I was so encouraged by the positive comments from you all about “my green side“. I got most of those ideas from things I had previously blogged about, but there is one other thing that I have never mentioned on my blog before that is not only helpful to the environment, but also easy on the budget and very cute. It’s been 2 years now that I have been using cloth napkins and I love them.
My sister in law made most of the ones that own and at first I was hesitant to use them for everyday things because it felt like they were too nice to mess up, but I had to remind myself that they were made for this purpose (my sis is very green) and we use them ALL THE TIME now.
I feel a little awkward when company comes over and asks for a paper towel, because we don’t have any, but no one has ever protested to using cloth when I explained our system. Kitchen towels are most absorbent when it comes to spills and heavy duty stuff, but the dinner napkins work great for messy hands and faces. I have a bucket in the laundry room where I throw all my rags, towels, and cloth napkins so they all get washed together. The only problem I have run into is cooking bacon because I use a lot of paper towels when it comes to draining bacon, but then I read this story on Michele’s blog about how she uses the newspaper (along with a couple paper towels) to soak up bacon grease. One day she didn’t have the Sunday paper accessable so she grabbed a stack of papers off the counter, which accidentaly included her son’s homework. Later when he was looking for his papers they figured out what happened, so she actually had to dig it out of the trash and put it in a ziplock for him to bring it to school. It sounded like something I would do and thanks to her story I have totally gotten into degreasing bacon on the newspaper now. If you are like me and you don’t keep paper towels in stock you could put the bacon on a cooling rack over the newspaper, or in our case we often have a couple napkins left over from take out, either way it cuts down on the paper towels.
There is nothing wrong with disposable stuff I think it comes in handy on many occasions, but the cloth has been working for us and so I don’t plan on stocking up on paper towels or napkins anytime soon.
Do you use cloth napkins? What works for you?
This post is linked with Works For Me Wednesday at We Are That Family!
I use napkins & paper towels, but I'd use cloth if I had some as cute as yours! 🙂
Those are so cute! We don't use napkins or paper towels either, but we've accumulated a ton of dark-colored rags to use and wash. I also have some (not as cute-looking) hand-made wipes like yours, that were originally used as baby wipes! Love the bacon idea too, by the way. This is my first time to visit your site (I found you through WFMW), and I'm so excited to poke around a little and keep reading!
http://mindofthemother.blogspot.com/
Thanks for the shout out. I am now dying for a BLT sandwich. I have paper napkins and I would really like to get my hands on some of these cloth ones. I like your idea of keeping a bucket in the laundry room for rags and such.
I have a friend who buys the paper napkins but opens them up once and CUTS THEM IN HALF, as she was tired of her kids going through so many. My 9th grader goes through 3 or 4 of them at each dinner. Maybe he will put only a few fingerprints on each one. Sigh.
Do you use dish towels to dry veggies like lettuce? I have done that a few times and should do it more. I am going to be on the look out for dish towels and napkins at thrift store.
Love reading about another cloth napkin user on WFMW! You have a great system and I will try that with the bacon grease. Thanks!
1.) We have the same napkin holder 2.) I love this idea of cloth napkins 3) Why have I not thought of the bucket in the laundry room? LOVE that!
I have that same napkin holder from IKEA but I never thought to use it like that! Way cool!
I went paper towelless a year ago and have been so happy. I don't miss paper towels one bit and have only had one person who didn't like using cloth. It's so nice to not have the waste! I try to be paper towelless at work, too, but it's a work in progress right now. I love how green you and your family are!
I have been using cloth napkins for several years now. My guest don't seem to mind (as long as they get a fresh, clean one!)
In fact, I've had several people say that they think it is a wonderful idea and that they need to start using cloth themselves!
Yours are super cute! 🙂