Monday, May 12, 2008

Paper Towels and Me

It's time for a confession. I suspect that there will be a lot of those as we take this journey together. I have an abiding love of paper towels. It's one of those things that I struggle with on the green journey.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a "roll a week" girl or anything. We don't use them for drying our hands or for spills, usually. So, what in the world is it that makes me hold on so tightly to them?

Almost every job they do around the house can be replaced with something better for the environment and more economical yet I still have them sitting on my counter....just. in. case.

The one job that kept me stocking my supply of paper towels was cleaning mirrors and glass around the house. Nothing else worked to get the streaks off and I hate streaks with a Windex blue passion. While I was in Heaven Target last week, I picked up this product by Method. I was skeptical but I trust Method so I figured I'd at least give it a shot.

I cracked open my microfiber cloth on mirror/window cleaning day and it really didn't look like I thought it would. From the look of the box, I expected it to be more like a sponge. Instead, it's a rather unassuming little cloth that's shiny on one side. I was sure it wouldn't work after taking a look at it. I assumed it would just smear the liquid cleaner around on the glass like a pair of pantyhose.

I was wrong. This little thing is awesome! I used it for my mirrors and the french doors in our living room. The same doors that my kids insist on using as licking/looking/hand wiping glass. They were clean an streak free. I even used it to shine my faucets in the bathrooms after I cleaned the mirrors. These are things I'd have used paper towels for before that day. Also, I have to use less cleaner with the cloth. It's reusable and washable. In a word, it's awesome.

All that to say that I'm trying to kick the paper towel habit. I am. I don't think I'll ever be without paper towels in my house but I can tell you that our uses for them have diminished and we are finding other options for most jobs.

What about you? Paper towel addict or paper towel free? Have you tried other things to take the place of them?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I use the same glass cleaner and cloth!

The thing about paper towels is that you can clean the baby off after eating and then just throw it away...when I use washcloths they always pile up and by the tie I get around to washing them they're all stinky and nasty and then I just throw them away because no way am I going to wipe the baby's face with something so nasty even if it does go through the wash!

Maternal Mirth said...

Total paper towel addict over here ... but I betcha Dummy's penny-pitching-self would LOVE to hear I could save money using this thing. BUT I think he loves the paper towels more than I do ... he prolly won't let them go completely.

Thanks for the hint! :)

wfbdoglover said...

Depends on what I'm doing.

If I am cleaning the toilet, then it is definately paper towels. If I am cleaning the shower - I use an old holey sock. I use the socks for cleaning the hardwood floors and dusting as well.

For my kitchen wash cloth - I keep putting it in the top rack of the dish washer - it gets clean almost every day.

Unknown said...

I agree, I use them to clean mirrors & glass, but now I have to try the cloth you were talking about.

The main thing I use them for is to wipe off my baby and his high chair after he is done eating. What else will do that job? I don't want to use a sponge on him...

But yes, I would love to use less papertowels.

Anonymous said...

I have paper towel guilt, too! Have you seen this link that evaluates the brands of paper towels for eco-friendliness?

http://www.nrdc.org/land/forests/gtissue.asp


Thanks for the suggestion to try Method's cloth!