Kitchen Roll Alternative!

[Wanderlust20]

Now hear me out - I know my title sounds weird!

So I used to buy and use a lot of kitchen roll. In the past couple of years, I've made an effort to be more eco friendly but the one thing I couldn't quit was the kitchen roll! I know it sounds silly but, to me, it just seemed way more hygienic than sponges or cloths etc as it was single use - convenient too but so wasteful as you obviously can't recycle it (due to it not being made of paper but lots of little fibres).

So my question is this - what do you wipe down spillages/your kitchen worktops with? And if you do just use a wet cloth or something else, where do you store/dry it? And how often do you wash them? We cook every night (and sometimes make a right mess) so I could imagine any cloths getting quite stained and dirty after one use.

The thought of using the same manky cloth or sponge makes my skin crawl! But then my husband pointed out that you'd do the same with a washing up sponge so he has a point!

So many questions ha ha, I know, I'm strange .

I once commented on a kitchen roll thread that I use it to drain the grease off bacon etc. I was told that kitchen roll was unnecessary and I should use a tea towel to drain my bacon but I wonder about the impact of laundering a tea towel for each meal and one for drying actual dishes every day though.
I do have dishcloths, they get shoved in the machine with tea towels and are kept in the drawer with the tea towels too. If they wipe up something that will stain then they get a soak in bleach water in the sink before rinsing & put in the machine.

I did the same with bacon! Can't imagine mopping it up with a tea towel! And they think we're odd...

I use kitchen roll for some things, like bacon as you say.
But I use dishcloths for wiping surfaces etc. They live on the side of the sink and get thrown into the washing regularly. If I'm cooking a lot and there are spills I might use a couple in one meal prep. Other times one might stay there for a day or two.
I rinse in very hot water and wring well.
I've got a stack of about 15 in the drawer, in various states of aging!

I have a huge number of cloths and a lidded bucket to sling used ones in. They go on a boil wash every week.

I get through loads in a day because the DC treat them as single use.

I use kitchen roll where necessary, but for things like wiping down worktops, wiping hands etc I have cloths I use which go in the wash either with a dose of laundry cleanser to kill bacteria, or in a hot wash. It's really cut down our kitchen roll use with one roll lasting a couple of months usually. We also buy recycled kitchen roll which makes me feel a bit less guilty when I do use it.

Like the idea about the lidded bucket @womanity. It seems a simple stack of dishcloths is the way to go!

Another good idea @chocolatecheesecake, I can wean myself off that way ha ha! Never thought to look at recycled kitchen roll.

You can buy reusable kitchen roll on etsy that looks like kitchen roll but you actually wash it. And reusable toilet roll too .

I have a little rectangular basket on the side in the utility room, used ones get thrown in there along with used teatowels etc. They get washed in the next white wash, I wash most things at 60°c.

I have a basket of cloths in the kitchen and they go in the machine once they’ve been used, so no dirty damp cloths hanging around. I do have normal kitchen rolls for anything particularly unhygienic or messy, but day to day things the cloths work well.

I bought a huge bundle of cheeky wipes second hand from Facebook and use those to wipe things up in the kitchen, plus clean the kids hands and faces when they’re a bit mucky. Quick rinse under the tap and they’re good to go, sling into the washer ready for when it goes on next. Which is usually most days. You could get a job lot of cheap flannels to do the same thing.

That's a good point about the Cheeky Wipes, I was actually looking at those the other day (I'm 22 weeks pregnant ).

Well, op since you like my lidded bucket idea, I’ll also share that I keep clean ones in an IKEA carrier bag holder on the bag of a door.

I'm trying to use less too, I aim to use cloths for the sides but do use kitchen roll for anything gross. My big revelation was that I bought a set of twelve linen napkins and we use those at meals which was our main kitchen roll usage point.

My DH questioned the eco-friendliness of laundering them but I tend to do a wash most days anyway so they just go on with those.

