Kissing The Paper Towel Habit Good Bye!

I finally did it!  Alleluia!!!

For the longest time, I have been trying to rid the paper towel habit but to no prevail.  I could do it to certain degrees but when it came to dealing with the grease and any yucky mess, I would run and grab the paper towels - without any second thoughts. 

Last month I decided to give this towel effort one more try.  But this time I approached it a little differently.  If you have been reading my blog you know I AM NOT IN ANY HURRY to establish a new habit any more.  I gave myself time to analyze why I could not get rid of the paper towels.  After I realized the problem (the grease and the yucky mess), I set out to find a solution for it.  Praise the Lord, I found the solution!

I have this old clean wash cloth and a bath towel that are fraying at the edges so I knew they are on their way to a "retirement home".  I decided to cut them up into small pieces of squares and use them as the "throw-a-way" towels.

I was so excited at this solution but I want to be sure it works before I blog about it.  So..., almost a month later, we only had to use a piece of paper towel for something (I can't even remember what it was).

A success!!!!  I finally kissed the paper towels good bye!

I think the next time I will see a paper towel roll in use by us would probably be during our camping trip. 

What about Kleenex and bathroom tissues?  Well, let's just say that there is where we drew the line. :)

Cutting them into squares.  I have to admit it was hard to cut up a seemingly good towel.  It got better after the first one though.

It yielded quite a bit of squares with the two towels.  I just stacked them up.  No sewing on the edges whatsoever.

Then I put the squares into a basket.  I even cut down the green squares here two more times to make even smaller squares.  I found out it doesn't really take a big square to wipe off the grease from my frying pan or wok due to the absorbency of these towels.

The basket nestled neatly by my huge old microwave next to the stove ranges.  It is so easy to grab the "disposable" towels!  It has been a wonderful month of using these little squares!

My other area of towel usages.  See my good old paper towel roll?

Now in its place is the lovely fresh, crispy white dish drying towel.  All the towels are changed daily.  Everyone in the house has gotten a "tour" on which towel is for what purpose.

Our hand towel - for drying hands only. 

The "counter towels" all rolled up and in a drawer.

Cloth napkins.  I am working on getting enough supplies for a week and am also working on personalized napkin rings so the napkins can be used through out the day with the same user. :)  The basket is placed directly under the white dish drying towel rack. 

Last but not least, We even designated one for the car!

I posted this at Courtney's blog (in a much later date like, 1-6-2011).  If you need Christian encouragement, that's the blog to go to!