Paper Towel Alternative - Cloth!

This week I set out to reduce our reliance on paper towels. I was inspired to do this after Vix left a comment regarding my home-made face mask post.  Store shelves are being cleared of paper products, so it makes sense to have an alternative.  All I needed to put my plan in motion, was a short length of PVC pipe (courtesy of TBG), spare cloth (thanks to a torn cotton sheet),  some white thread (which, alas, I am now all out of!), and a sewing machine.

I made each sheet the approximate size of one whole piece of paper towel.  Of course, I used a piece of paper towel for my template.  I just added about a half inch around to allow for seaming.  My sewing machine is old, so I had to fold and iron for the seams.  Then I just stitched them all with my machine (sloppily, as my skills are poor).

Each towel was laid out on a flat surface, with about an inch to an inch and a half spacing.  I then rolled them over the pipe.  Easy!

The roll now sits on the counter top.  I am using it to dry freshly washed produce for the most part.  We had been using paper towels as daily napkins, so these are serving that purpose too. This might not seem like much, but I wash and need to dry a lot of fruits and veggies in the course of a day!  These will also be used to mop up spills.

I do still have my cloth dish towel and the dish drying mats.  Those are used and put away promptly.  The paper towels are something we'll keep around if a germ situation arises.  But for the most part, I have not touched more than maybe one sheet since I started with my cloth rags this week.   This is a good thing as my few retail adventures have shown that there are none left on the shelves for me to buy anyway.

I will re-use a rag throughout the day, so I just hang them on the same clip as the dish mats.  Since I am doing this, the sponge is now exclusively used for dishes. There are microfiber cloths that I use to wipe up/clean the counters and cabinets.  Yes, a lot of different surface cleaning materials!

The sponge and brushes I use for the dishes are cleaned with each load of the dishwasher.  I do also disinfect the sponge on the stove with vinegar and soap if I'm doing a lot of cooking.  The microfiber cloths, dish mats and my new rags go in the laundry.  A lot.  Since there is a load every other day, these never pile up.  Before bed, I do wash the ones I am using by letting them soak in the sink with soap and vinegar.  There is plenty of time for them to dry over night. If a rag gets fully soaked during the day, I wash it with soap then hang it right up.  The goal is not to let them become germ breeding grounds. I am looking forward to warm weather when I can hang this all outside to dry!

So many paper products are marketed to us as a safe and more sanitary solution to keeping our homes clean.  If we were in a truly sick/viral state, then I could see the merit in that.  However, if you keep up with cleaning and frequently wash the cloths you are using, I see no reason to worry about germs.

The idea that we need heavy duty cleaners is another ploy to get us to buy more commercial products.  We rely on dish soap for our dishes, dishwasher soap for our machine, laundry detergent for our clothes.  However, I am still making my own citrus/vinegar/baking soda cleaner and wiping my counters with it multiple times per day.  This costs me less than pennies, and we're not rinsing chemicals down the drain.

I am feeling a little less foolish for sewing and wearing my own face masks as the medical community is now suggesting we wear our own cloth masks out in public.  Buying masks is now impossible (and they should be reserved for professionals whose lives depend on them), and paper products are not easy to find.  There's a reason not to throw out torn bed sheets and used cloth.  Pandemic or not, it's just economical and environmentally responsible.

Now, I'm hoping to be done with sewing projects for a while.  We may be home-bound, but there is still plenty of stuff that needs to get done!