View Full Version : Cloth toilet paper
OK, this came up in another thread and I need to know more. What do you use? Cloth diapers? Flannel? Cut-up t-shirts? or...? Is it just for pee? How do you store the used ones? do they have to be in a "wet bucket" like cloth diapers? How do you wash them? I want to know everything.
Tussiemussies
8-2-12, 9:08pm
Jill, mrs. M. Would be a geat resource for this,
Ok, I'll admit it. I did start using them some of the time, for pee only, after reading about it a few years back on the old forums. I had some old flannel sheets I cut into a bunch of tiny squares. They are really little squares so it's one use only. I keep a little container of them in the bathroom and with the used ones I put them into one of those small mesh laundry bags, that I just leave also in the bathroom. Then whenever I do a load of similar laundry, I just throw the whole bag in. Odor is minimal. I'm not a neat freak by any stretch of the imagination. For me it's not about frugality. It just seems a waste to use TP, when cloth is perfectly acceptable. I only use them sometimes as I'm chicken about letting DH know what I am up to in that area. He puts up with a lot of simple living stuff from me and that is just beyond what I want him to know about. Probably when we have two bathrooms, I'll go back to using them all the time. Maybe when we live in an RV I'll be more upfront about the topic, as I could see less TP getting flushed as beneficial with that type of plumbing.
Ha ha, I had the same thought about my DH. He doesn't need to know. I'm the only female in the household!
Jill, mrs. M. Would be a geat resource for this,
I don't think it's Mrs.M that uses cloth instead of toliet paper, it's Loose Chickens that does, if I remember correctly....
LOL....great topic! I had to bring the tp here for my trip. They have hoses here called jets....I am too leery of even trying to use it but everysome seems to be ok with it here. It is a small hose here installed next to the toilet.
For about three months as a test to see how much tp I could save I used cloth. I used cut up tee shirts with a coffee can with bleach or vinegar water under sink, for pee only and just for me, like others here hubby never knew or he would think I had gone nuts. I just tossed them in with the whites when washing. Not a big deal really, I am actually wondering why more people do not do this to save money if for no other reason. I could see doing this if needed in a pinch or on a tight budget. Again it is no big event to care for the cloths.
Yay, for reusable pee/TP cloths!
Old flannelette or standard flat cotton diapers serve as excellent material for such, Jill. Flannelette, is soft, absorbent, fuss-free, and wears like iron. What you're looking for in the way of fabric related to this purpose, is something that has some "substance" to it. T-shirt cotton (for example), is much too thin for such use.
In our house, releasable bathroom cloths are reserved for pee, only. Haven't had the courage to go the full-mile, yet, however, another longtime member by the name of, Loosechickens, is a dedicated practitioner of such. (Hoping she does a drop-by).
At any rate, Re: storage, I use an old plastic diaper pail (all you need is a tiny one), and there's no need to wet-pail (pee-cloths). As for laundering, into the washing machine with a little detergent (bleach if you wish), and that's all there is to it! Hang on line to dry or tumble in electric.
The thing to remember Re: pee-cloths, is each used cloth, collects only a drop or two of urine with each use, so it's not like dealing with wet diapers, where the fabric is thoroughly drenched/saturated after use, so as far as odour is concerned, there is none.
Here's a pic of my old "Harvest Gold" plastic diaper pail I use for such.
http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=806&d=1341331076
P.S. These little plastic pails are ideal for such (good thing, because they aren't worth a darn when it comes to storing anything more than a day's supply of wet/soiled baby diapers between washings... as me how I know), and most thrift stores (I happen across) usually have one or two on-hand at any given time, so check around your area to get.
Additionally, see the raised-cap in the lid? The purpose behind that is for deodorizers, so if you want your pail smelling fresh and clean, you can buy diaper pail deodorizers that sit up inside the raised-cap.
I don't think it sounds that gross, actually. Although I don't do it.
I have bought flannel @ Wal-Mart for $1 per yard in the recent past. I'm sure you could easily make your own w/o waiting for old sheets to wear out (which can get pretty thin, btw and unreliable) and still save a ton of money.
Man, I wish my sewing machine worked. There's a lot of things I'd like to try if it were currently working. Guess I could look into getting it fixed...
I use pea green washcloths,( urine only) keep it on the bath tub ledge and change them out every couple days. I wash them with the whites. Husband has no problem and I think it not only saves money, but the septic tank. No oder unless it is very humid and too many days between washing.
