Cloth wipes versus paper towels

Mellika

thriftlady wrote: »

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?

Don't some people use newspaper? Iguess as long as it's clean it should be ok...

thriftmonster

In "Living More With Less" I think the suggestion was newspaper - if I'm in ultra green mode I use a tea towel and then throw in the washing - I do keep one lot of kitchen roll on hand - I made a HM Chinese banquet last night for guests and for the prawn crackers and chicken it is easy - but an old teatowel works as well.

Two questions:
We use hankies instead of tissues. Does my consumption of bleach cancel out the not using of KR/ tissues?

Like Magentasue I do one 90C wash per week for shirts, white towels, napkins, pants and dishcloths. Can this be justified by the amount we reuse the said stuff (and the benefit to my washer)?

The more I do - the more questions to worry about!

Magentasue

thriftmonster wrote: »

Like Magentasue I do one 90C wash per week for shirts, white towels, napkins, pants and dishcloths. Can this be justified by the amount we reuse the said stuff (and the benefit to my washer)?

The more I do - the more questions to worry about!

I have a Miele w/m. I figured that with a large family, it's worth paying more for something that will be reliable and last. I've done weekly boil washes for so long that I can't remember where I heard it from. This is from the Miele site:

Low temperature washing – this is good for saving energy but can cause long-term damage to the machine. When washing constantly at low temperatures the machine can build up with body oils and dead skin cells, which in time can damage the rubber parts of a washing machine. The build up of body oils etc. can be observed by a stale smell in the machine or laundry and black mould around the door seal. A maintenance wash can keep your machine fresh and free of such build up by washing regularly at Cotton 95°C. Put a few dishcloths in the load to prevent over foaming.

It doesn't say weekly, but I'm sure I've read it somewhere! And my machine is looking pretty good.

1sttimer_2

Wow you do learn lots when on here - I didn't know that your WM should have a boil wash now and then to keep it clean!

I don't often use KR but keep one on hand for fatty foods like lots of others, I always use cotton hankies - they are much kinder on the nose than tissues (although I always keep on hand a small pack on tissues in my bag for others/small children as I can't believe how many people ask me for one - perhaps they know of my secret store!).

My mum used to soak hankies in salt water - not bleach - to get rid of the snot before boil washing on the stove! It seemed to work!

BTW if you wash your microfibe cloths in the wash, don't forget that you haven't to use conditioner - they won't work as well.

thriftmonster

1sttimer wrote: »

My mum used to soak hankies in salt water - not bleach - to get rid of the snot before boil washing on the stove! It seemed to work!

Excellent tip - I shall try this as I have a real problem with my bleach usage. "My name is Thriftmonster and I have a Domestos addiction":D

Charis

thriftmonster wrote: »

Two questions:
We use hankies instead of tissues. Does my consumption of bleach cancel out the not using of KR/ tissues?

Like Magentasue I do one 90C wash per week for shirts, white towels, napkins, pants and dishcloths. Can this be justified by the amount we reuse the said stuff (and the benefit to my washer)?

The more I do - the more questions to worry about!

Qu 1) Have you thought about using borax instead of chlorine?
http://www.dri-pak.co.uk/cleaningtasks.html

Qu 2) I gave up on the 30° wash, can't see the point of swishing my washing around in water colder than blood heat. It didn't get the laundry clean, might have done if I'd used lots of strong washing detergent. 40° is passable. Dust mites are only killed at 60° apparently, so bedding gets washed at 60. Doing a 90° wash once a month is a good idea. Thanks OP for the info about the build up from cooler washes.

ceebeeby

Arghh, I'm a paper towel fiend! Will be reading this thread to see how to wean my way off them!

Baileys_Babe

1sttimer wrote: »

My mum used to soak hankies in salt water - not bleach - to get rid of the snot before boil washing on the stove! It seemed to work!

I use salt water on hankies as it breaks down the snot. Salt water is also good to break down blood stains. Do not use hot water or you will set the stain.

ceridwen

Charis wrote: »

Qu 1) Have you thought about using borax instead of chlorine?
http://www.dri-pak.co.uk/cleaningtasks.html

Qu 2) I gave up on the 30° wash, can't see the point of swishing my washing around in water colder than blood heat. It didn't get the laundry clean, might have done if I'd used lots of strong washing detergent. 40° is passable. Dust mites are only killed at 60° apparently, so bedding gets washed at 60. Doing a 90° wash once a month is a good idea. Thanks OP for the info about the build up from cooler washes.

Hmmm...now wondering if I should be washing my sheets at 60C - rather than the "general" wash - which is 50C. I tend to just do all machinewashing on that "general" cycle. Will have to think on.

I do occasionally notice a sort of "damp dog" smell as someone called it on my clean washing - and - curses - have to do it again. I guess that could be down to never doing a 90C wash maybe? This never used to happen - and I've had that washing machine for over a decade - but guess that tumbledrying used to deal with that. Now I dont use the tumbledryer facility any more - that could be my explanation. So - am thinking with my level of washing machine use (ie once a week) - that if I just train myself into thinking "Oh - there's a Solstice coming up - right the bedding gets it at 90C" - then the machine will have a boilwash once every 3 months and the occasional smell problem should vanish.

Magentasue

I do 30deg for just about everything apart from the weekly boil wash. My quick 40deg wash costs almost twice as much in electricity so I assume a 50deg standard wash would be proportionately more.

Years ago a washing machine engineer told me that my machine was in good order because I did so many boil washes for nappies. Then I read somewhere you should do a weekly boil wash - can't remember where but I've noticed similar mentioned elsewhere now.

Quite OS, I think - akin to pouring boiling water down drains! This time of year, I don't do a boil wash weekly - no school shirts - but rest of the year I save the whites for a weekend wash.

Don't worry about mites - can't see them so don't worry about them but I've also read that bedding should be 60deg if you have allergies. Not sure about the rest of us.