Last week, in my 100 Ways to Save $100 post, I talked about using less and I briefly mentioned how we've eliminated paper towels from our home. Little did I expect that this simple remark would result in a number of emails asking how we have done this.
You want to know how we've eliminated paper towels from our home? Well, here's the answer: I just stopped buying them. Seriously, that was it.
About two years ago or so, I realized that paper towels were one item I could never find that great of a deal on and I most assuredly never seemed to be able to snag them for free. I also realized that these were an item many people lived without for thousands of years, without being the worse for it.
So I talked to my husband and asked him if I could do an experiment: could I just stop buying paper towels and see if we missed them?
You know what? We never really even noticed. When we needed to clean up a spill, we just used a towel. When we needed to wipe something up, we used a rag. And so on. I keep a drawer-full of towels and rags in the kitchen handy for these types of things.
Honestly, the only times I've realized we didn't have paper towels were when someone was at our home and they asked for a paper towel. I'd just tell them we actually don't use paper towels, but the rags or towels are in the bottom drawer in the kitchen.
We've received quite a few reactions of shock to that statement. It seems as if the thought of living without paper towels is a pretty foreign idea to most Americans. Oh well, I guess it wouldn't be the first time we've been classified as weird!
Now, I'm not writing this to make the case that all of you need to quit buying paper towels. However, I share it as an example of how there are many things we've come to think are "necessities" in life which really aren't.
How about trying to live without some of these things and see if it really is that difficult or earth-shattering? You might be surprised to discover you don't even miss these once-considered "necessities".
What about you? What simple things have you eliminated from your life and found you didn't miss them at all? Tell us about it.
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I bought some bundles of the washcloths at Walmart and use them for kitchen towels. I did buy some Bounty the other day to give to my son’s classroom. We haven’t used paper towels in our house in a good long while. Glad to see that others households are without them as well.
Jillbert- Check out Wrap-n-mats. They are a great alternative to those plastic sandwich bags. I love them!
This is a great article. I am trying to retrain myself to using rags, dish cloths, and hand towels and stop using so many paper towels. We always use linen tablecloths and linen napkins…we’ve been doing this for years and it’s so easy. How do you clean the microfiber cloths used on swiffers? Mine seem to attract so much hair that they look gross after a good cleaning. We only have paper plates for emergencies (ie. power/water is out). What do you use to scrub your dishes with?
I have tried to eliminate throw away paper products from our house for ecology and economy. However, it’s my husband who can’t seem to do without his paper towels and his paper plates! I have a dishwasher and a washing machine. I try not to buy paper products and then he comes home with giant amounts from BJ’s! I’ve decided I can’t win with him on this one.
I do buy my paper towels from Stop and Shop and I buy the choose a size ones so we can use less.
You know, I had not really thought about it. I believed it to be a necessity. I’ve only had 1 friend that kept washcloths under her kitchen sink to clean up the kids after a meal. I liked that idea. I have a huge set of them since my recent purchase from Sams. I’ll see how long I can get them to last.
One thing we have gone without is cable/satelite. It has been nice, been using the digital converter box and it just gets one channel- weather. We have put it in our bedroom to be able to check the weather when we are getting ready for the day and such. Really like not having it where the kids are. We are really so much more productive.
Like some of the other people said, I have pets and so paper towels are just more convenient if there’s an accident. But I do buy them at the dollar store or the store brands when they are on sale, and I use them sparingly.
I have to say that I too have pretty much have stopped using them myself. I still buy some when I can find a good deal because my husband has yet to get away from them. But I keep a bin full of rags in my kitchen and have made some little cloth wipes myself for cleaning up faces. I actually prefer the cloth to paper towels now.
I love the freedom of walking down the paper towel aisle, knowing that I don’t have to buy ANY of them! It almost makes me giggle. We too use towels, rags, and cloth napkins. I have been following your blog for over a year now, and my family has been blessed by the things you have taught me! Thank you so much. May the Lord bless you with His nearness.
If anyone is looking for rags head to Ikea. In the kids department they sell a 10 pack of rags for $2. They are wonderful, and I am always able to find a rag!
We gave up TV about 5 years ago and have not missed it at all! My kids now spend more time reading. In their spare time they enjoy playing board games or playing outside when the weather allows for it. We still have a TV and use it occasionally for movies but network television was becoming progressively worse and we are glad to have it out of our lives.
Interesting post! Come to think of it, I think the only time I’ve purchased paper napkins was for a party. We never keep ‘em in the house.
I do use rags quite often for cleaning, but do like paper towels for sanitary cleaning (as a previous poster said, for chicken spills, toilets, etc.). I only recently purchased Kleenex when I found it for free at the drugstore!
Thanks for challenging our thinking, Crystal!
