Jul
20
2006

Choose Cloth

Filed under: Cloth Toilet Paper, Conservation, Environmentalism, Green Cleaning, Green Living, Homemaking, Simplifying

Back by popular demand…a “re-print” of “Choose Cloth” (newly updated):

Over the last couple of years, we have slowly been getting rid of everything that is disposable in our house. In a society that is obsessed with disposable everything…sometimes I feel like an odd ball. But hey, what’s new? The progression has been as follows:

PAPER TOWELS: These were the first thing to go. They were expensive and I was addicted to them. I just bought a few more cloth towels and I grab them for everything. We have darker towels for staining spills.

PAPER NAPKINS: We didn’t use these a lot to begin with, but I switched to all cloth napkins after I found the cutest little red ones with stars. Adorable. Now I have several sets and I *love* using them at every meal.

DISPOSABLE DIAPERS: We cloth diapered Bella from day one. It’s one of the most enjoyable things about being a mama so far. They are so adorable, healthy, and easy to use. Love them.

FEMININE PRODUCTS: After I had Bella, I started to use what many affectionately call “mama cloth”. Basically, reusable feminine hygeine products. I have a GREAT set of reusable hemp pads. After I get my period back I will switch to using The Keeper or The Diva Cup. And for those of you that are saying “ooooh gross!”. Get over it…have you ever researched what is in a tampon? Sick.

TOILET PAPER: Our latest switch has been from paper to cloth toilet paper. This was definitely not a hard thing because we are already using cloth wipes on Bella (the cloth wipes we have are so soft and wonderful…most are made of flannel and velour or sherpa…2-ply). Before I decided to do this, I was intimidated because I didn’t quite understand the logistics of it all. So, in order to help some of you “get it”…I will explain further and offer a pictoral description of the setup.

Basically, we have dry and wet wipes. Dry for pee, wet for poop. The wet wipes are in a wipes warmer on the back of the toilet. I put them in there every day with a solution of water, apricot oil, Dr. Bronner’s soap, tea tree oil, and lavender oil. It’s a lovely smell…much more fun than plain ‘ol scratchy toilet paper! The dry wipes are just next to that on the toilet. I will eventually get a cute wire basket for the dry wipes. After you are done using the wipe, you just throw it in the wet bag hanging next to the toilet. Update since this photo was taken: The wipes are now in a basket in a drawer next to the toilet. Easy as pie. Here it is:

I know some of you have just vowed never to use the bathroom at my house ever again. But never fear, I will keep ONE roll of regular TP for my less “natural” guests. We do have one last box of tissues right now, but will just use the cloth wipes for that as well. And please don’t worry about the sanitary issues…everything is washed in super hot water with soap, baking soda, and the occasional vinegar rinse.

GROCERY BAGS: I bring my own bags to the grocery store. I LOVE my string bags from Reusable Bags. Ecobags is good too. Many grocery stores will give you a small credit for bringing your own.

All in all, switching our house to completely cloth has been a GREAT experience…one that is environmentally sound, and also financially sound. We save SO much money by not buying disposable stuff.

I still have a few more changes to make. I would like to get sets of cutlery and plates to take to events where I know there will be disposable dinnerware. I don’t do take out a lot, but if my restaurants were more eco-friendly, I would also get the stainless stell food carrier so they could just put it in there instead of the disposable boxes. The first time I heard about this, I was so excited. It was when I was visiting the Ecopolitan in Minneapolis. They asked me if I had brought in my own take out containers or did I need to purchase one from them. I did have to purchase one, but it was a recycled, compostable container. I love that place!

I also need to better at bringing my own travel mug to coffee shops. I have probably filled a landfill with all of the to-go cups I’ve drank from and tossed in the garbage 5 minutes later…so wasteful!

Re-evaulate your choices today…and choose cloth/re-usable!

If you would like to read another blog about this topic, check out my friend Sarah. She is a swell gal. She has her own business, Wallypop, and makes great stuff. Here it is.

Posted by Sara @ 10:11 am | Leave a Comment

Esther

As far as toilet paper thing goes, you might want to try something called “tamba” (in Nigeria). It basically involves cleaning your bum with water after you poo. Here’s the process: Fill a small bowl or watering can with water. After you poo, scoot your bum towards the edge of the toilet, so that you have some room behind you. Then put the bowl in your right hand and place it at the crack of your bum. Slowly poor the water and use your left hand to wash your bum.

