How do you economise on kitchen paper towel use?

maman

katieowl wrote: »

We put them through the dishwasher at work...Just open them out over the dishes, they've never floated off?

Kate

I generally stretch mine across the mugs in the top shelf unless there's room on the racks at the top. They'll stay put becasue they're wet and clingy.

GreyQueen

I bought a twin pack of kitchen rolls once; it lasted about 7 years. Am on another twinpack now, using about the same amount. Have had it several years already.

I can see where the pet owners are coming from about the extreme ick jobs but I don't have pets. I use cotton hankies, sponge scourers (halved before use to make them go further, of course) for dishwashing and a J cloth (laundered frequently) for counter wiping.

My Mum is a big fan of the handknitted cloth, made out of plain knitting on giant needles from "dishcloth cotton" ie unbleached stuff. These are regularly boiled/ bleached. It sometimes turns up at c.s. or bootsales and I buy it there.

I use crumbled newspaper to wipe out very messy things like the grill pan or the omelette pan before washing them up. I figure less grease in the water supply is a good thing.

My friend and neighbour SuperGran swears by Plenty but she has a serious kitchen roll habit inc using it to dry all her dishes and for wiping each and every spill, even plain water. She doesn't appear to own a dishcloth or a tea towel. I shudder to think how much she must be spending on it a year; hundreds, easily.

I think it's just a habit that we've been enticed into and something which we could just as easily train ourselves out of.