Fabric softener. Someone gave me a bottle and I haven’t touched it yet. We just don’t use it, and its not necessary.
Crystal – you are NOT weird. You are very, very smart, and while the world blows their $$ on wastefulness, you are resourceful and creative. I admire you!!!!!! Thanks again for challenging all of us.
I tried to give up paper towels by replacing them with a basket of old napkins under the pt holder; my husband was really missing them so I put them back on the list to honor his wishes.
I haven’t bought a box of dryer sheets in years and years; the one box I purchased has lasts us forever. I only use them when fluffing my husband’s uniforms so I don’t have to spend an hour ironing them each week; saves me an hour of ironing and electricity to run the iron. I reuse the dryer sheets quite a few times, too.
On the rare occasion we cook bacon, we use the broiler pan in the oven and drain it on a brown paper bag; if we are cooking bacon for potato soup, we leave the drippings in the pan to cook the onion. ;o)
We go through 14 cloth napkins just at breakfast and dinner daily; we need to wash them every two days to keep up with those meals. Using a paper napkin or paper towel at lunch helps us during the busy homeschooling day.
Reusing (used) textbooks more than makes up for the money we spend on some paper napkins at lunch daily. Our home education budget is less than $500 a year for 5 children; this includes our HSLDA membership.
Fun to see how needs and wants vary family to family.
We don’t use paper towels either. I bought enough kitchen rags and towels to last us for a few days worth of messes. I always wash my kitchen rags/towels separately from everything else–I just have a thing with kitchen stuff being mixed with dirty clothes–and throw in a load when I’m down to my last couple of rags. I also bought a stack of white wash rags (10 for $2.50 at Kohls) to use for cleaning purposes. My husband now knows that colored rags are for kitchen/food messes and the white rags are for cleaning other messes. Also, I just use my rags and towels to drain my bacon. It works, and it doesn’t stain that I’ve noticed. Plus, I’m not too picky about the appearance of my dish rags!
Another one here who gave up paper towels (almost). I did it when I realized we were using up a roll every few days. All I did was go to Wal Mart and get 2 18-packs of the cheapo white wash cloths. I think they cost me $5 total. We keep them on our kitchen counter in a big bowl (old plastic salad bowl that is cracked). We use them when we want, then leave them on top of the washing machine so they go in with the next load of laundry. We have even used the washcloths to drain bacon and clean up greasy messes- they just get rinsed out in the sink briefly then to the laundry with everything else. The only thing we use paper towel for anymore is when our cats pukes or leave other messes that I don’t want to put through the laundry.
We have a separate set of rags (green) that are only for cleaning the bathroom. They get rinsed in the sink after use and go in the laundry with everything else.
We don’t buy napkins… use cloth. I don’t buy liquid or sheet fabric softener. I use dryer balls that I got on clearance at CVS (they were cheaper on clearance than buying tennis balls). I have never bought a Swiffer cloth because I am cheap. I use microfiber cloths for most cleaning. They work better than paper towels (even the expensive kind) and last a long time. You just have to be sure that you don’t use fabric softener because that will ruin them but that’s not a problem because we don’t do that anyway
They don’t leave streaks on glass/mirrors either. You use one wet then one dry and streak free clean. I do use paper towels for some things though. I wash EVERYTHING in cold water so I will not use a cloth on the toilet or after wiping up raw meat because I don’t have the confidence that those germs will be killed. We do buy tissues because I think putting a dirty hankie back in your pocket is nasty but we only go through 1-2 boxes per year so we aren’t filling up the landfill (or spending) too much on those.
I grew up not using paper towels for spills or other incidents around the house. I mostly use paper towels for blotting greasy things (BACON!) and for wrapping up lettuce to dry. I keep them hidden away and use rags (ruined t-shirts, pajamas, old washcloths & handkerchiefs, crappy towels that we got for free at a baseball game, etc) for all my cleaning needs! If they get ruined, no big deal, then I will throw them away.
To the people that don’t know where to get rags – look to those clothes you don’t wear anymore because they have a hole in them, but you can’t bare to just throw them out. I’ve also seen people selling rags by the pound on craigslist and other places.
As for what I don’t buy anymore – Laundry Detergent & Softener. I have some pretty sever allergies to fragrances, so this has saved me more money than most. First, I use vinegar in the rinse cycle. It’s amazing. For detergent, I make my own. It’s so simple and very inexpensive. Trent from the simple dollar has a great tutorial:
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/04/09/making-your-own-laundry-detergent-a-detailed-visual-guide/
This is so true! I was just having this conversation about paper towels with a friend today. One of the things that helped our grocery bill was that we stopped buying paper products, well, except for toilet paper.
