Kitchen Towels Vs. Paper Towels

If you're concerned about sanitation issues, keep a bin/basket in the kitchen and one in the bathroom to toss the dirty ones and wash as needed. I also will hand wash single ones with my enviro-friendly cleaner, then soak in 10% bleach/water solution to disinfect (soap kills the disinfecting properties of bleach - always wash first & thoroughly rinse, then use bleach if you want to disinfect, otherwise you're only whitening) that I've used to wipe -up raw meat residue. Additional note on bleach use: I use vinegar distilled from grain, not petroleum - check your labels! - mixed with various pure essential oils (many are anti-bacterial, anti-viral, & antimicrobial, lavender being one of my favorites) for much of my cleaning & disinfecting needs. I keep my use of bleach to the bare minimum. I use it as above because I'm still researching if vinegar & specific essentail oils will kill the dangerous raw-meat residue. Anyone who knows, please share! Other option: return to being a vegetarian again :)

I, too, have purged (mostly) paper towels. I do keep a roll in the house, but it lasts for weeks because I use rags & micro-fiber cloths for just about everything. My rags consist of white cotton towels picked up at a yard sale, old tee-shirts & flannel pjs cut-up into various sizes, cotton socks (either the remainder of the "lost one" or one with holes), old bath/hand/face towels, & basically anything that I can no longer wear, is color-fast, absorbent, etc. I wash them in hot water along with my towels or dirty jeans. Rags are the way to go: they absorb better, clean better, are gentler on your stuff (they won't scratch sensitive surfaces like paper [as in the paper in paper towels] will - I can even use the clean, soft cotton or micro-fiber ones on my eye glasses with no scratching), they hold -up to heavy duty scrubbing, whereas paper towels end up in small, wet clumps, especially on carpeting and rugs...I could go on, but I think I got my point across.

Carye could try tying your daughters hair like a pony tail. if she ever works in a cafe or fast foods she'll have to do that. also I agree with ivy. we have stopped using paper towels all together. for greasy messes i use the black and white part of a sheet of newspaper. when i have too much grease in my cast iron pans (before hang them back up) i use newspaper sheets. there's always left over newspaper somewhere and it won't hurt you a bit. i say don't listen to the ads and use your rags. that's what homesteaders of the past used to do.

I abhor overuse of paper towels and tend to agree with both of you, but I have a different issue. My daughter has long hair and it seems to get on EVERYTHING, even my kitchen towels. I must do them separately from everything and even that doesn't always work. While I hate the paper towel addiction, it seems to be the only way to avoid the hair on the counter situation. Any ideas?

Totally agree with you, Ivy. I also keep unmatched cotton socks in with the rags and throw them away after one use. I figure if I washed them, I wouldn't remember that they are singles and they would end up back in a drawer waiting for a non-existent mate! And also, I've squeezed another use out of that sock while avoiding the paper towel addiction.