Here are some other eco-friendly and green living type posts on the website you may enjoy: What Did Ladies Do About Their Periods in the Olden Days? PLUS!

15 Ways to Use Your Eggshells—-Don’t Throw Them Away! Leave me a comment and I’ll try to get back to you ASAP! There are LOTS of options so don’t worry! :-)  We even use them as napkins now! In her spare time, she gardens, reads, horseback rides, and has a small homestead with goats and ducks. These are basically towels that you can wash and reuse instead of wasting paper towels like crazy.

Every little thing helps, right? He gave me "The Look." As you do your laundry, just toss them in! Danielle lives in Maryland with her three young sons and her husband, Brandon. How To Make DIY Unpaper Towels: Wash and dry your fabric to pre shrink it. How to Make Reusable Paper Towels 1. If you are concerned about fraying, just sew along the edge before using! No worries! Subscribe to her newsletter to get blog updates, free patterns and other printables by clicking here. I like to keep things simple! Whip up or cut up some smaller cloths to use as napkins while you’re making these! It really does look nice sitting on the counter by the sink! Now onto the last step: creating a sturdier version of the cardboard tube that holds paper towels in place. If your towels are unused from the store, wash them first in case they shrink or change a bit. Don’t use fabric softener or a detergent with fabric softener when you wash them… these products cause the fabric to be less absorbent. These are reusable, work great, are easy to clean and keep on hand.

Measure and cut.. Measure two pieces of 10” x 15” fabric (this can be an absorbent piece and a linen, two absorbent... 2. I didn't know if I would be, actually. Many people use alternatives to paper towels… using a washable product that you can reuse makes more sense! But these came right off. Danielle Pientka is the sewing and DIY blogger behind DIYDanielle.com.

Please share and pin this post! When you’re trying to decide if the item will work well, put a few drops of water on the fabric. Edgestitch all around towel. Since I threw them in the dryer to be extra tough on them, maybe they will do better if I hang them out to dry. But I am seriously not concerned either way. If the water beads up and rolls off, it won’t. Reusable paper towels, often called unpaper towels, are what our grandparents called dish cloths. Many of you probably own dish cloths but don’t use them exclusively. But he agreed. 3) Unpaper towels help our planet!

(That’s on my bucket list of things to learn how to do, though.) If you upcycle something such as bed linens, they might not fare well in a hot water cycle. 6) I can cut them into different sizes (which I did), for different things. Repeat, making desired number of towels. But you have LOTS of other options if you don’t sew! It's so easy to make your own Unpaper Towels! View my full legal disclosures here.Please read the whole post so you don’t miss any important information! I used both just to test them out. No sweat.

Find out how to make unpaper towels and why you should consider using and re-using cloth instead of trees. I had to reach the point where I was just so sick and tired of wasting lots of dollars ($19 for a bundle of paper towels at Costco every few weeks) on paper towels, and feeling a tad sick about the waste of the trees it took to make the paper towels too. What are reusable paper towels and how do I use them? I have, in the past, added snaps or Velcro to connect them; this allowed me to roll them around the paper towel holder. Did you have any other questions? You can also tag me on Instagram @doityourselfdanielle; I love seeing everything you make! I may get motivated to sew them up one day....we will see. heidivillegas@healingharvesthomestead.com, Privacy Policy, Affiliate Disclosures, Disclaimers. Here are other articles you may just enjoy too: The Green Living Homestead: Ways to Help the Earth, Save Money, and Be Even More Self-Reliant. Personally, I sew my own unpaper towels using two layers of flannel cut about 10″ square. Have a handy container (I use a different cute basket under my sink) to hold the dirty towels. I half suspected we would be right back to wasting our paper towels again. 7) Did I say they save a ton of money? I have one next to the kitchen sink. You know---the one that says, "Another cray-cray idea, babe?" BUT, I have since sewed up the edges on some new ones, and they are the BOMB!

FTC Disclosure: There are affiliate links scattered throughout this article. While sewing these items is ideal to prevent them from fraying in the wash, you can cut up lots of older fabric items and use them for reusable paper towels! Green living. However, I am very pleased to say that my husband got right on board (he loves saving money---who doesn't? The small cloths are perfect to wipe fingers and faces during dinner, but don’t take up as much space in the wash! Pin the two fabric pieces together and sew.. Clip corners and turn RS out; press. Fold them neatly and place them into your cute basket. So...I hate to say this, but I will probably be breaking out my sewing machine to sew up the edges next time I make these! You can check the wash label too on the item you want to cut up/upcycle. Then cut out the individual towels. Cut your fabric into strips and then squares {see below for options} Sew a zigzag stitch around the edge of each rag if using a regular sewing machine. This is how they compare size-wise to one of those little paper towels---You know--the kind that allows you to just pull off a little paper towel, instead of the regular size. I hope you will consider giving these a try! I love, love, love cute things! The one thing to remember is that washing machines can’t wash solids so shake them out over the garbage can if you have Cheerios or whatnot stuck to them. Lay them out flat, and cut them in fourths. Although I do have a sewing machine, I admit to using it only once. I don't think they would have frayed much at all if I had hung them to dry.