I consider it to be more eco than the whole wet wipes deal because it doesn’t require electricity, soap, essential oils. It’s a lot cheaper too and you’ll feel really clean afterwards. I’ve never once had a problem with using my hand to wash, I just make sure that I wash my hands well afterwards. It also eliminates the possibilty of staining the cloth wipes, which I use to dry.

This is what people do in a lot of other countries where toilet paper is too expensive or hard to find. Many muslims also do it as a part of their religiously prescribed hygiene practices.
Pingback: zimonyi.hu » Mennyire vagy zöld?
Melissa Parker

Hey I really want to get ahold of you about your whole setup. I’m trying to make a cloth setup in my bathroom right now but before I go out to buy a wipes warmer, I was wondering if there is a specific brand you use because I always got the impression that wipes warmers wouldn’t work for cloth. If you can’t get back to me, I’ll probably end up researching it further but I thought i’d ask the expert first

oh and where’d you get the cloth wipes you said you had? More specifically, what brand were they? I’m looking up cloths with that material as we speak. Oh and another** question, what do you do with your daughter on the go. I’ve seen portable wipe warmers (that way you can keep them moist when you’re not at home) I was just wondering if you had any input or recommendations.

thanks,
Melissa
Jen

Could cloth toilet paper be the reason for my yeast infections?
I started using family cloth and 2 weeks later I developed a yeast infection and went back to disposable, its been a week since I have been cured and I switched to a different fabric, started back using family cloth today, and now I am very itchy “down there” again.

I wash them very good, I hand wash them in hot water, then I throw them in a bucket full of water, baking soda, and detergent. they sit in there for 1-2 days and then I wash them in hot water, baking soda, once a week white vinegar, once a week bleach, and detergent. I put them on extra rinse and “heavy soil” then I dry them in the dryer.

any advice? I really want to switch to family cloth completely, but I think this might be the reasoning for my yeast infections.
http://www.cafemom.com/group/112866 Krystal

I’m wondering about using cloth for wipes. I am worried about getting a yeast infection from using them constanly. Sometimes when I go pee, I use a squirt bottle to rinse and dry with a small hand towel.
soulflower

I’ve been addicted to using paper towels, but try to be environmentally conscious, natural, and frugal in different ways. I just decided that i’m going to have to try to quit buying & using paper towels altogether, as opposed to using less. Today i bought a pack of 10 shop towels, for car use and home use. I think i will also get a pack of washcloths for indoor home use, and use the shop towels for the car (i’ve been using a lot of paper towels to check my oil and to clean up oily messes from an oil “leak” problem i’ve been having) to make a distinction between what different cloths get used for. Maybe. I feel kinda funny about washing certain things together, although, i’m not gonna lie — I wash kitchen towels w/ bathroom ones. It’s just more practical. I know some people would frown on that, but i’m already so OCD in so many other ways.. :/

I believe it was today, while shopping for reusable shop towels (got a package of 10 for $2.97 + tax), that i wondered about giving up toilet paper. I reasoned that if cloth diapers are an option, couldn’t something be utilized, other than TP? ..something made of cloth that can be laundered and reused? Also, I’ve considered the reusable cloth menstrual pads/liners, but have never gotten around to buying them. I’ve used the Diva Cup, but i didn’t find it to be hygienic or practical and went back to using disposable stuff.

I think it’s very interesting that i was JUST pondering cloth toilet paper (without actually calling it that in my mind) earlier today. Then while researching making my own almond milk, i ended up on a gal’s web site, where she described her site as follows: “Here in my garden, you’ll find Downward Facing Dogs, cloth toilet paper, herbal teas and remedies, homemade shampoo, magic, and lots and lots of love. …” Cloth toilet paper! That’s it!, i thought. Wow, i was just thinking about that earlier, and now i came across it “by accident”. I didn’t know how to access her info/blog on CTP, so i Googled and found your site.

Definitely something to consider..