Anyway, I did the same thing, I just quit buying it and I don’t miss it. It’s challenged me to look at other things that we might consider neccessities and try to do without.
I buy a few rolls a year and keep them on hand but mostly use cloth rags. Paper towels may not be a necessity but neither are disposable diapers. However, you would agree that disposables are more convenient sometimes. I find paper towels are convenient in that they are great for draining bacon grease, sticking in a bag of lettuce to keep moisture off the lettuce and make it last longer, and cleaning up horrific messes like throw-up chunks or poop where you don’t really want to wash the rag!
Using them all of the time really is wasteful!
We haven’t eliminated anything…yet. I never realized that we could live without paper towels. That’s a great place to start!
We use rags and cloth napkins. It didn’t take that much adjusting. I wash the cloth napkins once a week as my children are older and don’t usually make messes. I toss the rags every day into the wash.
We gave up on paper towels too a while back. Before that I had stock up on them and still have like 30+rolls that we only used to drain oil from fried food. For everything else we use wash cloths (got a pack of 30 on clearance for $3.99)
I get regular napkins when I can get them for free and use those for when we have visit. I am so glad we switch to cloths!
Love your post. I hardly ever buy paper towels, but my husband likes to have a roll on hand for any occasion pet messes.
The other item we stopped buying and were surprised that we didn’t miss was paper napkins. I’ve never liked cloth napkins – they don’t absorb much, smear a lot, etc. – but with two little messy girls, we went through too many paper napkins. So I bought a 12 pack of washcloths on clearance at Target for $3. They work so great!
I saved a couple paper napkins for when guests come over, but it turns out that most of them prefer to use our washcloth napkins too!
We also only use cloth napkins and rags for paper towels. I cannot tell you how much I save every year by doing this! Also how eco friendly it is!
As for bacon grease, which we have maybe 4 times a year? I have one towel I use for that and tuck it away. When it smells I buy a new one.
What I think is weird, is that I snag these really cheaply so I almost always have a stockpile.
(Paper napkins are another story.) Since I’m a germ freak, we regularly use paper towels for cleaning and don’t mind the small expense.
Us? No cable TV, only basic phone service (no call waiting or no caller ID, ouch!), no convenience foods, no paid magazine subscriptions, no internet on our cell phone, and the list could go on. Life is sooo much simpler now. LOVE IT!
Same here on paper towels. We no longer buy them and have used cloth napkins for many years. And except for degreasing bacon – we don’t miss either!
When I ran out of free Bounty from a CVS deal a few months back, I challenged myself to see how I’d do without them. Like many other readers, I also found that the only thing I really missed them for was when we drained or blotted greasy food (such as bacon or dotting the grease on pizza). I found that regular TP works just as well. People may find that to be strange, but if you figure that it’s pretty much the same product — just in a different size, it may help. In our case, we still have lots of TP left over from CVS deals so I’m not paying for anything extra.
Another idea if you just cannot part with paper towels is to work them into your CVS deals when you are going to get “overage” on FREE with ECB deals combined with coupons. 1 rolls varies from .99 – 1.29 at most stores.
I’m always thinking of how can I use something I already have or can acquire free or cheap for alternative uses.
We also use shampoo for body wash and hand soap instead of just using it to wash our hair.
I hadn’t thought of eliminating paper towels before. Hmmm.
It’s funny. I get similiar reactions when I tell people I don’t have cable or satellite. They wonder how I can make it. Puhlease people. Television is so not a necessity.
While I haven’t completely stopped using paper towels, I have used Handi-wipes instead of paper towels for the past two years for most messes. I try to save the paper towels for the sanitation of things that I am particularly fussy about. For example: I use paper towels when cleaning and drying my children’s hands after dinner or for wiping up messy things (like cleaning up blood from raw meats, cleaning bodily fluids: now more frequent because of the messes my potty-training son makes) that I don’t want to worry about boiling before putting it in the laundry with other clothes. I feel that rags tend to be used more than once before washing and thus are a sanitation hazard in these areas. Hence, paper towels are worth it for those few uses.
But I use Handi-wipe rags for just about everything else. I like the Handi-wipes because they came in a package of 70 for less than $10. They wear out a little faster than rags, but they take up much less space in my drawers. A MUST when we have limited kitchen storage. They are good for anything from dusting furniture to wiping up spills and wiping down counters, tables, chairs, and sinks. I’ve even used them to clean the floor.
When I was growing up we never had paper towels – never needed them, I guess! We stick with reusable things like diapers, wipes, napkins, etc. I haven’t bought napkins in years it seems. It’s better for the community in that we make less trash and it’s less money! Cloth napkins, I’ve found, are FAR more durable in keeping our little one’s mouth/hands/face/you-name-it clean while eating. Thanks for the post!
