Cloth wipes versus paper towels

Icemaiden

I also love knitted dishcloths, after using various different types of wool I have found by using the Dishcloth wool which contains more cotton, they are thicker, last longer, keep there shape when wet and wash better in the machine. I use the pattern from https://www.homespunliving.blogspot.com/

shetitasatic

I feel very guilty reading all your posts because my big non OS weakness is my kitchen roll habit - "my name is shetitasatic, and I use too much kitchen paper!!"
I promise I will reform! I have just sorted out 2 old face flannels and written CAT on each, in large letters, in permanent marker, to use for drying up the cat bowls. I am now going to sort out the rag bag and cut up more cloths for mopping up. Is it all right if I make some of these 'disposable' as I don't fancy washing and re-using ones I use for wiping out dirty cat bowls etc? (he's a very old cat on medication, and makes a bit of a mess)

Merlot

Just an update, I said earlier in the week that I (ashamed to say now) used 6 rolls of kitchen roll a week to do various jobs like cleaning the windows, mopping spills up, and cleaning the bathrooms.

Well not anymore, I have invested in some microfibre cloths from Mr T's and thanks to Pink who posted how to clean windows OS, I have this morning cleaned all the internal windows with cloths/rags and waited for the sun to hit them and no streaks:j , and I only used water in a sprayer, so no more buying window cleaner for me either.

I have cut up old tea towels and t shirts etc and I now have a bag of rags in the ulitity room. (I couldn't bear dirty rags lying around house previously, but I also have a solution of bleach in an ice cream tub in the ulitity room too, (thanks to Pen Pen for that idea).

I haven't used kitchen roll since Thursday afternoon and i do not intend using it for anyother purpose than for fried foods or camping etc.

I would like to say a huge thank you to all of you, I can't believe how wasteful I have been in the past with the KR but no more.

Merlot.x.

terrimolo

you know how (in the good old bad old days) we used to get fish and chips in newspaper? was that to soak up the excess grease?
could we use newspaper to drain fried foods etc? or does it not work as well? any suggestions?

Merlot

I don't buy newspapers, I read them online.

If I remember correctly, the grease used to come through the newspaper wrappers and not absorbed it.

I suppose you could always keep an old tea towel (non fluffy type) for this purpose instead of using KR.

LittleVoice

terrimolo wrote: »

you know how (in the good old bad old days) we used to get fish and chips in newspaper? was that to soak up the excess grease?
could we use newspaper to drain fried foods etc? or does it not work as well? any suggestions?

Think it was more for insulation at a low cost. Food wasn't directly on the paper - otherwise we would have been able to mirror read the news on the cod!

However I do use newspaper to line my rubbish bin to soak up odd bits of waste oil/melted fat which may get added to the bin. I wouldn't use it under a sheet of kitchen paper for food being prepared to be eaten.

Barneysmom

thriftlady wrote: »

I just wash mine with the rest of my laundry, been doing it for years. It's never occured to me that it might not be hygenic enough -is it not? We're all still fit and healthy;)

I do keep a roll of kitchen paper but it is used only for absorbing fat on fried food which we don't have very often. What else is good for this?[/quote

I put mine in the washing machine too, I have at least a dozen so throw into the machine every day. We don't get tummy bus or anything.

But I've just finished a roll of kitchen paper and have decided not to buy again. I hardly ever use it anyway.

We hardly eat fried food either, and the deep fat fryer has been in the cupboard for at least 6 months.

pigpen

floyd wrote: »

Totally agree with you about it being largely ignored, apparently mine isn't severe enough to qualify for cognitive therapy on the NHS as I can still function day to day albeit to a disciplined set pattern of behaviour. I looked into it privately and it was prohibitively expensive so I just have to cope with it.
The vomit phobia bothers me more than the OCD. I burst into tears on a crowded bus once and started shaking because somebody was sick on the stairs and I knew I would have to walk past it to get off its a completely irrational fear. More than being scared of the stuff itself, I am scared what I would do to someone if they did it on me. Very strange eh?

I once rang my husband to come home because a couple of the children had been sick.. I was fine but he had to come home and rescue me.. then you feel silly for being bothered by it.. mad isn't it

floyd

pigpen wrote: »

I once rang my husband to come home because a couple of the children had been sick.. I was fine but he had to come home and rescue me.. then you feel silly for being bothered by it.. mad isn't it

Awwwww thats awful but at the same time, nice to know I'm not alone

Just an update, I have knitted 5 rows of my first cloth but I had to give up because the cat was shredding my legs to hell in an attempt to get the yarn :rotfl: will try again later when she is snoozing

Zed42

Before my DD was born, DH and I used a lot of KR, DH was the world's worst.

Since having DD and her being clad in washable nappies, and then buying cloth wipes .... it progressed from there .. to cutting up old towels to make wipes / flannels / dish cloths ....

The consumption of KR is now negligible. I did buy some last week as we were having a BBQ and thought it may come in useful, but it has been relegated to the cupboard, LOL.

I do tend to find that with KR, the Bounty for me is the best though, more absorbent, and also ..... you can wash it and re-use it at least once, or is that just too much!! LOL.

For my cloths, I'm afraid I use them once and then shove them in an ice-cream tub, with either stardrops, vinegar, soda crystals (dependant on what comes to hand first), and then washed when I have a white load to do. I can't bare the idea of manky cloths hanging around.

Tea tree is a great idea... and I have loads left over from the days of wetpailing, LOL!