Comments on Crunchy Chicken: Cloth wipes - the benefits

Try washing with soap nuts! (see laundrytree.com) ...

2009-06-26T07:40:43.011-07:00

Try washing with soap nuts! (see laundrytree.com) I'm cloth diapering my baby so this seems like a natural next step.

Cloth wipes are awesome!!! Every time we are behi...

2008-09-13T18:24:00.000-07:00

Cloth wipes are awesome!!! Every time we are behind on the wash or camping or away from home----we MISS our wipes! Nothing gets you as clean---and it only takes one or two wipes. We have been using them for about 2 years and our whole family uses them---2 guys, 2 gals! We keep TP for the guests---but some of our friends do use our cloth :) We use the pretty, designer toilet brush cannisters from Target---very elegant and really, noone would guess that they contain used wipes and not the icky brush! We just recently went camping---and it drilled home to us just how much we HATE TP----really, half the roll to get "cloth clean"---what a waste (and ouch!) I am thrilled to see this Cloth Wipe/no TP challenge---be careful though---you will fall in LOVE with cloth! KT

People seem concerned about the smell issue, but r...

2007-09-13T20:36:00.000-07:00

People seem concerned about the smell issue, but remember, you aren't peeing INTO the cloth, it's just for wiping. Men don't even bother after urinating and let their boxers soak up the drippings. Yikes.

If you rinse with a peri bottle and blot dry, there really isn't anything but water on the wipe. We throw them straight into the washer since we wash cloth diapers daily anyhow. Honestly, it's not a big deal, just try it a few times a day and you will soon feel guilty when you reach for the big wad of TP!

I'd like to hear some of the more experienced Clot...

2007-09-13T19:29:00.000-07:00

I'd like to hear some of the more experienced Cloth TPers expand on the stink factor. Here are some of the things I'd love to know about your setup:
1) Have your used cloths ever smelled? How did you solve this?

2) What do you use for a used cloth receptacle? Do you think that ventilation works better than sealing in the air?

3) Do you use cloth for #1 and #2 (how old am I?)

4) Do you use any additional factors (baking soda, vinegar, tea tree oil, etc?) to keep the odor down?

5) Just for kicks, do your spouses/partners/kids/roomates us them too?

Message to everyone else: Being on eco-blogs makes me feel like I'm not crazy to care. I can't even finish saying "compost toilet" before peoples eyes are bulging out of their heads. So thanks!

To Crunchy Chicken: Thanks for putting in the daily effort to keep this blog going, even when you may not feel like it. I read it everyday with my morning coffee at home and it's a great way to start the day.

anonymous - you can probably clean it out with wha...

2007-09-13T18:48:00.000-07:00

anonymous - you can probably clean it out with whatever cleanser you like. You could use something like baking soda and vinegar, or whatever your favorite cleanser (that disinfects) is.

I feel like a green Martha Stewart already, washin...

2007-09-13T16:50:00.000-07:00

I feel like a green Martha Stewart already, washing, hang-drying and folding my new little Imse Vimse unbleached organic cotton flannel cloth wipes into their own little color-coded stacks. This is fun. :)

Some more questions: What do you do to keep the co...

2007-09-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

Some more questions: What do you do to keep the container clean? Do you use some type of liner? We are renters and do our laundry only once a week in shared machines--would this be practical to do only once a week? It seems like there might be some mildew/bacteria/odor problems in the container after long term use.

I have an old flannel sheet that I've been keeping around, not wanting to throw it away... I think I need some more encouragement...

angela - I'm the only one doing this in our house,...

2007-09-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

angela - I'm the only one doing this in our house, so there's TP in every bathroom. Most people that are all cloth keep TP available for guests.

Some just provide cloth and leave a little note what to do, but I think that's pushing it a bit.

i'm curious, what do you do about guests? do you h...

2007-09-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

i'm curious, what do you do about guests? do you have them use the cloths too or to you keep tp handy for company?

"throwing them in with a load of other stuff" ????...

2007-09-13T08:32:00.000-07:00

"throwing them in with a load of other stuff" ???? NOOOOOOOO!

Comfort? Yeah, maybe with flannel. Some of us we...

2007-09-13T07:50:00.000-07:00

Comfort? Yeah, maybe with flannel. Some of us went ultracheap and cut up an old terry cloth towel. Remember how scratchy terry gets when line-dried? Yeah....

Ok, I'm stretchin' the truth here. While I do line-dry, I tumble everything on the air setting for 5 minutes while wet and again when dry. You'd never know they were line-dried. That wet tumble makes a huge difference.

Oh, and danica? Switch to a portapottie (for #1 only) and save even more water! You can dump it in your regular toilet when full. :)

Using cloth encourages me to let the yellow mellow...

2007-09-13T06:15:00.000-07:00

Using cloth encourages me to let the yellow mellow, which saves flushing water too.

i didn't consider the comfort factor. maybe we sh...

2007-09-13T05:44:00.000-07:00

i didn't consider the comfort factor. maybe we should start thinking of cloth tp as a luxury. a status symbol!