Melissa
To the commenter who wanted to get rid of sandwhich baggies: do the kids use a reusable lunch box every day? If so, get a rubbermaid sandwich container. Then you just wash/rinse it every day and have less waste! I do buy about 1 roll of PT every other month. Like others, we have cats and there’s an occasionaly hairball or other gross Kitty mess.
I stopped buying paper napkins in the last year. Got a bunch of cloth ones on freecycle, Goodwill and others super cheap at WM or Target along the years.
I also no longer buy paper plates, except for the small ones and a package of those lasts me a long time.
I’m guilty of buying bottled water, but I leave it in my car so it’s easy to grab when I’m on my way to class or somewhere. I always tend to forget my reusable one. I do however, have a reusable coffee mug for hot chocolate on the go!
We gave up bottled water, basically because I stopped buying it. My kids each got a pvc-free bottle from Target to take back and forth to school each day and use at night, and my husband uses a big plastic cup. Such a no-brainer, I can’t believe I was even buying it in the first place!
We use cheap gerber flat diapers to drain grease on bacon,burgers,ect.They can be found at Walmart & they dont leave lint.They do get greasy but I find a squirt of Dawn in the wash helps.We are a big family of 8 and for our rags I keep a trash can in the kitchen for rags.When its full I just dump them in the wash and do a load.You could use a diaper pail too ,but they need washed every day or 2 or they start to smell/mildew.
Like someone else we gave up cable.We went with Netflix instead and after a week or so the kids really don’t miss it.
We do not use dryer sheets.We use to use an old T-shirt cut into strips soaked in fabric softener as dryer sheets.It worked great.Then a dryer repair man told us how bad dryer sheets/softeners are on your dryer.It can clog up the lint trap.
No coffee filters we bought a washable reuable one!They sell these at Walmart and Target.
DON’T USE TISSUES EITHER!!! Save even more money. Dont buy Tissues either!!! I dont buy PT or tissues and save lots of money, we just dont have the $$$ for it. I mean for $1 you pay for tissues you could have at least 2 rolls of toilet paper that will blow your nose at least 200 times
We don’t use paper towels, either. Glad to see we’re not that weird! The only time we had them when I was a kid was when my mom could find a great deal on them. And then she guarded their use like gold! I just got used to not having them around. We have plenty of rags and even leftover pre-fold diapers (some might find this gross, but they’ve all been bleached) that we clean and wipe up spills with. It’s much better for the environment, too!
We’ve eliminated paper towels and paper napkins – I got some $1/yard flannel at Wal-mart last year and made a bunch of napkins and “paper towels” on my serger.
I use cloth pads instead of disposables (use disposables when traveling).
We used cloth diapers and wipes exclusively with my first and for the first year+ for my 2nd until she kept breaking out in horrible blisters from ours – despite changing washing routines. After 3 rounds of antibiotics, I switched her to sposies and she has been rash free.
I’m actually contemplating going the cloth wipe route to help at least reduce (if not totally eliminate) toilet paper.
we don’t use paper towels either!
We haven’t used paper towels for years. Dish towels are perfectly fine. We use cloth napkins (that I made) for our napkins and as paper plates…meaning we spread them on top of glass ones for a small snack/sammy, etc so taht we don’t have to wash the plate. As for weird? No, no. I think I have you beat there…. what item have we given up that’s not a neccessity? Toilet paper and tampons… we have been using cloth wipes for about a year now. We store the used one in a bin in our bathroom w/ a solution of water, Dr. Bronners’, and tea tree oil and wash them seperately w/ hot water. We keep a roll of TP on hand for guests. As far as tampons, I quit using them because of health concerns (toxins within the tampons themself) and the fact that I hate the cost and waste. Instead, I began using The Diva Cup almost two years ago and have continued using it for so many reason. It is scary the amount of money that is literally flushed down the toilet everyday. Not for everyone, but works for us and certainly something to open one’s mind to.
I actually use paper towels in the bathrooms instead of hand towels. I also use them for clean-up with a spray bottle instead of buying those disposable clorox (or other) wipes. I loved using clorox wipes on the toilets but I gave them up last year to save money and have been just as happy with my paper towels and spray bottle. I also gave up a lot of cleaning products. I now use bleach for almost everything. Saves me a lot of money and I am still sure that my home is getting disinfected.
We have also cut back on paper towels and paper napkins, using cloth instead. What a savings! I have also sworn off of the lawn care that we had when I was working outside the home. Now that we are on one income by choice (and loving it!), I am taking classes at our local county extension office on lawn care, vegetable gardening, etc. Before this endeavor, I did not even know county extension offices existed. They are a wealth of information. A good web search on organic lawn care will also land you a wealth of information on great ideas for low cost lawn care (like adding worms – who knew!!).
