Cloth Toilet Paper - How to Reduce Your Paper Consumption One Square at a Time
On average the US alone spends over 5.7 billion dollars on toilet paper alone each year. That is expected to double by the year 2010. We are literally flushing away the earth's numerous biologically rich habitat's down the toilet.
Contrary to popular belief, old growth and non harvested forests are used in the production of paper goods. These forests are replaced with tree plantations. The problem with tree farming is that these produce 90% less species than a natural forest would. Not only are we wasting trees but we are killing off important species of plants and animals that are imperative to the life cycle of the forest.
Regardless of the resources used to generate toilet tissue, it also makes us, as consumer's, Dependant on one more thing and to the big box and retail stores. There is a growing trend in the natural family living communities across the country to institute cloth toilet paper in the home. Many families have made the switch happily.
Using cloth toilet paper is not only economical choice but once you try it I swear you'll never go back! It may seem gross at first, but I assure you wiping with cloth instead of paper is much more comfortable! We have been using it in our household for going on 7 months now. I, like many others, was reluctant to give it a try at first due to the gross factor. After cutting out cloth napkins and paper towels over 7 years ago, then cloth diapering my babies for a couple of years, it seemed like a natural choice for our family. I also decided if cloth wipes were good enough for my children, they are good enough for me! Also, I really hate it when we run out of toilet paper! As for comfort, like i mentioned previously, you will find using cloth after bowel movements to be much easier and cleaner feeling.
I started with several dozen assorted wipes in our house. We mainly have cloth diapering style wipes, but now have several dozen washcloths dedicated to the purpose as well. You can also sew your own if you are creatively inclined. Or for a quick no sew option, you can make your own by cutting up squares of flannel, fleece, or recycled cotton t shirts. These won't need hemming. For our family of three, 18 wipes is sufficient, laundering them every other day.
Try storing your wipes in a decorative basket on your bathroom counter on the back of the toilet. You can use a small bucket or a trash can with a step lid to store used ones. You do not need to rinse off your wipes after use. Just toss them into your pail and wash every other day or so. I like to wash mine on a hot cycle twice.
It may seem like a really odd choice to make in this day and age, but I promise you won't go back to scratchy, irritating paper after trying cloth toilet paper! You also feel better knowing you are saving our earth's precious resources one square at a time!
Published by April Horton
April loves to write about health issues and various modalities of alternative medicine. Including, (but not limited to); herbalism, flower essence therapy, Reiki and aromatherapy. April is a trained massage... View profile
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15 Comments
Post a CommentI think this might be a great way to go in areas where there is a lot of rainfall. In our area, water is the resourse that we worry about most. I'm in a semi-desert, and we go on water rationing every now and then.
DIDOSPHERE
BY DIDO, MAR 1, 2009
THE TABO SYSTEM, PROS AND CONS
Let me first forewarn the reader that this is going to be a frank and graphic discussion about personal hygiene. Therefore, to those who are easily offended by such discussions, do not read any further.
The Australian Tabo Scandal is about a Filipino worker who was fired over the use of a tabo. It brought back memories of my college days when I was surprised to discover that Americans have no idea of the Philippine Tabo System.
For the benefit of non-Filipino readers, let me explain. A tabo can be any water transporter, such as a dipper, scooper, ladle, jug, mini-pail, jar, bowl, tube, Chinese soup take-out plastic container, casino coin bucket, hotel ice bucket, cut-off plastic coke bottle, flower pot or whatever other contraption you have on hand that would competently transport an adequate amount of water to the proximity of and eventual contact with the anal and genital area of the body.
It is b
Was gonna use cloth toilet paper, but then ran across bidet on amazon for $68 with 5 star review. It works perfect. Don't have to store dirty cloth - just use cloth to dry off with afterwards. Since the cloth is clean and it can be washed with regular laundry. No more toilet paper, wet wipes, or storing dirty cloth! Why didn't I do this years ago?!
sorry, the excuse part of my post was geared toward the comments below yours! (I have not ever read the comments here in a year!)
anyway maybe try boiling your pot with baking soda?
I have never had to turn up my water heater but I know people who have had stink issues with cloth diapers and have had to do that as well. you can also add baking soda/vinegar to your cloth load in the washing machine as well to eliminate stink. (1/2 c. each) just add the baking soda to your reg load. the vinegar you can add during the final rinse.
also if you are using hemp wipes they CAN have stink issues. we use cotton terry.
I line dry all of our clothes and towels, etc.
hope that helps!
How do you dry the cloth? I had been drying mine at "medium" with sheet of fabric softener. I assumed that drying them that way would eliminate any remaining germs. Please correct me I am wrong.
Anyway, thanks again and sorry if my first post offended you.
Regards!
How do you dry the cloth? I had been drying mine at "medium" with sheet of fabric softener. I assumed that drying them that way would eliminate any remaining germs. Please correct me I am wrong.
Anyway, thanks again and sorry if my first post offended you.
Regards!
Hi April,
Thank you for the prompt update! Let me start by saying that I did not mean to offend you in anyway. If I have, then I apologize. Your article (and other related ones on this site) are what persuaded me to try the "cloth" method. I was just frustrated at the results we've(family) had. The "stink" issue I mentioned pertains to the cloth bucket, before we move it to the washer. I have a Japanese brand air freshener (Shaldan) in the bathroom. It has been the most effective one i've used so far, but there is still a bad smell. Thank you for the advice on turning up the water heater. I will try that. Did you have to adjust your water heater temperature as well? I just checked mine and it is at 80% to max temp.
In hindsight, I realize boiling the cloth in a regular use saucepan was a bad idea. Any ideas on how to remove the aftertaste? At first I thought it was just my imagination, but then my kids (4 & 6) mentioned it.
Lastly , you mentioned not having to use your dryer. H
You should try turning up your water heater before you do your family cloth. I have never had stink issues. Nor do I waste any more water/detergent than normal. FRankly those are all just excuses. Before I was cloth diapering. Now they just go in with towels. I haven't used my dryer in like 8 months or so.
Frustrating! That's all I can say. We (Myself , wife, & 2 toddlers) tried the switch to cloth toilet paper just over a month ago. We never did get used to the smell of the rag bucket next to the toilet, even if it was covered. But the main problem we had, was that the washing machine never really gets hot enough to sanitize the cloths. We had to run each "cloth" load at least 3x, just for our peace of mind. Tired of wasting so much water, we decided to boil our last cloth load. Big mistake. It's been 4 days now and still, everything cooked in the kettle has an aftertaste of shit. So now my $300+ container ( "All Clad" 6qt.) is useless for cooking. To those who have succesfully made the switch to cloth toilet paper, do you have any suggestions?
Very interesting..a good idea. I heard Will smith is using a japaneze toilet that automatically cleans you and disinfects itself as to eliminate toilet paper all together. What websites do you find the cloth wipes that hold up the most? or what fabrics do you find last longest? Definately something to think about...