Green Living > AdviceDecember 27, 2000

Switch to Cloth Rags and Napkins

Using cloth towels (instead of paper towels) and napkins reduces the amount of paper that goes into the garbage and saves you money. If you buy dark colored cloth they will handle stains better and look good longer. By JulieBeth

One reader added this great advice.

We use cloth tablecloths everyday. I buy busy prints when they are on sale. It saves the table, especially if you have a little one who gets as much on the table as themselves. It is more sanitary than the vinyl ones that you can never get all the food off of.

Growing up, my mom bought inexpensive, busy prints of terry cloth and made table cloths and napkins out of it. For a while we each had different colors so we knew whose was whose.

We only use cloth towels for clean ups and it saves so much and does a better job. Cloth diapers are the best deal ever and my potty trainer uses cloth training pants with rubber pants at night. Investing in a few dozen heavy duty diapers has lasted all of our five children.

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By
03/04/2010

Good idea helps with going green. I use cloth napkins all the time. I have enough cloth napkins that I wash them once a month. Brought them at yard sales and flea markets.

By
01/21/2006

Isn't having to wash cloth napkins and clean up cloths as expensive as just using paper? I have so much laundry to do as it is, I can't imagine washing napkins daily. I buy a big supply of paper napkins and hey they are cheap enough.....my time is worth something and I am othewise fairly thrifty and frugal....and I recycle a lot!

By
02/03/2001

My mother bought us each a set of wash cloths and stiched our initials on them. We used these instead of cloth napkins and they were easily washed.

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