I wanna do it, girls! I use pads, and vastly, vastly prefer hankies instead of kleenex, and this seems like a natural step.
Unlike you wise women, though, I already mentioned it to my DH. Not sure I could start doing it in secret now! Oh well, maybe I'll just do a trial run ;)
What about at that time of the month? Anything different? Or do you only do run-of-the-mill pee pee?
I wanna do it, girls! I use pads, and vastly, vastly prefer hankies instead of kleenex, and this seems like a natural step.
Unlike you wise women, though, I already mentioned it to my DH. Not sure I could start doing it in secret now! Oh well, maybe I'll just do a trial run ;)
What about at that time of the month? Anything different? Or do you only do run-of-the-mill pee pee?
At that time I stick with TP. Although I'm interested in cloth pads I haven't gone there yet. Maybe when I have my own laundry room instead of the apartment laundry that doesn't even have a sink I'll expand my cloth repertoire.
fidgiegirl
8-3-12, 11:20pm
At that time I stick with TP. Although I'm interested in cloth pads I haven't gone there yet. Maybe when I have my own laundry room instead of the apartment laundry that doesn't even have a sink I'll expand my cloth repertoire.
That WOULD make a huge difference with pads. With the pads I'll leave them in water maybe overnight and then they have to go in with something. I'll throw 'em in with anything except whites.
OMG, love my pads over plastic. I *may* brave using them at work this year. I have a little pouch I can use for the dirty ones. We'll see.
Ladies, thanks for being here, and talking about these wacky ideas.
Originally posted by Bunnys.
I wish my sewing machine worked. There's a lot of things I'd like to try if it were currently working. Guess I could look into getting it fixed...You could always incorporate the help of a local seamstress.
I'm trying it too. Good question about period-time. I hadn't thought of that one. Gonna try it tomorrow! Thank you ladies for the info and tips!
Originally posted by Fidgiegirl.
What about at that time of the month?Same thing, into the diaper pail!
Originally posted by Nswef.
I use pea green washclothsLove the colour idea!
Well I cut up an old tshirt since that was all I had at the ready, and I can see why they're too thin, but I just made big pieces and doubled up. Will upgrade as materials and time allow and fill the gap till laundry day with paper. Anyhow, I tried it and guess what -- it was no big deal! And I figure since I use cloth pads, it shouldn't really matter that much during that time of the month either.
You know, every once in a while I think about dogs, how they still maintain a pecking order even as house pets. Even though that system is not needed anymore since they will all get plenty of food, water, and love, they can't conceive of a world in which all the dogs in the household are equal in their eyes, with no alpha etc. Sometimes I wonder what we as people do like that, without even thinking or realizing it could be different. Although it's cultural (rather than inborn like the pack system for dogs) and there are a lot of places in the world where TP isn't used, in a lot of countries it is just the norm and people don't even consider that maybe it could be different. Hmmmm......
Originally posted by Jill.
I cut up an old tshirt since that was all I had at the ready, and I can see why they're too thin Yeah... t-shirt cotton, is far too thin, with too open of a weave to utilize, whereas flannelette, has a much closer/tighter/thicker weave/thread-count. I re-purposed old baby washcloths for such, as well as a few old well-worn cloth diapers. Diaper-fabric weave is ideal!
I've done this for a long time. It really saves a ton of tp--almost never have to buy it. DH doesn't mind. I cut up sheets in big enough rectangles so I can fold them over. I use for pee and poop. For the poop I can just use the rest of the rectangle to wipe any poop that ended up on the cloth into the toilet. I then rinse (pee) wash with soap in the sink, then spritz sink with evergreen alcohol. Peroxide would work too I imagine. I then hang up to dry on the shower curtain rod. When dry, put them in a cloth bag for this purpose. When I have enougg, I put on the ozonator and ozonate the water in a sink to be sure these are dazzlingly germ-free when I hang them on the line to dry. I felt awkward about this when I first started, but was motivated for that money to go to mortgage, so got used to it quickly. As someone said above, I also thought about all the people in the world who never use anything like toilet paper.
Good on you, Larknm, and great method/system you've developed!
Thanks, Mrs-M. I was afraid the only response I'd get was how I'd grossed people out, so I doubly appreciate your words.
Three cheers in the name of support, Larknm!
So Larkn are you not putting them in the washer? I don't know what an ozonator is.