I bought my last two roll of paper towers in November. We use microfiber cloths for everything except the very nastiest of messes. I think I am going to invest in another set of microfiber cloths for the “gross” stuff in a different color than the ones I use now, then I can be paper towel free forever!
I haven’t bought paper towels or paper napkins in long time (several years ago). We use rags, washclothes and cloth napkins. I have a basket in the dining room that I keep the folded napkins in. I have bought them on the clearence racks at stores and at yard sales.
My fil was over the other day and he asked for a paper towel. He couldn’t believe we didn’t use paper towels.
I keep a bag of old socks and pieces of torn rags that normally would be thrown away. These I use for cleaning around the toilet or other really yucky things (checking the oil in car etc). Then I throw them away.
I heard once that paper towels are treated differently in the making of them than napkins and that they have chemicals in them napkins don’t because napkins are intended for food/wiping mouths, and pt’s are for wiping up spills.
Some places used to use old newspapers to soak up grease from fried food. Probably full of chemicals too.
You could save old t-shirts, rip them into pt size pieces, soak up the grease and throw them away. A grease soaked piece of cloth is also good for seasoning your cast iron ware.
Okay well, we don’t do paper towels, or napkins, we do cloth diapers and wipes…and I DO NOT buy trash bags. WHY would I spend money on something designed to throw away? That is how we got to the conclusion to do cloth everything. We use the plastic bags from the grocery store. I get lot of them and they are just about the perfect size. then when they are full they go out before the trash starts to stink! We have done this for years and love it! People think we are a little weird and my friends all pick on me, but I don’t care…it makes me feel better and stretch the budget…trash bags are another item that I rarely find cheap and NEVER free! Thanks for all the great ideas!
we do not use paper towels except for cooking bacon. I bought some large pack of inexpensive washcloths and we use those to dry our hands and clean spills…etc.
We also use cloth napkins. Most of them I have made from my extra fabric.
It saves lots of money & the enviroment
I forgot to add I use all one color towels for cleaning the kitchen & another color for the bathroom.
I just throw them in when I do my lanudry…so no extra loads!
we also use cloth wipes since we use cloth diapers.
We’ve not given up paper towels completely, but we bought a case of 12 rolls in 2003, and just last month (Jan 2009) used the last roll……so we might as well not have them around! I use them mostly for draining bacon and ground beef on, and for cleaning out the pan once before I wash it (so the dishwater in my sink isn’t totally greasy).
We also have friends with severe allergies and keep them on hand for their use. I would hate for them to use a towel in my house that maybe has some residue on it that would cause a reaction with them….
But we definitely don’t use them as cleaning rags, or everyday washing etc.
One thing I gave up 2 years ago was “regular” deoderant. I use Tom’s of Maine natural deoderant and realized that I sweat and stink LESS than I did with the “clinical” types of deoderant. I buy 1 natural deoderant per year–it really does last all year because some days I even forget to use it and find I don’t need it.
I made us 2 dozen flannel cloth napkins/towels last year from the left over scraps from making the kids jammies… and we have saved a ton in buying paper towels and napkins.
We also started using a tad of vinegar *JUST A bit or is smells like vinegar, lol* in our rinse aid part of the dishwasher!
We also eliminated DISPOSABLE Diapers AND WIPES!
Yes! Great! I heavily eliminated paper towels from our family a few years ago but just limit them to, like others mentioned, bacon and other greasy spills. I buy the cheapest of the the cheap and maybe spend about $1/month. However, I’m convinced to go to cloth napkins after reading this post/comments!
I’m not planning to give them up but I love this post! Bravo!
We use rags/tea towels instead although we keep a roll around for dh who thinks we should have them “just in case”. I also keep a basket of facecloths at the sink for wiping kids’ hands/faces and we do cloth diapers.
Yes, we gave up paper towel a number of years ago and not only have some people made fun of me, they even belittled me. I do have a roll hidden away, and I will give it if someone asks and then I will compost it.
Also stopped using paper napkins years ago – only cloth for our family now (each of us has our own unique napkin ring).
We have considered giving up paper towels but like others, do not know what we would use to blot bacon grease! Also, do rags really leave mirrors streak free? I’ll have to try that.
We don’t buy kleenex – we just use toilet paper. We don’t buy napkins because we use paper towels! Until our baby started daycare, we only used cloths. Daycare wouldn’t continue out practice, so we have had to use baby wipes. If I get to be a stay at home mom with the next one, we will use cloth only and no baby wipes.
Cable is the biggest thing that we have lived without for the longest amount of time. We have not had cable in 3 years and we have not missed it at all.
