Bye-bye paper towels!

In MN we have to have single use towels for every handwash. I have always used paper towels, which I cut into four pieces to save money.  We go through paper towels like crazy here.

My mentor and good friend Molly the Daycare Guru, has always used washcloths and suggested I do the same.  I had considered it but I will be honest, I don't like to work any more than I have to and an extra load of laundry each day sounds like work.  Plus, I figure with ten children here and handwashing before/after each meal/snack I would need sixty cloths each day which would be expensive to buy, so I set the idea aside.

Then it came to me: Fleece.  I purchased a little over a yard of fleece and with my rotary cutter and mat (if you sew you most likely have one of these) was able to cut out 127  5"x 5" squares. I put them in a shoe bin by the sink.  It only lasted two days so now I am making more to store in shoe bins on the shelf in the cupboard near the sink.

Pros: Inexpensive, they are small so a week's worth barely takes up half a load in the washing machine, and they dry in less than ten minutes.

Cons: None.  This has saved me a ton of money.  I wish I had tried this much sooner!

I hope this idea helps you save money too!

Erin