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Money Saving Tips

'Reusing' paper towels

18 years ago

I buy the blue shop towels in W'mart at about $2 a roll. They are great for cleaning and are washable! After the initial use in the kitchen, I handwash and hang to dry. The next use is for wiping up spills on floors or light cleaning. Final uses are for bathroom cleaning. Sometimes i get four or five uses from one towel as they are very sturdy and hold up through several wash & drys.

AdaO

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Comments (5)

lucy
18 years ago
And Bounty does the same thing, only a lot cheaper.
grainlady_ks
18 years ago
A roll of Bounty (select-a-size) will last us for months and months. What we tend to use are paper napkins we get free.

It seems when we get an occasional ice cream cone from McDonald's drive-thru, they have some wasteful need to give us not 2, but 22 paper napkins. Some pizza and bbq places will toss a 1-inch thick stack of additional paper napkins on the table, so I collect the unused napkins, put them in my purse, and take them home. We collect all these "gifts" for general use around the house.

We use them in brown bag lunches and messy foods we don't want to use our cloth (every-day) napkins for. We also use them to clean our stainless steel cookware with a powdered cleaner (Cameo), scrub the sink, wipe up all kinds of messes, and generally most places you would use a paper towel.

A couple moves ago, I was wrapping some glassware and ran out of paper. I went out to the garage and spotted hubby's huge box of the blue shop (paper) towels in a pop-up dispenser. I used those for the glassware and when they got unpacked, we smoothed them out and put them in a plastic container and have been using them for years now, including one more move. Handy things most people wouldn't think to use for something other than greasy hands in the garage.

-Grainlady
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Paper Towels: On a vertical stand next to my sink. I like having them handy. It is an inexpensive one from Target. In the past, I had them hanging under the upper cabinets. After we remodeled, I needed a new solution. I didn't think the countertop one would be stable, but it is and I really like it. I enjoying being able to grab the whole roll and take it to another room if I need to. Wet dish towels: I have a Rev-a-shelf hanging rod thing on the inside of one of my cabinet doors under the sink. I only use it occasionally though. Usually I have a dishtowel folded in half laying/hanging right on the counter where I stand at the sink. I use it for drying my hands, fruit, dishes, etc. throughout the day. It dries quickly. I have a dish drainer on one side of my double sink, so anything I hand wash usually just dries in there. If I've entertained and have extra hand washing with more dishes on a towel on the counter, then those go on the racks under the sink until they dry. Sometimes if I have one that is really wet and yucky, I just throw it on the tile floor in my laundry room (closet). It is the only tile I have in the whole house (I like to take advantage of it.) :) Cutting boards: In a vertically divided cabinet in one of my lowers. Plastic bags: I donate them to a food bank, so I throw them in the trunk of my car until I see my friend who takes them for me. :)
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Well, maybe will reuse the TP from some liquid bathroom trips. But that is bout it. I reuse Kleenex twice, floss 2 or 3 times and can reuse mouth wash once or twice if desperate. (Rinse mouth with water first to get the loose stuff our or brush teeth first.) Paper towels all get reused if not oily or too dirty. Tons of money get wasted on paper products I used to grab 2 or 3 Kleenex at a time without even thinking bout it. Started to use old style handkerchiefs as I did when I was a kid to save on paper. Military showers save on water too. Especially important in the summer during growing season as it eats up water. http://usalandlord.stores.yahoo.net/shonsw.html Some other thing's I extend. Soy sauce - 50% or more dilution with water. Tastes OK but started to do it to reduce the astronomical salt content. Pancakes - WW pancake mix is very high priced. I dilute Aunt Jemima with 40% WW flour and a little corn meal and rye flour. The leavening in the Aunt Jemima is enough as is to work with the plain flour. Again started to do it for sodium cut back, but great to add whole grains to it as well. I use an egg and part milk in the batter. Or can use just water, but like egg better. do not use oil, but probably would be better with oil. Maple syrup - use 10% water in it Grape juice - add 40% water for a lighter drink with less calories. OJ - fresh squeezed I add 15% to 20% water and a table spoon of sugar if the oranges are tart Hand dish liquid soap -- I dilute 50% with water and it is still thick. I use it on sponges more than in sinks, so have not tested it except for sponge washing use. An interesting site... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCPEBM5ol0Q
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bry84
18 years ago
I haven't bought or used any paper towels for a long time. I do keep a roll in the house for the rare really messy things, for example pet mess when you have to throw away whatever you use to clean it up.

I mostly use reusable cloths, or newspaper. Good quality cloths clean better without leaving any lint or falling apart. I have also in the past had problems with the dye in some paper cloths leaching out and staining things.

We quit using most disposable items some years ago and have saved a lot of money. The few exceptions are things like record player stylus and vacuum cleaner bags, which are hard to replace with permanent items.
jannie
18 years ago
I grab paper napkins at fast food places, then throw them in my car's glove compartment. Great for all kinds of uses, from a sneeze to a bug on the windshield. I love Bounty select-a size. You can grab one towel (about the size of one-half of a regular paper towel) or as many as you need. I cleaned my stove last week and used about 50. But I had just gotten a manicure and didn't want to ruin my nail polish. My stove sure looks good, I even lifted the burners and cleaned the carbon and gook underneath.
ourguys
18 years ago
I found a used linen roll towel, many feet long, and cut it into paper towel size pieces. Been using the same 4 for months now. Wash like a dream, and are very absorbent.

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