Paper towels, one way to reduce cost is to use something that isn't just once

I use them both for different reasons. Sometimes the paper towel is better other times the dish towel or cloth rag. However, I have to wonder - which is more environmentally safer? the water that is used to wash the cloth towels vs. the trees to create the paper towels. Electricity to wash and dry the cloth towels vs. dispose of biodegradable substance. Do we replace the trees, or create larger water supply.. things like that. Over use of one or the other have both their goods and bads... I just do the best I can, at the most safe, yet frugal way I can. I use paper towels when I do the heavy cleaning of the kitchen as I have just not found dish towels or the like to be as absorbant of greasey residue. But just to wipe down a counter after washig it off after use, I'll use the kitchen towel. I also wonder about germs being spread more with the cloth towels. The cloth absorbs the germs and there they stay until you use the towel again and spread the germs. Use them once and drop into the laundry basket... seems like alot of water usage for washing so many. But when washing the cars - it is cloth all the way... even to do windows. But when I clean the toilet it is paper towels.

Yes, using old towel and wash clothes. I can't remember the last time I bought paper towels. Or napkins for that matter. Junk food place's napkins are in great supply around here. Haha.

We use papertowels but not an excessive amount. They are primarily used for spills and then thrown away. They are also good when the cat or dog make a mistake. I do have rags that are used to dust or clean bathrooms. The best rag I have used in my life were old cloth diapers. I now use a pair of old sweatpants that were full of holes and ready to be tossed out in the trash. I cut them up into smaller pieces and use all over the house. They are easy enough to wash and reuse. My husband does the grocery shopping so I have no idea how much papertowels cost.

I use clothes at my client's place. Now, she got some paper towels so that I can drain fried foods. While I was sick, she had to go hide the paper towels from the other helpers.

That is what I do when we run out of paper towels, but my husbadn doesn't like it..Probably because he uses many at each meal and leaves them lying around the house.. He hates using rags, even though it saves us money..

I am not sure why I didn't respond to this earlier as I do remember reading this. I was watching a funny video once where someone cut a roll of paper towels in half as a joke that her mother would do this (not sure if it's true or not). Well that's actually not that bad of an idea, I mean if you don't want to cut the towel they make paper towels now that are half the size of a regular paper towel and still do the trick. One thing I frown upon is Kleenex's new papertowels for the bathroom. I find it just ridiculous to even make these, but I am sure someone has bought them. A hand towel works just as well, and that is what a hand towel is made for, drying your hands off after use. Another thing, sort of unrelated, is using a dryer sheet to reduce odors in the bathroom, put one in the trash can, you can cut it in half or in thirds, and it can also be used for dusting as it's supposed to keep dust from resettling. I've seen that it's helped dust from resettling a bit (not entirely but enough).

Hi writersedge. You make an excellent point: using disposable paper towels may not be the best thing for the environment, plus, the cost probably isn't too good. But, I must confess that I use paper towels to wipe down the kitchen as I think it's more sanitary. It has really cut down on colds and flu bugs for us. But I know I need to change this habit as it's not good for the environment. Plus, I have plenty of ktchen cloths and other types of tea towels and hand towels that I could be using.

I never use paper towels. I would buy maybe one or two rolls to use the entire year. My husband always uses them for everything, and he says the regular tissue isn't strong enough and uses them for blowing his nose too. I finally insisted on buying him handkerchiefs so we wouldn't be wasting the paper towels.