WE don’t buy paper towels either, what a waste. I have one question though that is really bugging me, why do people buy kleenex? Why doesn’t everyone just use tp?? Is it just not “fancy” enough? This one totally boggles my brain!
We haven’t used paper towels for years!
I actually received a couple of large packages of paper towels at a house warming party years ago, and they turned yellow and stale before I could use them all!
Every couple of years I buy 1 or 2 large packages of kitchen dish cloths at wal-mart, all the same color, and use those as our “nice” rags (for wiping counters, messy hands, dishes, etc.) I recycle them into our cleaning rag box when they are worn ragged, then start over with a new color! The rags in the cleaning box are only for harsher chemicals, cleaning bathrooms, etc. That way those aren’t used in my kitchen or on my babies’ skin.
For all of you bacon lovers, use a paper grocery bag as a grease collector. I’ve done this with bacon, pork chops, and fried potatoes. The bags soak the grease nicely and clean up is easy. Best of all? The bags are free from the grocery store.
Good for you Crystal! I’m so proud of your family for making this decision that is yet another example of how going greener also saves money!
At my house, the first thing that comes to mind, and this is a big deal b/c I’m a very shy private girl, is that I gave up pads and tampons and just use a Diva Cup. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. I totally understand why women get so excited about it!
I pulled the plug on TELEVISION within a year or so after my husband and I married. After these 13 years without it, we’re so glad we did and wouldn’t think of having it again. We’ve received eye-popping looks from people as they comment they couldn’t live without it. But, it’s amazing what you can live without.
Due to my husband’s job-loss 4 months ago, we just plain ran out of money to buy paper towels. And guess what?! I haven’t missed them. Two weeks ago, my husband thought he should pick some up, and every time I went for one, I have been thinking, “I could be using a towel right now instead.” So I’m not buying them again. . . In my opinion, they’re just a money siphon! We have a newborn, a toddler, and a six-year-old, and we’re doing fine. Just get a 4-pk of washcloths for $1.49 at Target, and save all of those old rags. . . I’ve got stacks of them- they’re ugly, but they’re great for those dirty jobs. I’m also cutting out the store-bought dishwashing detergent and clothes detergent (making my own for pennies), and am going to home-made cloth diapers and wipes. And we’re installing Magic Jack for our telephone service for only $20 a year! It is so fun to save $$. In our case, all of these changes are over $250 a month in savings!
Re: the bacon comments. We’re a non-paper towel family here too, and we LOVE our bacon. I bake my bacon in the oven using a wire cooling rack on the cookie sheet. All the grease drains to the cookie sheet and the bacon doesn’t need to be blotted.
My husband and I have never had paper towels in our house! When we moved into our house in November of 2007, I bought a large package of napkins for like $3.00 at Wal-Mart and we put those out when we have people over, other than that we have always used towels instead. I personally like to use bar rags (the towels that most restuarant and bars get in bulk). We were able to purchase a packet of them containing 50 for $5.00 a few years ago and we just wash and re-use them. We also snagged a bunch extra for free when the owner of the bar was throwing some out because they were either stained or getting ripped. We use those for really gross messes and just throw them away instead of putting them in our washing machine.
If you are looking for free rags/towels, try the local hospital. My mother-in-law works in the laundry of a large hospital and they throw away rags that are thin or getting a little ragged. They throw them away by the trashbag full. I ask for the throw-aways and have rags to last forever. If one gets really dirty–I throw it away with no guilt!
Great post! We stopped using paper towels about a month ago. I have been amazed at how little I’ve missed them. I took all the tshirts out of my closet that I don’t wear, and cut them into squares. b/c it’s t-shirt material, it won’t fray and it’s more absorbent than a pt. I just keep them in a basket on the counter. LOL-Now the kids fight over who gets the pink/blue/red or whatever color!
I started using microfiber cloths a while back and I haven’t missed paper towels at all. I still have a few rolls around, but I only use them for garage spills when I don’t want to trash my indoor cleaning cloths. It is much more environmentally friendly since I just toss the cloths in the wash when we are done with them.
Hi,
We use washable microfiber mop heads that we ordered from QVC. They are great and I am not constantly buying new mops.
We don’t use paper towels or dryer sheets either. If we have a party(only twice a year) then we get a roll or two then. We also switched to the Buddies soap. Our boys cannot seem to find a way to waste or destroy it yet as they seem to do with all other soaps. We also do not use liquid fabric softener.. which some may find weird. We also do not use any of the multitude of “wipes” products that seem to be everywhere these days. Get a rag
We still buy PT but only when we can snag a deal and then we use them so sparingly (grease, bathroom & pet cleanup) that they last forever. Although using large quantities of paper is not environmentally friendly, water conservation is important too. If I used cloth to drain grease, clean up pet messes or clean bathroom “misses” it would take a lot of detergent & a lot of water for me to feel like those cloths were clean enough to use again.