Reusable paper towels are basically mini cloth towels that attach together (I used the snap method on mine) so you can still have them in a roll on your counter and keep them accessible. Sigh, So, when I ran across the idea of "unpaper" towels, I was intrigued! ", Don't get me wrong! They’ll break down over time, but they’ll work for a little while! Green living. Plus, I Have Some Free Stuff for You! If it absorbs, it’ll work great! Find out how you can make your own cloth “paper” towels. Step 7: Create Paper Towel Dowel. Go Green! And I am SO glad I tried this! Put the two pieces on top of each other, pretty sides facing each other, and pin them … EDIT:  After two or three washes, the threads are still coming out on some of the towels! Slipstitch opening closed. You’ll also get free access to the Resource Library, which is a growing collection of short eBooks, guides, checklists, cheat sheets, and more to help you in your homestead and self-reliance journey! Get the Newsletter & Never Miss a Thing! Yay!

Plus, they are expensive, and I figured this would just be one more way to save some coin! These save you a TON of money! Layer fabrics. 2) Where to put dirty towels—- This was easily solved.

how to make a mason jar candle, how to make a beeswax candle, how to make a mason jar beeswax candle, how to make a candle that actually works, Steps to make a candle, diy beeswax candle, clothes for winter, winter clothes, clothes to keep you warm, warm work clothes, warm outdoor work clothes, clothes you need in the snow, insulated clothes for cold, insulated clothes, winter gloves, winter hat for extreme cold. SCORE! For each towel: Cut one 12"x 13" of flannel and terry cloth. I’m going to assume you don’t have a ton of dish cloths… if you do, use those (wink).

She’s been sewing everything from ecofriendly items to kids products to clothing since, as it has become a passion. Find out how you can make your own cloth “paper” towels.

Running low on paper towels and not sure what to do? Here is how much they frayed after a wash and a good dry in the dryer. I prefer to wash them on hot to kill any bacteria.

Well, as I mentioned above, I don't sew. I just got another basket and kept it under the counter for the dirty ones. For dirty unpaper towels, I use a wet bag like this DIY kitchen wet bag. Serge all raw edges if using a serger. Here is my experience making Unpaper Towels! ), I got used to it too, and we are using NO paper towels wastefully any more. (See EDIT below:  You may want to consider sewing up those edges after all!). Keep the basket near places you would usually use paper towels! All wash/dry settings are what I use for my flannel unpaper towels though… so keep this in mind. Win-win-win!!! So first of all,.....I had to tackle Mr. V. I explained the concept to my husband, and  I asked him if he would be willing to try out these reusable towels. I am a tad lazy when it comes to making some things....like those ultra cute items that only crafty people can make. No biggie. 5) Easy to clean and fold up---takes no time at all! I just took the chance with the two types of cloths. Any bag will do though! Repeat! Very versatile!

Let me know what you think in the comments—— Have you made your own unpaper towels?

(Green Ideas), How to Bake the BEST Buttermilk Biscuits from Scratch, 50+ Items I Never Buy at the Store Any More and Make Instead. Zero waste. This article is all about going green with your use of paper towels! Old kitchen towels OR 100% cotton flour sack dish towels. Some tutorials use PVC pipe, but when I went to my local hardware store to buy some I realized I had to buy an 8 foot pole and ask them to …

Instructions for DIY paper towels First wash and dry your fabric according to the instructions Next, iron it to get rid of wrinkles Lay the fabric out on a flat surface and use an existing paper towel as a template and trace it on the fabric. You can learn about how to make unpaper towels in my ebook, How to Sew Cloth Diapers and other Ecofriendly Products, or you can check out my post about DIY Reusable Paper Towels. She taught herself to sew in 2011 when she wanted to make cloth diapers for her first son. Follow manufacturer’s directions, and apply snaps to each corner. Easy to do.

They’re pretty simple to wash. Generally I throw them in with my weekly load of towels. These save you a TON of money! This post contains affiliate links which may earn me commissions should you click through them and take certain actions. Yes, there was some---but not too big a deal. Any bag will do though! Paper wouldn’t be able to withstand washing so these can’t be made with paper. And I REALLY wish I had that kind of talent…, But I just don't have the “cute” gene. #howtomake #gogreen #green #zerowaste #unpaper #towels #reusable #healingharvesthomestead #savemoney. Here they are all folded in my cute basket. 3) Fraying. So here is my version of EASY Unpaper Towels---No sew. I admit. It wasn't like going completely cold turkey on the paper towels, right? She hopes to inspire other moms to take time for themselves to find their own creative passion. Easy to do.

Put your sides face to face and pin along the … Visit her shop to buy patterns or her sewing eBooks. It's so easy to make your own Unpaper Towels! For dirty unpaper towels, I use a wet bag like this DIY kitchen wet bag. P.S. To make him a bit more comfortable, I took our paper towel roll, which used to sit by the sink, and I moved it far away across the kitchen---that way, he could still grab one if he really felt the need! Stick around on my blog- you’ll learn how to make beeswax food wraps, DIY cloth diapers, and more! These are also called “unpaper towels” or more commonly, dish cloths. I am just not crafty.