If you keep the used cloths in a bucket and do a big wash with the towels, maybe once a week, do they go mouldy or smelly while waiting for the wash? Have toyed with the idea of getting a bucket for this exact idea!

Reusable kitchen roll. Waaay more absorbent so you need to use less and then just wash them over and over. You get 20 on a roll and let’s face it we all do washing nearly every day and there’s always room to squeeze them in so it’s not using any excess energy to wash them. They dry super quick too.

Thanks everyone, I'm glad you didn't find my question bonkers! Now researching reusable kitchen roll but I'm confused - it looks like it's on a roll but what happens when you rip it all off? Then it's no longer on a roll... So you just store it like normal cloths after the first use?

@Wanderlust20 deffo get some for the baby, absolutely pay for themselves over the years and much kinder to the environment.
Don’t bother getting the big kit that they sell though, I just use two clip lock tupperwares for my clean and dirty wipes.

I ha e loads of micro fibre cloths. Green ones for the kitchen and all other colours for everything else.

We get through at least 1 or 2 a day.

I use kitchen roll for greasy things (too tricky to wash greasy stuff and it risks the dreaded fatburgs if it goes down the pipes) and gross stuff (cat puke and bird/mouse remains).

Otherwise I have a stash of cotton and microfibre cloths that I use for spills and wiping down surfaces. Big spills I use old towels, old baby muslins etc. They are rinsed after use and I hang them over the spray cleaner bottle (that I refill with a concentrated cleaner and water!) between uses. After a couple of uses they get chucked on the floor next to the washing machine (that lives in a cupboard), then get a quick rinse before going in with the next bedding or towel wash.

We also have napkins to use at dinner times. When the DC were small we used damp flannels to scrub them down after eating rather than baby wipes.

We have a basket of aged tea towels - use once or twice and chuck by the washing machine for the next wash.

Kitchen roll goes in the food recycling here, and gets used as napkins and for mucky or greasy mopping up.

I use cloths and don't even out them on a special hot wash, I figure if pants can be washed at 30 with detergent then so can dish cloths. And just to be annoying and help with MN bingo, we never get I'll and all have great immune systems.

I have tea towels for cleaning up big spillages, wiping surfaces dry, drying hands on when cooking. Rarely for drying washing up as we use the dishwasher mostly.

I have dish cloths for scrubbing at eg dried on stuff on the work surface, they're more spray and wipe cloths.

I have a pile of 7 year old cotton flannels which started off as DC1's bum cleaning cloths. They saw us through DC2 too then became child face/hand cloths, we use them instead of wet wipes after most meals

I also have a pile of muslins which also started off with DC1. They are a bit of a coverall, more likely used as napkins / greasy finger wipes during the meal. I also use these for eg straining things when cooking.

Most cloths get used once or twice then chucked into the utility room in front of the machine. They get put in whichever clothes wash goes on next. On the rate occasion they've been used to wipe up something manky (we got some big pieces of pig from a farmer recently) they get a hot wash, but otherwise I trust that detergent does its job.

I have never thought in this much detail about which cloth does what, it's just second nature. It's no hassle at all really, they just go in the machine, then come out, dry, and get put back for using again.

When they're really falling apart they will go on the compost heap!

I'm fairly ECO aware but not obsessive, I just have lots of cloths so use them?!

@dumpling123

If you keep the used cloths in a bucket and do a big wash with the towels, maybe once a week, do they go mouldy or smelly while waiting for the wash? Have toyed with the idea of getting a bucket for this exact idea!

Yes, they stink. Hence the lid on bucket. I try to make it so the DC have to put them in the washing machine and I don’t touch them. 😂

I use mine for all cleaning purposes hence the hot wash but I also worried about things like wiping up raw chicken and then just using a regular wash.

I have dozens of "cloths" I made from old towels, I dyed them all orange to match my kitchen. They don't look so "raggy" all the same colour.

They go in the dishwasher to freshen up, and then a proper wash when needed.

Reusable kitchen roll is on my 'to make" list. It connects together with kam snaps, aka plastic poppers.