed this title as having to do with toilet paper and not paper towels. Reading the first few responses, I was thinking - EWWW, who are these people?!? Lol.

+1 - ME TOO! A sponge instead of toilet paper? Are you kidding me???? I must have been remembering the infamous "red cloth" thread.

Me three! I thought they were nasty, then I thought they were insane and then I just thought this thread was full of trolls. I can't believe it took me so long to realize the thread was about paper towels, not toilet paper! Now I'm laughing my butt off at myself.

My goodness, how considerably wasteful. Definitely there are other options, as are already being recommended.

Wow. Just wow.

OP, this paranoia of mostly harmless bacteria is less healthy than exposure to the bacteria itself. You are likely creating an environment wherein your children will be sensitized to atopic disease (i.e., allergies and asthma). There is a strong scientific link between hyper-cleanliness and allergies.

Not only that, but you are damaging the environment and wasting a lot of money.

Just use a sponge and throw it in the dishwasher on the "sanitary" cycle if it becomes a little dirty. Most bacteria can't reproduce on dry, sunny surfaces (e.g., your kitchen counters).

We use about 1 roll of the select-a-size per month. Dishtowels and sponges for most kitchen tasks. My family hasn't gotten sick from eating at home EVER. Neither DH nor I has gotten gastroenteritis since we've lived in our home, period (though, full disclosure, DD had rotovirus this past year, which she contracted from a playdate and which isn't linked to food hygiene).

Seriously, you are going to be JUST FINE and probably healthier if you step down your paranoia! Relax!

We go through a roll every 2-3 weeks. We throw away one to two small kitchen bags of trash a week, one recycling bin and do a whole lot of composting. I still don't think I can help you offset your carbon footprint.

Really people..a bit of bacteria is okay. We use sponges and dish cloths. Dish cloths go in the washing machine. Sponges when filthy get thrown out. Yes, i wash my counter tops with sponges and cloths that have been used and reused - am I moving around bacteria - probably that that's okay. We aren't getting sick from it. We go through a roll of paper towel about every two weeks. I agree that this obsession with over sanitizing is worse for your health than the bacteria you are trying to kill.

I confess that I am off of using sponges for cleaning anything that doesn't get heated during/before use. I.e. a serving dish that I am washing by hand. One reason is we are not very diligent about replacing old sponges and the second is that my husband is pretty paranoid. That said, we use about 1 giant paper towel roll every 1-2 weeks. I am also conflicted about worrying about this at all because I do believe our overly sanitized environment is generally bad for our health. Agh modern problems (lol

Boiling does kill any bacteria active at the time, including E. coli and salmonella. But a number of survivalist species of bacteria are able to form inactive seedlike spores. These dormant spores are commonly found in farmland soils, in dust, on animals and field-grown vegetables and grains. And the spores can survive boiling temperatures.


www.nytimes.com/2011/08/24/dining/bending-the-rules-on-bacteria-and-food-safety.html?pagewanted=all&_moc.semityn.www

The dishwasher is not the place to wash sponges. It doesn't get them clean. The dishwasher is for items with a hard, nonporous surface.

Use a washing machine or hand wash sponged in the sink and then sanitize in boiling water or in the microwave.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Before we had a dishwasher, I would wipe down our cutting board after chopping raw meat and poultry with a sponge before hand washing it. Then someone told me that rinsing that sponge under soap and water and re-using it was spreading germs around the kitchen. Now I am paranoid about my sponge use and switched to paper towels even though we got a dishwasher three years ago. That same weird paranoia was behind paper towels in the bathroom and spreading germs around from hand to hand.

Help me lol

I hate to handle raw meat too. After cutting, I always wipe the whole area with alcohol (1/2 sheet of paper towel), boil a pot of water to rinse the sink and put the sponges to into the pot, and wash my hands and wipe dry with dish towel. So a roll of paper towels last a long time in the kitchen.

I use sponges. Have one for dishes, one for countertops. I do run them through the dishwasher about once a week. I keep them very dry in a sponge holder above the sink and switch them out prob every 1-2 months. We are a very healthy family and no allergies.

When I handle raw meat I do use paper towels and spray cleaner on the counter and sink.

Anonymous wrote:Don't know why, but I processed this title as having to do with toilet paper and not paper towels. Reading the first few responses, I was thinking - EWWW, who are these people?!? Lol.

+1 - ME TOO! A sponge instead of toilet paper? Are you kidding me???? I must have been remembering the infamous "red cloth" thread.

You must also have a lot of garbage, too. That's more than 1/2 a case of paper towels

This is so incredibly wasteful--I think you need to buy some carbon offset credits. I am only 1/2 kidding.

Seriously, in addition to the fact that you are probably doing your immune system a disfavor by going defcon 5 with cleaning--you don't need to sanitize every surface everytime, unless you are running an underground butcher shop in your kitchen.