Back to Basics

While most of us are still staying at home and physical distancing, I thought I would take a detour from my originally planned path and focus on topics that could be beneficial in this situation, such as reducing the need to buy certain ‘essential’ things. Aside from being better for the environment and our wallet, it’s particularly relevant to our current situation so that we don’t have to go to stores as much (for those who are concerned) AND so that we don’t have to potentially scramble and worry about whether or not these kinds of things are in stock anywhere. We all know toilet paper has been a big one and I WILL be posting on that but not now.

The unpaper towel, as it seems to commonly be called, is essentially a cloth. It is a cloth used instead of a paper towel. That’s really it. It is basically what people used before paper towels were invented and what many people around the world still use. So it’s nothing new or inventive. You can buy them expressly made for this purpose or you can also just buy/use cloth napkins or washcloths or kitchen rags. Some people sell ‘fancy’ ones that snap together and can be rolled like a roll of paper towels so that you can still use a paper towel holder. It had been on my mind for awhile to make some unpaper towels and I finally did! The current pandemic lit a fire under me and I pulled out my sewing machine and got to it. For the fabric, I actually bought flat sheets at a thrift store several months back before everything was shut down. I was initially going to buy some new fabric but in the spirit of zero waste, I opted to reuse. I feel super lucky that I found the ones that I did so quickly. I found white flannel and gray jersey sheets—the exact types of fabric and neutral colors I wanted to try. I wouldn’t recommend regular cotton sheets or fabric. The flannel and jersey absorb nicely. I’ve also seen some made with terry cloth or old towels. I washed the sheets really well and then I cut them into rectangles which measured approximately 12 inches x 9.75 inches. I did not plan the size ahead of time or measure when I cut. I only know the size because I just measured them, just now, to help convey a sense of size. I cut the sheets in half then those halves in half and so on and so on until the size made sense for my usage. I didn’t undo any of the seams at the top or sides of the sheet. I wanted this to be easy. I think the sheets were queen-sized so I got a fair amount out of them. I did cut them all the same size more or less though because I wanted to make them 2-ply. After that, I put 2 rectangles together, right sides facing out, and just sewed them together with a zigzag edge. I used contrasting thread just for an accent. And that’s it. All done.

Figuring out a system of usage is another thing. I don’t really like to have cloths strewn all over the place. I store the clean ones, ready for use, rolled up in a wire basket on the kitchen counter. I made a lot of them so there always seems to be enough in circulation and we don’t ever seem to be running out. After they are used, they go in a 2.5 gallon trash can under the sink that serves as a cloth and rag hamper. I also am in the process of getting a small counter-top-rag-drying-rack-thingy because sometimes we only use one corner of a cloth to clean something but it is not really dirty. The one used spot can easily be rinsed and then hung to dry for reuse. But I think we pretty much have it down now and I love that I don’t have to worry about buying paper towels.