I'm trying hard to break our reliance on them. I think I can manage without the paper napkins, but I don't know what I'll do without paper plates! I use them for cutting food up, for lunch, sometimes for dinner, for a quick funnel, etc...I tell myself that certainly using paper plates (1 1/2c each) is cheaper than running the dishwasher, right? My husband says no. Crap. I didn't want to hear that.
Well, I went to the dollar store the other day, looking for cloth napkins. Didn't find any. But I did find a big huge pack of cheapo wash cloths for 4 bucks. I thought...okay, I'll try them. Boy, did those babies shrink up when I washed them. I was okay with that, but they also looked a little 'pill-y'. Not happy about that. What did I expect for a wash cloth that costs less than a quarter?!
I have 36 wash cloths in various colors, only some of which are pictured below. (I bought colors that could go in lights, mediums and darks so we'd have them regardless of what were were currently washing). I figure that will last us at least 4 days. Three meals a day, three people, three cloths per day each. That way, when some are in the wash, some are in the napkin holder. Doesn't this look weird?
I'm surprised that I've used the same one all day today. I had originally planned on using one per meal. It didn't really bother me to use the same one, actually. I gave one to Tommy for dinner, thinking he'd balk at it, but he used it no problem. Actually seemed to like it. I figure since I've got them in all colors and because a wash cloth is so small, it will go into any load and not cost any more because it takes up so little space. I'm going to try really hard to keep using them. Paper towels, that's a little harder for me. I do use a kitchen towel when possible, but boy, for sticky, gross things, it sure is nice to have paper towels. I'm going to try really hard to get rid of the paper plates, too. Ugh. Out of all of this cutting back, I think this may be the hardest.
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This reminds me of what my hubby does, he learn this from his grandpa. When you use a paper towel to dry your hands off after washing them, he hangs the paper towel he just used back over the towel dispenser, drives my two daughters up the wall! Oh and when I was growing up, mothers use to wash/wipe-off aluminum foil so that they could re-use it, and your sandwiches were wrapped up in waxed paper. I just use my dish cloth for sticky hands but anything on the floor, gets paper towels used!
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of anyone hanging it back up. That's interesting. I did once know a lady who used to rinse off paper plates in an attempt to reuse them, LOL! Her kids used to throw them out when she wasn't looking! I'm with you....if it's on the floor...it's a paper towel.
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