Simple Unpaper Towels
Ok, this is not a novel ideal or project. We all know that the amount of trash the average American generates is both astronomical and unsustainable, but one of the things I’ve had the hardest time letting go of us disposable paper towels! We’ve used washcloths and kitchen rags, but they always seem to develop a gross smell no matter how I try to take care of them, and it’s awfully hard to resist the allure of a disposable paper towel when your toddler has made his 30th food mess of the day.
Enter: Unpaper towels. The idea is obvious; replace disposable paper towels with cloth. However, I really wanted to make sure that I would actually use these, unlike my drawer full of washrags. So, I thought about what makes me keep reaching for paper towels. The answer was a) their small size (I like the half sheet ones) and b) the fact that they don’t result in a smelly, ugly rag hanging around my kitchen all day.
My lightbulb moment was when I remembered the gorgeous Warp and Weft Toweling by Ruby Star Society. This fabric is thin enough to dry easily and quickly, yet thick enough to absorb and clean up spills. It has a slightly abrasive texture that makes it really easy to scrub something dried on well as well. It’s also pre-hemmed on each side, which makes actually creating the towels a snap! Here’s how to do it:
1) Decide on how big you want your towels to be. I wanted pretty small, skinny ones. The toweling material is 16” wide, so I cut 10” strips, assuming I’d lose about 1” to hemming.
2) Iron the raw edges over about 1/4”, then another 1/4” to create a raw edge-free seam. I like to tuck the corners in a bit at the end so they don’t poke out of the finished towel.
3) Sew along the hem, starting at the vertical edge so the entire thing is tacked down. We want these towels to hold up through lots of wear, tear, and washing so make sure these seams are secure!
4) Repeat on the other side of the towel, then woohoo - you’re done! I made a set of 10 of these in about half an hour, and I was thinking we may need more. However, we’ve been using these 10 for the last couple months, and they’ve been fantastic! I make sure to rinse the towel out pretty thoroughly after I use it and then just hang it over my kitchen faucet. Then the next time that day I need it, it’s already dry! At the end of the day I toss it in the washing machine (if dry; if it’s still a bit wet I’ll lay it over the edge so it can dry overnight). The key is to make sure that you take advantage of how fast the toweling dries so that it doesn’t stay wet and damp - yuck!
If you want an even lighter weight towel, you could use Robert Kaufman’s Essex Linen. I really love the weight of the Warp and Weft toweling though, and highly recommend it.