THANKS!
soulflower

I want to clarify what i said about washing bathroom towels w/ kitchen ones. I have not implemented the use of cloth toilet paper yet, as i am just finding out about it tonight. So currently, my bathroom towels & washcloths are not soiled, and i am trusting the warm/hot water and detergent to clean everything (i normally like to use Borax in the wash, which i think is sanitizing). After reading up on family cloths tonight, i’m convinced that i should start using them for pee only. My current living situation makes it tricky for me to use them for poo. Maybe in the future when i have a more permanent and private home, more of a routine, time & materials to set up a system, hotter water to wash with, etc.
Natlee

i think your all wird and odd god wants us to fine good ways to live and beter ways but this is new age crap and u best watch your self ha
soulflower

Of which God do you speak? In Deut. 23:12,13, God instructs His people that when they have to “use the bathroom”, as we say, that they were to find a place outside the camp, dig a hole with their shovel, poop in the hole, then cover it up. To follow your logic would mean that even wiping our butts is “new age”. And why would it be weird to use cotton and wash and reuse it (it’s softer, more comfortable, and much less wasteful)? Why would that be weird compared to our decimating the land with all our mass destruction of trees (consider the millions of trees sacrificed for our wiping our hands, mouths, and butts (paper towels, napkins, toilet tissue)? Are we not to be good stewards of the land that the Lord has entrusted to us? Big business and marketing have made people closed minded to that which is good and slaves to that which is most destructive. We are “watching ourselves”. I am constantly being guided, taught, and reproved by the Spirit of the living God (not by new age philosophies) about what i do with the Lord’s money and other resources.
soulflower

@Sara ~ By the way, i have, since reading your blog, implemented the use of family cloth. Been meaning to post an update on here. I use it for #1 and #2, although I’m not using it exclusively for either — which means i’m not using bathroom tissue exclusively for either. For #2, i usually use it as a backup to toilet tissue, like the wet wipes that i was sadly thinking i was gonna have to give up in the interest of frugality. This is much better than those commercial brand wet wipes, and much more comfortable — luxurious, even! — than toilet tissue. I’m using a 50/50 cotton/bamboo fleece. Also using a cut-up cotton t-shirt for pee. Bought the fleece before i found out about its water repelling properties, but it works for me. I soak it in warm water just before using, and like i said, it is luxurious. I also started using mama cloth. Wish i had started that a long time ago, but i didn’t know how economical it would be to start up. I always thought there were only like 1 or 2 companies that did mama cloth (of course, i didn’t know it by that name, so i wasn’t looking in the right places). Didn’t know about all the many women making it in their homes and selling it so inexpensively on eBay, etc. Mama cloth is wonderful! I see why when women switch to it, they don’t go back to disposable!
http://nzecochick.blogspot.com/ Madeleine Booth-Smits

Thanks for this post – great to know there are others out there like me. I wrote a similar post on my blog, please check it out on: http://nzecochick.blogspot.com/2011/06/oh-cloth-how-i-love-thee.html Have a great day. Sending cloth love from New Zealand, NZ Ecochick.
http://bestsolarworks.com Jannie Morentin

This is true for most people. Most people want to be eco-friendly but for the most part at least currently sometimes going green is not financially a good idea.
http://solarsoftnow.com Claude Russek

This is true for most people. Most people want to be eco-friendly but for the most part at least currently sometimes going green is not financially a good idea.
Zola

I’m really intrigued by this…

Your wet wipe solution…do you use a particular recipe or do you just sorta guess at the proportions for the ingredients?
Jess Schopflin

Wire baskets are great since they are lightweight and porous..

<a href="Most recent piece of content on our own website
http://www.caramoantravel.com/caramoan-hotels/
Eldridge Beshara

With the mention of Wine Baskets we immediately by association think of the larger select stores like Harrods who might provide such luxury gifts in a luxurious presentation. Many wine companies of course now offer Wine Baskets as part of their product branding campaigns and it has recently become a popular gift for all those who can afford it. It certainly is not beyond the reach of most people to afford a single bottle of wine in a small Wine Basket as a gift for a friend or colleague. On a corporate level Wine Baskets include a number of wines offering reds, whites, roses and champagne. Again prices vary according to the quality and provenance of the actual wines. Perfectly good wines however, are still within the reasonable price bracket and are proving satisfactory if not desirable gifts for many people.*

Most popular write-up produced by our very own online site
<.http://www.beautyfashiondigest.com/hydrolyzed-collagen/