Our biggie was TV. When we moved to TN our apartment had free cable for a few months. When that ran out we didn’t have any spare money so let it cancel. This was 1997 and we haven’t had it since. So do we miss it? Not at all! The only show we watch now is CSI and we can stream it off the web for free. It also surprises folks! No TV! How do you live??
jillbert: Around back to school time they have these sandwich containers that are all the crayola colors. My girls love these and want to use them all the time. Even if they are eating in the kitchen!
We use very few paper towels and have gone the rag route for about 20 years. I do like to have them for greasy messes and raw chicken cleanup though. We are almost completely a cloth napkin family. When the kids were small it was so easy to clean up spills at the table with the cloth napkins we had right there. Cloth napkins are great on picnics as they don’t blow away and they cover children’s plates to keep bugs off as mine always liked to graze alternated with playing. We quit using dryer sheet and softeners when my allergist told me that the active ingredient in them was fomaldehyde! It was amamzing how much better my skin is because I don’t use them. And I am not paying for them! My dad keeps a good quality paper towel in every pants pocket to use as a kleenex and just leaves them there to be washed! They last quite a long time and stay in his pockets through the washer and dryer! He finds it upsetting if someone removes his towels before washing his clothes. They just get softer with each washing.
When we moved a year ago, our microwave broke and we still havent bought a new one. I don’t miss it and do just fine without it. On 2 occasions, friends have come over needing to microwave something and they both gave me the deer in the headlight look and ask why don’t i have a microwave? I simply dont care to add radiation to my food and i dont buy food that needs to be microwaved. If we need to warm something up, depending on what it is, we use the stove or the oven and thats not frequent.
We also went about a month cold turkey (just didnt buy it) w/out PT and I personally didnt miss it, hubby did though.
I forgot to ad…i havent had a cell phone over 2 years now. and we dont have a house phone. I stay home with the kids. if I need to tell hubby something, i just text him through the computer. sometimes it is inconvenient but we make it do. i am friends with the neighbors so if there’s ever an emergency i can just go next door. i don’t really miss it. we are thinking about getting the magic jack though. cant beat that!!
Ok so I guess I am the weird one. I have to have my PT’s! I dont buy napkins. I do keep towels right beside the sink in the kitchen but I only like to wipe my hands on it once and then wash it. So it just makes more sense to me to use the PT’s and toss it then wash a towel so much. I just think it is gross if my husband used the towel to wipe off his hands and then me wipe my hands that just really grosses me out!!!
We do use paper towels, but very sparingly. We use them only for cleaning the toilet, keeping certain foods (like spaghetti) from splattering in the microwave, and soaking up bacon/sausage grease. Since I only use them for these uses, I only buy the “cheap” paper towelsand they last a long time. I refuse to pay any more than $0.59 per roll. I simply keep a dishtowel draped over the stove handle. We use that for drying our hands. I keep a washcloth draped over the sink divider and use that for wiping up spills throughout the day. I replace those daily or more often if needed.
We stopped using paper napkins a while back. We now use plain white cloth napkins that can be bleached if they are stained. I do keep the extra paper napkins from eating out and put them in DH’s lunch.
I am working on eliminating paper sanitary pads from our home. I have sewn up several from a flannel scrap of material that I found on clearance at Wal-Mart. A lot of pads can be made from scrap material. Ironically though, I haven’t had much use for my homemade pads because for the past 4-1/2 years I’ve either been pregnant or nursing!
I love paper towels to pat dry my chicken or meat before searing in the pan. I can’t get a nice tasty brown on my meat without drying it off. What could you use besides paper towels? I’m a bit of a food snob and want a nice carmelized layer on my meat.
We use about a roll of paper towels every three months. We also don’t use paper napkins. We use cloth napkins, and towels and dishrags. Towels go from the dishes to the hands to the floor, so I always have a towel on the floor to wipe up many messes from kids and dog. Then by my trash I have a basket for dirty ones that I wash once per week with bleach to kill any germs. We also cut in half our dryer sheets and they work just as well. And we used cloth wipes (which only makes sense since we used cloth diapers) We are trying to get rid of all wasted paper products in our home for the environment and for our budget. The only thing I refuse to budge on is TP!
I haven’t used paper towels in well three years. When I had my first son I bought packs of cloth diapers to use as spit up cloths and I always had one on my shoulder and realized they saved me so much money. My Mom actually won’t eat with us because we don’t have paper towels so now I ask for extra napkins when we eat out and keep them for her.
