If you've been reading my blog all along then you know I've had this idea of cloth toilet paper for a few weeks.  Since realizing that you have to do better if you know better, I had to at least experiment with the idea!  

The issue became what to use - and how to tell it apart from the dish towels.  I didn't want to spend a lot of money on fancy wipes or spend hours cutting up old shirts, so I just kept sitting on the idea.  Then it hit me - Goodwill sells bags of flannel rags (cut up clothes) for $1.  I've never bought any before so I didn't know how much they had in each bag.  Well, it's a lot!!  I bought 2 bags and had enough cloth for Maya to make a skirt (elastic included), Sadie to have a baby blanket for her doll (looked like a crib sheet without the corners), and plenty of "wipes" for both bathrooms!  Next time you're at Goodwill, I recommend a bag - no matter what you want them for!  I cut them up into what I thought looked like a good size, although the shapes are a bit random, folded them and put them in a basket on the back of the toilet.  (They are fraying and since Len fixed the 1965 $72 sewing maching today, we'll have lots of straight hems to practice on.)
 

The other issue is what to do with them once they're used.  I just happened to have a waterproof nylon drawstring bag hanging on a coat rack, so that's what I used.  I hooked it onto the existing TP holder, and tada, ready!  Upstairs I throw them into the bag with the cloth diapers.

OK, so you're all swearing never to visit me again...  Let's talk.

Think of the germiest, smelliest place in your house.  It's probably not your toilet paper :-)  It's probably that stinky dish towel or sponge lounging in your kitchen sink.  It might be the black goo just below your shower drain.  It might be the inside of your shoes (or your kid's!!).  It might even be your toothbrush :-)  How about the drip pan under your fridge?  Yeah, that's gross!  

So how do I deal with the bag at the end of the day?  Easy - shake it into the washer, push the bag inside out and toss that in too.  That's it!  Money saved, trees saved!  (Since the wipes are pretty small, they can fit in any hot washer load.)

Sadie is totally on board with me and loves the cloth, but Maya hasn't said a word and I'm not sure which she is using. 

I'd love to see your responses to this post - thanks for reading!