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??

I'm seeing factions forming: those who reuse tissues several times and consider hankies, versus those who use tissues once then bin them without guilt and who do two loads of washing a day. They'd probably use disposable crockery for weeks on end if their dishwasher broke as "we are a large family".
Some people are naturally against waste, whereas waste just doesn't even cross some people's minds.

I find that paper tissues make any runny nose much worse and end up with a really sore nose. I think this is probably an allergy to paper dust making my nose runnier and causing an eczema outbreak. (If I have to handle a lot of paper the eczema on my hands gets a lot worse too)
Hankies don’t cause the same issues but I stopped using them in 2020 during Covid.

However I saw a post on here about the same issue which recommended bamboo as an alternative. So I now bulk buy Panda tissues in packs and boxes.
Edited to add that I usually need them for allergies so not the same worry with germs.

I still use them. I have lots.

I use them in the house. Carrying one or more around I expect fills pockets for some, and I need pockets space for those front facing, as nothing goes in back pockets for me (don't want to give thieves an invitation).

Unless you’re ill, mucus is no more a health risk than any other healthy body fluid. So using a hanky for general nose blowing and things like hay fever that aren’t contagious wouldn’t be a health concern.

No, you wouldn’t wipe your arse on a towel, because poo is always toxic. Even baby poo (I think?)

Error yes, I do use a tissue just once and throw it away.

Basic hygiene? Holding or carrying something around that is covered in germs and another? 🤮

Yes, a clear runny nose because I'm running isn't harbouring anything nasty. They don't need a super hot wash, just go in with all the white stuff and line dry.

I prefer cotton hankies over tissues. Being a hay fever sufferer, the tissues can break up and the dust can affect me more.

I do hate people who leave used tissues in shopping trolleys and other places. There are things called bins. I remember a lady about 10 days before the first lockdown, dumping her tissue on an empty shelf. I gave her the most evil look at her. She gave me a puzzling look. "Excuse me, please remove your tissue and place in a bin".

light bulbs have completely changed since my childhood

Yes, you used to be able to get light bulbs that actually, you know, lit up the room properly.

In a charity shop recently and DH found a 6-pack of the old style 100 watt bulbs for £2. Bargain! We will be able to see what we are doing for a few more years.

Because they're foul and minging. Wiping your snot and bogies on a cloth rag and putting it in your pocket - and then re-using it over and over is gross! 🤮

Tissues are biodigradable anyway. So what's the problem?

You should be direct your annoyance at plastic bags/plastic packaging... Not tissues!

Amazon sells hankies. £6 for 12 mens hankies.

Also sometimes you see them in charity shops - still in their original packaging. Unwanted gift or found when clearing out home of someone who has died or gone to a care home. DM bought a load of hankies with G on them, even though my DF's name starts with R.

My DH uses them. He's 45 and always has done

I use cloth handkerchiefs, always have done. New one every day, most days I use it once or twice and it lives in my pocket. If I have an actual cold I use tissues or giant mens hankies.

People are simultaneously overly germ-phobic and oblivious to environmental impact /waste these days. I remember the John Lewis handkerchief counter in Oxford Street. It would be great if they were more easily available for people who prefer them.

They are truly disgusting. I remember, as. a child, my mother boiling my father’s big white hankies every week. Gross. Dh had them when we first met. Every time he put one in the laundry basket I binned it. Just yuck.

Seriously?? 🤢

Sadly it wasn't down to washing technique. I watched her boil them in a huge pot on the stove, prodding them with tongues to stir them around. My step dad did have a nasal condition that made him extra snotty, so perhaps this was part of it. But she definitely tried washing every way possible!

Hankies have loads of uses but they’re crap for blowing your nose on IMO.

There’s no bodily excretion in the world that survives boiling.
She was doing something wrong.

Yes, you used to be able to get light bulbs that actually, you know, lit up the room properly.
In a charity shop recently and DH found a 6-pack of the old style 100 watt bulbs for £2.

I find this rather odd. Have you struggled to find bright LEDs? They are widely available. You should not need incandescent lightbulbs!

There’s no bodily excretion in the world that survives boiling.
She was doing something wrong

This i can only imagine this being an issue if a hanky has been left for a prolonged period dried out, and been tossed in the wash scrunched in a ball. I was hankies plenty & they are fine, ive never had them covered in crusty stuff after washing!!

It's probably because they haven't yet made their debut on TikTok or whatever.

At the moment, they just seem to be the reserve of my grandparents' generation and the eco-warriors. If you don't obviously fit into either category, then you get very funny looks from the rest of the world!

I started using them because it doesn't matter if I forget to empty my pockets when I load up the washing machine. As I have hay-fever, I'd have to carry tissues a lot, and you get fed up of picking the pieces off your laundry, so handkerchiefs are fabulous for this.

You can probably buy them online, but I tend to find mine at town markets a lot.

If she's wearing something with no pockets. my aunt's next door neighbour tucks them in her bra.

Nappies make up a load
Hankies don't

They were ok in the Old Days when they could be chucked in the twin tub at the end (as were nappies, so you didn't have to have them hanging round in napisan buckets for ages) but not now with automatics

Or, even worse, when they were boiled on the stove in an old saucepan

@Ficklebricksmeant to quote you I have lasting memories of my Dad with a cold, drying hankies out over the arms of his chair!

They've made a come back here - personalised hankies were a big hit in Christmas stockings.

They're not gross - they're used for maximum 1 day and then put into the wash.