With 9 in the family, I wasn't overly concerned that we went through a whole roll of toilet paper until I saw what my 4 year old left on the floor. To borrow the words of Glenn Beck "It made blood want to shoot out of my eyes". So when I realized she just didn't know how much TP to use, I came up with the solution of "wiping squares" for her.
Since some women make their own sanitary pads, and babies use reusable cloth diapers I made some flannel squares that are just the right size for her to wipe with-and purple to boot. She has a special bucket by the toilet to toss them in and then I just throw them in with the towels or a load of laundry. I just cut 3 layers of flannel into 3 inch squares and zig zag sewed them together on my sewing machine. I only let her use them for tinkling, but that alone should save us huge!
My other daughter wants some of her own now too. :) We're feeling like we've gone so "green" with our washable toilet paper in pretty colors. At $2.97 for a yard of flannel I can make around 30 of them.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I was just wondering, if anyone here, with no children at home, is still using family cloths?
By Louise
I cut three t-shirts up into cloth wipes that I use as toilet paper. I put the used ones in a step-lid trash can and wash them with the laundry.
Hi, I just started using it. I made a whole basket of them out of old baby blankets. Paper is irritating.
I'm sorry, I have to ask this...
How do you keep your washer and your clothes from getting fecal matter on them during the laundering process?
I'm curious too, like cmburgan. Are the cloth wipes used only for "number 1"?
I personally do not use these, but if I did, I would do just as I did when my children were babies. Keep a covered container (back then you could buy a covered "diaper pail".) Put cold water with a little detergent and bleach in it. Place the used cloths in this container and on laundry day, remove them from the pail, rinse them in clear water and it should be safe to wash them with the towels or underwear.