Do you wonder if you're saving more money by washing or if it would be cheaper to just buy Scotts 1000 sheets per roll. That is some cheap TP and for me 1 roll lasts like 9 days (period free days, that is.) So if I buy the 20 roll pack it last months for like $7. I'm all for using reusable if the hassle and savings are real but can we really assume they are? I know they would be with Cottonelle and Charmin but not so sure with Scotts.
Originally posted by Bunnys.
I'm all for using reusable if the hassle and savings are real but can we really assume they are?IMO, choosing reusable over disposable, always makes sense (cents), and cloth, is superior to paper, when it comes to getting the job done.
Plus a nice flannel is worth it even if Scotts is more economical. Sounds luxurious.
I told my DH. He was not happy. He says people are going to get confused when we have so many cans in our bathroom. I already have two, one for compostables and one for garbage. So add a third for the pee cloths and haha! Garbage can city in our bathroom.
I still might do it tho. :devil:
nswef mentioned using one color just for the pee cloths. That strikes me as a good idea. Who else differentiates theirs from other items in some way?
Flannelette, is luxurious!
Traditional 100% cotton-flannelette diapers were a staple in our house. I padded six little bottoms using flannel, and IMO that speaks volumes as to how reliable, trusty, and proven, flannel is.
Our two youngest made their debut (at our house) sporting crimson-red diaper rashes, a combination of not being changed regularly, and, paper disposable diapers, however, after just three days in cotton-flannelettes, their skin cleared significantly, and both boys stopped crying while being changed.
Try cleaning a baby's messy bottom using toilet paper...
Sonora Shepherd
8-8-12, 11:31pm
You guys are all just using common sense. What do you think our great grammas did? I am so happy to see this sort of thinking. We are trying to protect our septic tank, so this is very workable. Somehow we have all fallen prey to the "oh ish" marketers who would have us buy all their products when we really have a good solution already.
To add, try it, take the happy-bum-bum dance challenge. Clean (if you can call it that), using store-bought toilet paper, then wet down/wring-out a washcloth/cloth-wipe and clean again. I'll pass on the details, but the end result will speak for itself, or should I say, bottom results... LOL!
http://www.ttora.com/forum/images/smilies/butwiggle.gif
No bunnies, I don't put them in the washer. An ozonator is an ozone generator, ours is maybe size of a 500 page pack of copy paper). It has a dial to set time and a tube that comes out to put into water or air. Leave it on 20 minutes to ozonate water to de-bacterialize your mouth by swishing (a holistic dentist taught me this about 15 years ago). When we leave our elderly house for the weekend, We leave it set for about 5 sunny hours a day (we have solar modules).
So, ozonated clothes are definitely germ-free; then I have no need to put them in the washer. I could though, if I had no ozonator and had spritzed them with alcohol or peroxide.
Before I started this cloth for tp thing, I did wonder about cost, but my method uses very little water and I am big into not adding to environmental waste or cutting down trees. I did try pages of old phone books, a la old outhouse trick, but didn't like the experience. Plus I use my old phone books for paper towels.
I use cut up t shirts (no need to hem them) and put the used ones in a small step type wastebasket and when it gets full wash them
awakenedsoul
9-15-12, 12:19pm
I use flannel t.p. I use regular t.p. from Costco for poop or when I'm on my period. I cut up some old flannel sheets that are a red paisley print. I hemmed them on my sewing machine. It's really only a few drops, since most of the urine goes into the toilet. (I think people forget that and think they are going to be soaked.) I fold them over and wash them with my clothes in hot water. The squares are dry, since they are folded. I live alone and use homemade laundry powder, rinse with vinegar water, and hang them in the sun to dry. For my cloth pads, I soak them in a diaper pail in cold water and lemon juice. I wash the pads separately in hot soapy water. The cloth t.p. is totally different. It seems like the flannel absorbs the few drops right away.
For those of you who decided to try this, how's it going?
I use old t-shirts because I don't have to finish them (sewing), and they work really fine. I started using them with DS when he was a baby, and then when some of my t-shirts died here, that's what they got recycled into. Works really well. DS and I use them (for both), but DH uses TP.
I have two containers (yogurt buckets). One is dry with clean cloths; the other is wet with water, vinegar, and tea tree oil. Then I rinse them before hot laundry day.
I use old wash cloths (pee only). It is so simple that I am surprised more people don't do it.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2025 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.