Why did cotton handkerchiefs go out fashion?

[AfternoonToffee]

I am in the process of emptying my mother in law's house and have just washed and ironed a pile of her handkerchiefs. Some very pretty ones - embroidered flowers, lace, her initials etc, which will have been well used in the past.

I finished off, walked out the kitchen grabbing a paper tissue as I left. Hardly anyone uses handkerchiefs nowadays, yet the likes of period pants and reusable san-pro very much are. Why did we stop? Why did we start using paper tissue en masse? Figures are hard to come by - but it seems in 2019 the UK spent £179 million on facial and cleansing tissues - that is a lot of waste.

For the US it is estimated that the population uses 255,360,000,000 tissues a year. I know in the middle of a pandemic is perhaps not the best time but is the next eco turnaround this?

I will try and use them - if not all the time there are times I easily could.

Probably because catch it, bin it, kill it isn't really a necessary concept for periods

Unhygienic. FIL once used his dirty one to wipe 6 month old Dd's face before I had the chance to stop him 🤢

I don't think they are any worse than flannels, pants, washable nappies, muslins or sanpro. As long as you chuck them in the wash after use it's no problem! I don't like the thought of having a cold snotty hanky stuffed up my sleeve all day but happy to use them at home when they can go straight in the wash.

Because they are minging after one use and they make your nose even more sore when you have a bad cold.

I've used cotton hankies for over 20 years now, ever since reading an article about the environmental impact of our immense consumption of paper tissues. The amount of energy and water used was horrifying. I think it's a really easy way to reduce your impact on the environment just a little.

I take a clean hankie every day (or more often if need be) and only use paper hankies when I have a really bad cold. In my experience very often when people use a paper hankie they put in their pocket not in the bin and may well reuse it later so I'm not convinced that they are more hygienic than real hankies.

I use them at night and around the house as it’s easy to change them. I pre wash them in boiling water as well. They are the only thing I boil wash.
I did read a blog ages about a young woman who started using hankies. She had two small but different make up bags in her hand bag, one for the clean hankies and one for the used so she never had a manky hanky in her pocket. I thought that was a really good system

My OH used them though I have never got round to it, I know they are probably better interns if softness etc

I do use muslins fir work instead of paper towels and carry a flannel to use instead of paper towels in the loo as they are better for my eczemry skin

not in our house!

You make a good point OP. I have reusable pads for my period but don’t use hankies (though I do own some). Why?!? My brother always carries at least two (in his twenties) so I don’t think they’re out of fashion just yet.

I get allergic rhinitis, hayfever and sinusitis a lot and find cotton hankies much gentler. Keep a bag of them handy in the same way as a box of tissues and have another bag especially for the dirty ones which will all get a good wash together.
If I was full of a grotty cold or worse I'd probably switch to tissues for a bit.

🤮
DH occasionally tries to use one but I just throw them away instead of washing them.

I remember when the other kids at school called them snot rags. Still gives me the ick even now.

I grew up with cotton hankies and have never stopped using them. Don’t like the feel of tissues on my nose. I have a huge stash of hankies (mine and my late mother’s collections combined) but almost all are 20+ years old because you can’t buy them anywhere. A few are original ones from when I was a child. At one point I recycled some old shirts to make some new ones though.

Gross, yuk, why would you want a snotty crusty boogie germ filed cloth in your pocket. My MIL once got out her disgusting hanky to wipe my child's nose. I was shocked. No no just no.

People got rich enough to buy tissues!

How about a HankyBook? 😊

hankybook.com/

In my handbag I have a packet of disposable tissues and a a clean cotton hanky.

Tissues are for snot, blood, anything that needs to be disposed of straight away.

Cotton hanky tends to be used for tears. Wiping but no blowing my nose. Catching a cough or sneeze in, not that I sneeze outwardly I always do that funny closed mouth, closed eyes and mouse shrieking noise. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I've also used a clean cotton hanky to wipe DS's face but then it just goes straight in the wash.

They gross me out, the thought of walking around with a pocket full of snot wrapped in a hankie .

Then the thought of washing them and the hope they come out clean and not all stuck together!!

They are no worse than period pants or reusable nappies… I agree OP and have started to use them again.

@lightningpeach

They gross me out, the thought of walking around with a pocket full of snot wrapped in a hankie .

Then the thought of washing them and the hope they come out clean and not all stuck together!!

And yet people walk around with a nose full of snot and seem ok with that.

Cotton table napkins (not posh, never ironed) are my lockdown legacy as 4 people 3x day were going through too much single use paper.
But paper tissues are for removing and disposing of nasties, not for waving from train windows or wafting smelling salts!
I’d like to see the hanky mob in a public toilet that’s run out of paper…

Ugh snot rags. My mum hated them and I'm afraid I do too. Tissue and bin here.

I love a clean, pure cotton hanky (as does my young ds).
I use “men’s” ie: nice and big version. As pps have explained, great for runny noses/eyes - I have hay fever and allergic rhinitis.
Even for a very snotty cold, large hanky lasts for a while and is much softer. Would tend more to tissues whilst out of house for this but a hanky at home.
Apologies, but much better than tissues for a funeral where you know you will be crying a lot - no bits of damp tissue on face/black clothes.
So much more eco friendly. One of the very few things I iron.

Unhygienic?

I’d like to see the hanky mob in a public toilet that’s run out of paper…

I would use one of the tissues from the pack I keep in my handbag for this sort of thing. Wouldn’t you?