Why is kitchen roll so bloody expensive?

So are these and will last far longer than a pack of paper towels.

This stuff is cheap and good

Because its triple layered ultra absorbant large sheets

I don’t get why it’s more expensive than loo roll.

interesting, thank you

For cat sick etc, I scoop up the most solid part 🤢 with a box or tub from the recycling. Then use a couple of squares of loo roll to wipe up the messy bit

Don't rush to mop up cat sick. In my experience, I've found if you give them a few minutes, most of the time they'll eat it again. This discovery was accidental btw, after spotting the cat sick, going to find something to wipe it up with, only to find it gone, or being eaten by the cat who deposited it there.

I don't use kitchen roll. I use washable cloths, most of which are rags. I find that old school polo shirts are excellent, as are fleeces! All get washed when needed, bleached as necessary (occasionally) & chucked when they are done.

For cat sick etc, I scoop up the most solid part 🤢 with a box or tub from the recycling. Then use a couple of squares of loo roll to wipe up the messy bit!

For absorbing oil from cooked food, I either tip it & scoop/pour the oil into a tub or have occasionally been known to place a slice of bread on top. This can then go out for the birds.

For absorbing water from things I let them drip on a rack and/or use a tea towel (non-fluffy) which will get washed.

For napkins, we have cotton ones.

For windows I use newspaper.

It doesn't create much extra washing, just goes in with towels & together, when needed.

It's the same weirdness about people who seem to think that if you wash your dogs food bowl in the dishwasher, somehow it's going to contaminte the dishwasher and is gross and ewwwwwww

It's like... what makes them think their licked spoons are getting clean enough in a dishwasher to be used again, but that same dishwasher can't clean a bucket that has been in the garden for a day or two.

People are weird.

If we're adding one t-shirt a week, and your washing machine holds 20 t shirts, so let's say it's an additional 3 loads of laundry over a year? Let's say 30 loads over ten years. It won't be as much water and paper etc involved in buying paper towels for 10 years considering the fact that the treas must be cut down, the paper transported over the world and to supermarkets etc.

@BarbaraofSeville - washable items rarely all get washed in separate loads though.
For example reusable nappies, we washed Ds nappies obviously, but the butt cloth wipes went in same wash, as did the muslin cloths he had thrown up on or the bibs he dribbled on, or baby poopy clothes. Even if you didn’t use reusable nappies, you would still have baby other things that needed washing. Regardless it went in one wash load.

I wash all our cleaning cloths in same load as towels. It all gets washed at 60 and is fine. If I didn’t wash cleaning cloths, that wash load would still exist for towel wash so it’s not saving anything by not using.

Yep it's bloody crazy prices these days'

I agree, and some of us do talk about water wastage. Also that of electricity, detergent and other cleaning products. Some Mumsnetters have talked about bleach, shampoo, shower gel, fabric conditioner and other product usage that seems alarmingly high to me (imagine the massive factories producing all this stuff and the enormity of the plastic bottles left over).

But you can't be too clean, according to MN. There's a thread running where some people are showering 3 or 4 times a day and several have confidently stated that 'everyone' showers twice a day.

There's people unashamedly using their tumble dryers during the current hot, dry spell even though they could easily line dry.

But it does need to be borne in mind that some things do have to be used many many times for the environmental impact to be less than single use, shopping bags in particular. People have those jute bags, they need to be reused thousands of times before the environmental impact is less than a single use plastic bag, properly disposed of, eg reused as a bin bag for non recyclable rubbish that is incinerated so never ends up being dumped in the sea.

You might find this podcast interesting about the nappies (spoiler, reuseables are better for the environment when all factors are taken into account, but not by as much as you'd think, although I don't think they mentioned using them for more than one DC, which I think would be a given, because even if you only use them for one yourself, you'd sell or give them away when you've finished with them).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001md4l

I use the Morrisons saver range, it's only about £1.40, a giant roll. Lasts me ages. It's not quilted or fancy but does the job. There's no way I'd pay a fiver for it.

It does in the bigger picture. This is one example, but on many threads discussing different issues the 'go reuseable!' gets thrown about. Nappies, pads, etc.

I then marry this to the 'how many loads of laundry do you do' threads. Have a search, it's astonishing how many loads of separate washes people do a week.

Here's an example of one

It seems when it comes to what's good for the environement, no one talks about water wastage.

I'm waiting for the fallout from @Hercisback admitting to using cheeky wipes as household cloths after using them on kids bums, as if repeatedly washing them afterwards had no effect and she's now smearing diluted shit all over her surfaces.

LOL as if using around 3-5 small 6" square muslins a day would add significantly to your washing? It would add up to maaaaybe an extra t-shirt a week!

Some people are weird about re wearing clothes. Oh, that coat touched a fence post...wash it. You wore that jumper for an hour? Wash it. The cardigan you wore to cover up whilst answering the door to the postie? Wash!

I use maybe 1 or 2 kitchen rolls a year. Almost everything can be done with a clean cotton tea towel instead, or a dishcloth. As for wiping out greasy pans, I let them cool completely then scrape out the fat and put it out for the birds.

How much kitchen roll is anyone using to create 20 loads of washing a week?

Reusable wipes are excellent.

Dry counters with clean wipes.
Dry off oily stuff on a rack.
Pour fats into a jar or fat trap.

We don't have kitchen roll and haven't missed it in 5 years.

We have a stack of cheeky wipes, first used for kids bums and now household cloths.

Serviettes every meal.... I'm questioning what people are eating to need them.

I use kitchen roll for the odd greasy thing, but otherwise cloths, eg old towels cut up and overlocked for cleaning, old linen or cotton teatowels for glass and windows, and cotton bandanas to dry salad, fruit etc.

I make a stack of these out of junk mail advertising and use them for vegetable peelings etc. Very therapeutic and they cut down on paper towel use.

@PickAChew - ah ok. We have lots of cotton cloths leftover from Ds butt cleaning days.

@Caspianberg there are people upthread saying they use microfibre cloths. Those are plastic.

I have a stash of old tea towels, muslins (my youngest is 17!), knickers and so on that get used for various mucky jobs that I will wash out or dispose of, depending on what they've been used for - all cotton (no accounting for DH though who sneaks micrfibre cloths into the house, periodically!)

@PickAChew - plastic cloths? Why would you be using those? I just use cotton flannels or muslin depending.

Home bargains have some really thick kitchen roll, it lasts for ages. Reasonable price too....£1.20 i think???