To wonder why hankies haven't made a comeback?

[Eestar]

The world is so eco friendly and waste conscious now... plastic straws are out with the dinosaurs, light bulbs have completely changed since my childhood, and using plastic bags seems almost punishable by law... Some of my braver friends have even embraced cloth nappies.

With all of this in mind, using single-use paper tissues just to blow your nose seems such a waste, with an easy and obvious solution - so why are hankies not more of a 'thing' by now??

Id be wondering what the cause of this is to he honest more than which tissue he is using, just a thought when i read your post.

Beat me to it.

I own some handkerchiefs but I only use them when I'm going someplace where I expect to be crying like a wedding or a funeral. I never use them to blow my nose.

My late OH went back to using them. He was on oxygen for 3 years and had to wipe his nose many times a day to keep the nasal cannula clean unblocked. Using tissues was causing pain and bleeding from how rough it was on already irritated skin so we got him some extra soft hankey's to use and it made a big difference.

I was fine handling them to wash as it was just normal everyday stuff on them but I'd be a bit squicked at washing them if he'd been blowing his nose with them while ill.

I do not carry snotty germ ridden tissues around with me to reuse! I take a pack or two of travel tissues and throw them away after i've used them.

But hankies are trying to make a sanitary and eco-conscious return: https://www.amazon.co.uk/LastTissue-Reusable-Organic-Tissue-Soft/dp/B08FDDM8FK?th=1

I recently did cloth nappies with my 2 kids but hankies are gross to me. Mainly it's because I have a memory of pulling the clean washing out of the machine as an older teen and finding my brother's balled up hanky with green snot in it. Bits of snot could've come out at any stage in the cycle onto the clean clothes so I rewashed everything.

Nappies are just for babies so it's automatically less gross. I would rinse them and then put them in a separate wash to our other clothes. This avoided the expense and waste of plastic chemically disposables. Hankies just aren't comparable. I'm not rinsing anyone's snotty hankies and then doing a separate wash for tiny bits of cloth when tissues are thin paper that are relatively cheap. If it were guaranteed to just be clear watery snot, I'd chuck them in the normal wash but I'm not risking another incident of pulling out a clean wash to find a revolting balled up hanky in the middle of it.

I don't see what's wrong with sniffing loads then using your sleeve if you need a wipe.

Because they're gross 🤮

We use hankies! Tissues for a viral infection buy hankies for every day!

I use cloth hankies and have bought some pretty ones from Etsy

This thread has reminded me that so many more people seem to have chronic sinus issues / allergies these days (myself included). Never sure if it’s viruses, pollution or something else, as I’m sure there didn’t use to be this prevalence

And I’m not referring to common cold btw - more recurring stuff

We use hankies. DH has hay fever and gets through a lot of them. We chuck them in a hot wash and then iron them so all bugs are killed.

We also use cloth napkins.

I use hankies for the gym and running. Much easier to stuff a hankie down my sports bra than have ripped damp tissues in my pocket. They just go in the wash with my gym kit. I get them from menswear shops.

Never when I have a cold though. That's disposable tissues all the way.

They were my go-to birthday and Christmas gifts for my dad and grandfathers as a child. Those and ties.🙄

Same here. I use cotton ones all the time. I find they don't make my nose sore if I have a cold, so I collect them up, in a bucket with a drop of Dettol in some water overnight, then wash, line dry, iron, using the residual heat when the iron is switched off. Ironed handkerchiefs might be my Desert Island luxury. And cloth napkins too.

Could you treat him?

But you are meant to catch it, bim it and wash hands after. COVID and other viruses hand sanitizer does not work. But yet i do not see a single person in public blow their nose and wash their hands immediately.
So no different to using resuables.
A disposable will soak through also. Do there are people using disposables they catch it get it on their hands, bin the paper but then have viral full hands. That they then go on to touch doors, food and people with. Not a great solution.

Grew up with them and Mum grilling me 'have you got your hankie?' before going out anywhere! That was a long time ago but I still have hankies. Mostly use tissues as they're better if you have hayfever or a cold, but they're really useful to have in your pocket for that 'what if' moment.

My osteopathic bought it to my attention that is due to increase in allergies. And soemtimes that can be food, even a mild histamine can cause stuffy noses etc. I suffer terribly all year round. I do have inhaled allergies (dust, dander, hay fever etc) so it makes sense.

i do if in an office and i remember, i definitely do if i sneeze

Lol, I keep mine in my bra.

Can't get over how weird people are about bodily fluids. Has no-one heard of laundry sanitiser, bio detergent or 90° washing? Just treat them the same way you do underwear and change them once a day, or more frequently if needed.

I don't see how piles of snotty, microbe filled tissue is any better. If your hand hygiene is good, I have no problem with them.

Trtft

We used cloth nappies and wipes. You scrap most of the poo into the toilet before putting them in the wash. Or you can buy flushable nappy liners that catch the poo. There is a HUGE environmental impact of all the plastic and chemicals in a disposable nappy. They are awful, disgusting things.

Maybe I'm naive but I don't think there is such a huge impact of paper tissues.

I have thought about getting hankies. I have a constant runny nose. I go through loads of those little packets of tissues (I try to buy the paper wrapped ones). I'd end up having pockets of used hankies. Maybe if I just used tissues occasionally, it would be more practical? But then, you need to iron hankies so...

They are so, so disgusting. My late FIL used to use the same one all day, it was like a bulging nappy by the evening, clutched in his filthy fingernails. Grim.

My eco contribution is to only buy cardboard boxes of tissues and take a few out with me, never those pocket packs in plastic. Someone really just needs to find a way to recycle tissues and snot, or use them to create energy (like that street light driven by dog poo).

Toilet roll is not designed for nose blowing, so you will get a sore nose. I worked for the Kleenex manufacturer years ago, all the different tissue products are designed for their specific use, so toilet paper has to be strong, but then break down quickly when wet. Facial tissue needs to be softer with more wet strength, and kitchen towel stronger again with even more wet strength. This is why you should not flush any paper other than toilet paper as other tissues do not break down and end up causing fatbergs. If you get tissues enriched with balsam or aloe vera, they are even better for colds.

I use hankies!

Any eco-friendly credentials go out of the window because to properly sterilise them, they need to be boil-washed.
Any hygiene credentials go out of the window because the germs that are produced by nose-blowing multiply on the hanky throughout the day.
Single-use tissues, disposed of properly, followed by washing your hands after use, is the most hygienic way of handling, and not spreading, your cold/‘flu or COVID