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Sanctimonious Dishcloth Rant

In a move that apparently makes me horrifically old-fashioned (if any of my peers are indications), I admit to being quite attached to cleaning my counters with actual dishcloths.  If I spill something that is a bigger job than a cloth can handle, I grab an old tea towel and soak it up. Everything tosses into the washer. To me, this makes perfect sense.

For whatever reason, it seems like most people I know use some version of a freakin' babywipe to sweep down their counters. And god forbid a glass of wine upends on the counter or kitchen floor...out come the paper towels - a whole roll in the service of mopping up something that could just as easily have been sucked into washable, reusable towel.

When did we become such creepy germophobes?  Has anyone ever seen any studies that show that moms who use bleach-infused wipes have kids with fewer bouts of sickness than those who use a dishcloth - maybe even a cloth that is a day past its prime and might need to head to the laundry?  (This isn't rhetorical - if you know of a study, let me know...I've never found one.) Is it really more convenient to go to the store to buy a plastic package of countertop-babywipes, find said wipes under the sink, rip out seven or eight, use them to clean, and then recycle the plastic package when they are all out, than it is to wash and fold a few cloths and towels? 

Really?

-Heather...off to stop feeling sanctimonious, but still puzzled...
Posted by: tmeronek on 09/28/2007
related tip
Yep. Next time your kitchen counter's wet, reach for a cloth instead of a paper towel. You'll save a lotta paper - including the small, green kind that fits in your wallet.
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Liz  on September 28, 2007 at 11:48 AM 21
I started using washcloths a few years ago when a friend padded a wedding gift of stained glass in about 20 cheapo washcloths from Target. You can buy these for dirt cheap in bulk (although I wish they were organic- someday when I'm richer) They are SO much better than PT. They actually mop stuff up and if you have too much for one cloth you can actually (get this) squeeze it into the sink and mop up MORE. Woah. They get used from everything from counter wipe-down to dog-vomit clean up. We keep used ones in a pile for laundry day and those get used for the grosser deals (see above) so that we are creating less to wash. These are the ONLY items in our household that don't get washed on cold. Throw a little white vinegar into the wash with them to deodorize and sanitize and voilla- nobody can tell what was used for what.
Abigail  on September 28, 2007 at 01:09 PM 22
We use car detailing cloths - also known as microfiber cloths - which we get, cheap, from CostCo. They are made to be absorbent and hold much more liquid than either washclothes or dishrags, or paper towels for that matter. Another bonus is that the fibers scrub and capture all kinds of dirt particles. When I want to clean the countertops (ours are tile) I dampen one of the cloths, wipe up, and polish - leaves them clean and shining with only a bit of water used instead of nasty stuff. I also use them for cleaning the entire kitchen, the bathrooms, dusting most of the woodwork and the furniture (they can scratch a fine finish so I use more expensive microfibers for cleaning our nice furniture), cleaning the windows, floors, the inside of the car -- and when they get grubby beyond redemption, they move into the garage to be used a rags for cleaning up the bikes, the tools, and finally for their intended use as car detailing cloths. I estimate that the cloths have cost us a total of $24 over five years. We have saved untold dollars on paper towels and toxic cleaning products, and have no dead rivers and oceans on our conscience.
Hazel  on September 28, 2007 at 01:37 PM 23
My paper towels last longer than a week as I DO use a tea towel or dishcloth most of the time. But the cost of washing those cloths vs the cost of paper towels leaves me wondering which path to go. green or what? Long before paper towels what ever did we use to dry up the bacon grease? Nothing because we didn't worry about how much fat we consumed. I think that is our problem today, we worry to much about germs. My gramma used to say that we all eat a peck (as in a bushel & a peck)dirt before we die, as she lived to a ripe old age.
Wayne  on September 28, 2007 at 01:52 PM 24
See my post above about costs and energy used to make paper towels. If every household in the U.S. replaced just one roll of 120 sheet virgin fiber paper towels with 100% recycled ones, we could save: * 1 million trees * 2.6 million cubic feet of landfill space, equal to over 3,800 full garbage trucks * 367 million gallons of water, a year’s supply for 2,800 families of four * and avoid 38,000 tons of pollution! (From Seventh Generation's website) Now. Recycling paper uses about 60% of the energy and water as making it new. Also since paper fibers breakdown with every recycle, it can only be reused a few times before the fibers must be discarded and new material added. According to this page: http://www.etsa-europe.org/Etsa-Europe.org/news/documents/ETSALCAbrochur... Paper towels cause 250% the environmental burden of "continuous roll cotten towels" used in European washrooms. That includes the cost of washing and distributing the cotton towels. With recycled content paper towels, the burden drops to 200% of what cotton causes. Not an exact comparison but closest that I can find so far.
Brian  on September 28, 2007 at 02:37 PM 25
This has been an interesting day of comments and I agree with most of it. NEW Soap Box. Saving land fill space, trucking costs, fuel consumption, water, co2 produced ... but trees are not cut down to make paper towels. Pulp is a byproduct of lumber. Pulpwood comes from the knotty topwood of trees that will not make boards or from plantations of eucalyptus that is mowed for fiber and re-sprouts prolifically. Recycling and reducing paper consumption is good for the environment but it does not "save trees".
Wayne  on September 28, 2007 at 03:37 PM 26
Every link on commercial virgin paper making processes list chipping logs as the first step in the process at the paper mill. A few are: http://wi.essortment.com/paperhowismad_rrfn.htm http://www.forestprod.org/cdromdemo/pf/pf8.html http://www.tappi.org/paperu/all_about_paper/paperMade.htm Using wood pulp from other lumber processes, legally qualifies as recycled pre-consumer waste products. http://www.newleafpaper.com/terminology.html Now, in the United States, most forestry is fairly sustainable and we have more forest land now than we did in 1920. But a lot of wood is being imported from other countries that aren't as sustainable. But even if 100% of all paper was made with caste off wood fibers, the fossil fuel and water usage alone justifies in phasing it out of your life as much as possible.
Joy  on September 28, 2007 at 05:01 PM 27
I don't use paper towels or dish clothes to wipe my counters - I use those little germy wipe things. However, I rarely used a dish cloth or sponge to wipe down my counters even before Germ Wipes were invented. I don't like the germs. One person stated that "I think that is our problem today, we worry to much about germs." I have to disagree. Germs, especially those in the kitchen, can and will make you very sick. Ever think you just had the stomach flu? It would not have been unusual for it to have been food poisoning - from your own kitchen. At any rate, I know we are talking more about paper towels. I would like to get my hands on the recyled ones - it's a start.
Leilani  on September 29, 2007 at 07:58 AM 28
Want a great absorbent, soft cloth for every use in your house? Cloth baby diapers.
Kay  on September 29, 2007 at 12:04 PM 29
We use cloth dishcloths, cloth diapers, etc. is green style to wash and reuse. Why are we ladies flushing all that TP, is it taboo to use a cloth wipe at least some of the time, its not as gross as you first might thing. Also don't throw out those old cotton T-shirts. They work perfectly for lots of chores. I, for one, will not spend the high dollar prices for something I can salvage. Go Green!
Lucy Grimm  on September 30, 2007 at 06:44 AM 30
Why not add to this the use of cloth napkins. I greatly prefer cloth napkins (cotton or linen), always use them, never iron them, just fold them neatly. We only use paper napkins when there are lots of samll children around.
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