Naturally Me | Non-paper towels

Our family buys paper towels...sometimes.  Those times when we think we justify needing them (but really don't) and  are convinced that a particular job just can't be done without them.  That's rarely...alright never...true.  Its a convenience, true but not a necessity!  The use of paper towels is less work for us, because throwing it out when we are done is the American way, right?  I have a feeling our forefathers and foremothers would laugh at us and ask us why we are just so lazy.  I do.

  Our solution is the "non-paper" towel, simple squares of cloth.  Nothing fancy, your cleaning with them after all!  Its a glorified rag people, I'm not going to lie, but these are reserved for kitchen/ food stuff in our house.  We have separate, larger ones for cleaning.

So wanna make your own non-paper towels? 

1.I used an actual paper towel as a template because I wanted them to fit on the paper towel dispenser, but really they can be any size you like.  You will need two squares of fabric per towel cut slightly larger than the template. I used one side cotton and one cotton flannel on some and all cotton on others.  You can use any fabric you want as long as its cotton or another natural fiber.  Using man made fibers (i.e. rayon, poly...etc.)  will not only be useless to you because they will not soak up anything and will only smear the mess, but over time unnatural fibers will start to stink.  (Same basic rule as cloth diapers if you are familiar with those).  As you can see, I used what I had laying around, so they are not beautifully matched.  But who cares, they are rags!

 2.Place two squares right sides together and sew with a 1/4 inch seam allowance, leaving a 2 inch opening.

3.Trim excess and snip corners.

 4. Turn right side out using the hole you left and press (or just finger press if you were feeling slightly lazy like me)

5. Sew around entire square this time, using a 1/4 inch seam allowance once again.

6. Continue until you have as many as you need.  20-30 make a nice size roll.  I know, I know, it sounds like a big number but you will get into your groove.

7. When you are finished with the sewing, either fold them nicely and store in the kitchen or roll them up to put on a dispenser.  This is accomplished by laying them in a line on the table and overlapping the ends.  That way when you roll them up they will hold each other together.

8. For washing instructions I would recommend a non-detergent soap (again, the same kind of stuff you would use for cloth diapers, although not as strict).  This will restrict the build up of soap in the material keeping it nice and absorbent.  If you don't have that soap in your house, try using vinegar and baking soda in the was with a little bit of dawn (or not).  The vinegar will also help strip the soap if you do find yourself with some build up. 
Tip. If you want the easy way out of this and/or are not that much into sewing.  Simply cut squares out of cotton flannel.  the flannel will not unravel and you can leave them simple and raw.
Tip 2.  For minimal sewing cut only one square and finish the edges.

Happy Sewing!