Keep a rag on your paper towel rack and quit buying paper towels altogether! Use newspaper for washing windows. Use cheap paper napkins for food as needed. You'll be surprised at how often you'll grab that rag to wipe up a spill and you are saving lots of money. Have a bunch on hand and just wash up a load every once in a while.
When my dishcloths and tea towels get too old and grubby for 'show' I start using them as cleaning rags. They're much sturdier than paper towels and work pretty well as stain-scrubbers. Keep them clean and hang them up after use to keep smells away. For really dirty or greasy cleaning I use those semi-disposable cloths you buy in packs in the grocery store; I try to reuse them but if they're too yucky I just toss them out.
The rags are a great idea. I had an old sheet that I cut into small rags (about 12 x 15 inches). I folded them and put them in a little basket on the counter near the paper towels. I told DH that everytime he would get a paper towel to grab a rag. I do the same. I wash them when I do the towels. We also have used cloth napkins for several years. We use paper towels on really yucky messes but have reduced our paper towel use by probably 95%. Good for the budget and good for the environment.
We've started doing the same thing. I would advise, however, to make some cloth napkins and keep them set aside for guests. I was so embarrased to hand my guest a kitchen towel last week! I went to WalMart and bought some $1 fabric and made a few napkins.
We've even done away with the paper napkins and use cloth for everything including school lunches. My daughter's friends think it's cool that she is "so fancy" and my husband's co-workers think it's cool he's "green", some have even started following suit.
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