Not too many generations ago our ancestors did not use paper products. I refer to this argument on most of the issues we write about in this blog because the point of what we’re doing is “getting back to the land” and looking at what our grandparents did that we are no longer doing as a society. Cloth toilet wipes are more comfortable and effective, reusable and don’t take up much extra water when doing laundry. Additionally, we’re cutting out all the resources that were required in making that package of toilet paper, which could include the same amount of water we now need to wash them, processing the paper, plastics for packaging… etc. You get the idea.
Ben and I have been against paper products for at least as long as we’ve known each other. And replacing my feminine products last year with organic cotton washable ones was a simple switch for me. The only disposable product we still use is toilet paper, and this weekend we’ve put a stop to it. (We were on our last roll anyway.)
We’ve been saving some old T-shirts of Ben’s that we could use to cut up into squares or “sheets” of toilet cloth. I figure if I do the laundry about once per week we will only need about 40 or 50 squares. Laying the T-shirts out, I started to cut 6″ x 6″ squares and put them aside. Then, I dusted off the old sewing machine my mother gave me and did a little reading about the overlock stitch. I needed something to prevent the edges from falling apart when washed; the overlock stitch would work for this.
At first I tried doing a one-ply sheet and had Ben test it out. It worked fine but I thought two-ply might be nicer and last longer. All the sheets are now two-ply. I made cloths from both light-colored shirts and dark-colored shirts; light for pee, dark for poo… No need to worry about staining. :)
What do you do with the soiled cloths? There are a couple of ways you can store them after use. This link described using a “wet bag” to leave them in until you were ready to do laundry. Another resource that Ben read a long time ago noted something about having a container with a water and vinegar solution to soak them in, then wash them with the rest of your laundry. If you search around for how to use cloth diapers, there are several sites that say you can use vinegar or baking soda to neutralize odors and bacteria in between laundry days.
I don’t have a wet bag laying around (but there are tons of pretty ones for sale on Etsy!) so I found an empty container from our kitchen that has a screw-on flip top lid. I filled it about half way with 1 part vinegar and 3 parts water with a few drops of Dr. Bronner’s lavendar soap for a nice scent.
Laundry day is coming up and I’m curious to see how the cloths hold up. We’ve gone two days now without using regular toilet paper… I’ll save that last roll for uncomfortable guests. :)
