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.

I prefer using tissues. One use, get rid. Much more hygienic than carrying a warm parcel of snot all day. 🤮

Because it’s really grim

As is reusable sanpro/cloth nappies etc.

Because people who tend to use them are unhygienic and don’t put them in the washing basket after use, but use them several times.

Bexause when I was a child I was made to use them. I had to have the same one all day, and tuck it up my sleeve after id used it. Gross.

I use hankies more than tissues - I always need to wipe my nose when I'm out and about and hankies are more available.

Some delicate flowers on this thread (actually, not just this one!)

@Mandalay246

Some delicate flowers on this thread (actually, not just this one!)

Yup and many people use cloth masks and are fighting for their right to keep wearing a dirty piece of fabric over their face which is unhygienic for all the same reasons as a handkerchief is ...chucked in a bag between uses during the day, covered in bacteria because of the moisture especially once you've sneezed on it, enjoy people

Yes but you dont blow your nose into your cloth mask, then put it back on, do you. Its defo not the same.

My partner uses cotton handkerchiefs . I don’t iron them though! I actually prefer them when I’ve got a cold. Wouldn’t use them day to day though.

@Letsallscreamatthesistene

Yes but you dont blow your nose into your cloth mask, then put it back on, do you. Its defo not the same.

Lots of people are forced to sneeze into their mask and keep it on whilst doing so, so not that different!

@Letsallscreamatthesistene

Yes but you dont blow your nose into your cloth mask, then put it back on, do you. Its defo not the same.

You sneeze in it though and cough in it. It is the same

My dh uses cotton hankies.
My df used to use them too.

My mother has a large collection. It used to be a popular gift - a nice set of embroidered hankies.
I stopped using them because of the faff of boiling them. DH used them for several years after we got married and I had a special hanky boiling saucepan. They then had to be ironed. I was so glad when I persuaded him to use tissues.

I just run them through a hot wash alongside towels and bed lined. Never boiled them in a pan and were still all alive!

Seriously? You like to spend time with a snotty, germ-laden rag in your bag or pocket and then launder it? Rather than use an immediately disposable paper tissue? Yuk.

As is reusable sanpro/cloth nappies etc.

How is a mooncup grim? It's a sterilisable silicon cup that is easily cleaned between uses and blood is flushed away down the loo. I think it's actually much less grim than a single use pad or tampon that sits in your bathroom bin.

i always wash my hands after sneezing.
my dm used to boil wash them

at least you wouldnt get a washing full of tissues which happens more often than not in my house

@longwayoff

Seriously? You like to spend time with a snotty, germ-laden rag in your bag or pocket and then launder it? Rather than use an immediately disposable paper tissue? Yuk.

This! Totally grossed out by anyone carrying around a used handkerchief.

They give me the heebie jeebies.

Snot should be blown into a tissue and put in the bin, not carried around in your pocket all day long 🤢

I also don't like masks and cannot wait until they're no longer a "thing". I think they're gross too.

I do. So much better for the environment than paper tissues. I have cloth napkins too.

Ah. We still have cloth napkins - but we tend not to blow our noses on them.

i use a disposable mask,
which finds it way home from work

I remember my grandma had a big metal iron bucket/pan that was used exclusively for boiling hankies on top of the stove. Was quite grim.

@crouchendtiger12 it isnt though. Dripping with snot after you've blown your nose isnt the same as a cough or a sneeze.

When I saw the thread title, I thought this is why I love Mumsnet!
I agree hankies are due a revival. I have some in a drawer somewhere and should dig them out. I think you need an awful lot of them to always have some available. We bought a load of cheap flannels when the DC were little to wipe sticky fingers and faces rather than use wipes and just threw them in the washing machine after use.