Do you wash your reusable grocery bags?

Well, I kept meaning to, but just never got around to it.  Until today.  I was either really bored or really ambitious!  I remember reading a long time ago that the things were loaded with bacteria, but I guess we like to think we're cleaner than the next guy.  Welllll, maybe not.  I actually forgot to take a close-up pic of the dirt on the outside of the bags, but here's my jumbled mess hanging on a door hook.  I have about 10 of these babies and I really didn't realize just how acky they were until I inspected them better.

First, I removed the plastic inserts from the bottoms of each and cleaned them well with my homemade Schwindex.  Ugh!!  I had NO CLUE there was (what appears to be) dried blood on one of them! Blech!

I then washed the bags in hot water and bleach in the washing machine.  I used bleach because I wanted to kill any germs, not really caring if it changed the color of the bags (it didn't). It was easy to fit them all in the machine but I did find that I had to smash them down a few times because of air bubbles that were trapped inside.  The bags have somewhat of a water-proof quality to them, too.  When they were done, I dried them on low in the dryer for about 20 minutes.  They came out a little less stiff than they used to be, but I don't think that will matter much.  I put the inserts back in and folded them all.

Here's a quote I found online about reusable bags...
"There's no doubt they are a more eco-friendly choice than plastic, but reusable grocery bags have a shaky health history. In 2010, a study found that over half are contaminated with bacteria, some even with E. coli, because 97 percent of shoppers say they never wash their totes." 

I also found an article that said you should wash your bags EVERY time you use them, but that just seems silly to me.  Come on, people, it's not like I'm spilling blood in them every day.  Well, except for that one bag, ah-hem.  This same article said that bags should never be kept in the car because the warm temp was perfect for breeding bacteria.  Well, guess what?  I'm still keeping mine in my van, so ha! Breed away, little bacties!`I may actually wash them more often than once a year from now on though.

And one last little psycho-facto.  You see where I put our name on our bags with magic marker?  Why do I do that?  Am I worried that someone will steal my bags right out from under me at the bagging counter?  Nope!  Don't laugh...I used to be worried that the ladies at the registers would think they were new bags and that I was trying to sneak one by them, lol!  But I guess if I'm conscientious (one may substitute paranoid) enough to worry about that, I couldn't possibly be that bad, can I? 

Anyway, that's my little snippet about reusable grocery bags.  Do you wash yours?  Are you dying of E.coli?  :)  

Dryer sheets and why I'm mad at my husband for buying them!!!

You may remember that I've been attempting to lessen my family's dependence on paper products. They're expensive and wasteful, to be honest.  I guess I never really said anything about this, but since I've been making my own (insanely cheap) laundry soap and (semi-homemade) fabric softener, I  have dropped the dryer sheets altogether.  Sure, I know some people make their own and I have considered it myself, but I've found that we just don't need them anymore.  Our clothes are perfectly soft, really!  They have a very subtle, clean scent that I like.

Recently, my friend gave me some of her old clothes and they were obviously freshly washed.  (Thanks, Michelle!)  I was really surprised to find the smell over-powering!  I guess when you get used to a nice soft scent, you don't realize how strong the store-bought stuff smells.

When my husband came home with this box of dryer sheets, I immediately asked him to please return them to Aldi.  I'm mean like that.  His argument was that they were only $1.99, which is a fair price.  I agreed, BUT $1.99 is.........well, $1.99 more than I have been spending and frankly, they aren't necessary anymore.  In true hubby fashion, he waited a couple of days, then couldn't find his receipt! I'm sure Aldi's would gladly take them back; we're in the place 3 or 4 times a week.  Heck, we're on a first name basis with some of the employees!  I decided I didn't want my hubby to suffer the embarrassment of taking them back (yes, he finds this demoralizing), so I broke down and used them.  They actually smell really nice.  Strong, but nice.

So, in true cheap ass frugal fashion, I decided to cut them in half.  Like you really needed a picture for that, right?

My thinking was, if I'm going to use them, I'm going to make them go as far as possible.   A half sheet gives me a nice light scent at only 1 1/4c per load.  What do you do to save paper around your home?

I love paper products, but...

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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