To the person who asked about getting towels on the cheap, we picked up a pack of microfiber towels (like automotive detailing towels) at Sams Club. A pack of 24 costs $12 and they are super absorbent and great and scrubbing things. I use them for *everything.*
Cable TV and TV altogether– We just gave it up cold turkey one year ago. We haven’t missed it! We get a lot more done in the evenings. The kids get outside & play. They alsoget creative with other things. They like now to help me clean or cook. We’re quite satisfied with the decision we’ve made and the kids are healthier, too!
I don’t use Jet Dry in my dishwasher. I add vinegar instead, and a drop of blue food coloring so I know when to refill it.
We use rags and have never used paper towels unless I got a super deal on them. When I do, they usually sit on the cupboard spindle for months because we just don’t use them much even when we have them on hand – and I’ve raised 15 children over the past 27 years. If I can do it, anyone can do it!
I don’t buy paper towels, fabric softener, dryer sheets, napkins, plastic wrap, foil (I will get this if I can get it for free), or plastic bags. Truthfully, I have not missed any of these items.
We just eliminated them too, using cloth diapers made us realize how totally awesome cotton is. We actually already had enough dish towels, we just never used them. Now everything gets wiped up with a dish towel or rag (and we have an infant in the house).
I might be in a minority, but I think using paper napkins at home is weird! They’re for picnics! I guess that’s just how I grew up.
Just wanted to say…me too!
I never bought them as a newlywed, and I haven’t bought them lately except really really cheap through a co-op. Otherwise, we do without pretty easily.
I don’t have a cell phone!
or cable tv
or use
paper towels (except when draining fried potatoes)
paper napkins
paper plates
paper/plastic disposable cups
dryer sheets or fabric softener
I don’t have pets so we don’t pay for food or shots or licensing.
We don’t have a second car (that shocks a lot of people!)
Caller id
call waiting
long distance
We don’t go out to eat, period.
We drink water, not soda or other drinks.
We don’t pay for haircuts.
I reserve the paper towels for bathroom cleaning and occasionally the babies room. I have five little kids…nuff said? After learning all about germs in nursing school, I’m afraid I just can’t handle the thought of reusing/washing something that has wiped up….um…certain types of messes. *shudder*
I always find a great deal on kitchen towels in the holiday clearance. We never pay full price and have more than enough!
We don’t use paper towels in our home either. Quit buying them because they were too expensive and not very environmentally friendly. Towels/rags work best for us.
I gave up paper towel when I noticed my husband’s addiction! That was more than 2 years ago and he fine now. We did it to add to our list of things we do to tread lightly. I bought a cute rectangle basket and some flour sacks and Old Time Pottery. Total investment= $12.99 for 2 sets of 5 and the basket!! I throw them in with whites or I have even hand washed them and they dry on the line in less than an hour!!
Great post. My family uses paper towels as napkins at our meals. Using cloth napkins is a great idea, but I tend to get behind on laundry, so they aren’t pratical. I buy only 100% recycled paper towels, so I don’t feel as bad about using them. When my kids get a little older we may try to eliminate them. They are expensive though and now my brain will be spinning thinking about what I can do without.
I am laughing to myself because we dont’ use paper towels either or paper napkins for that matter. It always throws me when I go to someone’s house and I can’t find a towel to wipe my hands on. It just becomes normal after awhile. I do still keep a roll of TP on hand for guests and the occasional cat vomit incident.
We haven’t used paper towels for years either. That said we do buy a 12 pack every 2-3 years for the bottoms of our crisper drawers in the refrigerator and for the occasional use as a filter. We hide them though so that they are not easily accessible to eliminate the of their right here so why don’t I use them.
Sorry, can not give up the towels. I use them to wipe down my counters, table, etc, ever since I took a santizing class when I was in Quality Assurance for a major baking company and found out how much bacteria can develop in a “short” period of time on the rags/towels. Leaves less bacteria than a rag or towel. Now paper plates is something I need to tackle, my family is addicted:)
I’ve always been a no paper towel person- my mama wasn’t either. I’ve always bought big packs of dish rags for about $3 for 10 rags. Some people keep using paper towels for the pet messes, and worry about the germs in the wash. I have a doggie too- Gracie. She sometimes has a little accident in the house and I use the same towels that we use for everything else to clean them. Before you say I’m so super gross, to kill those little germs before they get to the wash, I use something similar to the “wet pail” method of cloth diapers. I have a big bubblegum pail (I got it from work. Someone donated it for craft time and we didn’t need it). It’s about 1 &1/2 gallons. I put in about 3/4 cup of color-safe, chlorine free bleach (on special at the Piggly-Wiggly) and half-way with water. Whenever Gracie has an “accident” I put the dirty cloth in the pail and snap the lid back in place. The bleach kills the germs and there isn’t any odor. When I wash a load of towels, I just dump the whole pail in the washer. Easy, clean, and cheap!
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