Homemade "Paper" Towels

     Okay, brace yourself, because apparently this idea is insane. That's the look I get every time I tell anyone about it anyway. I decided to cut down on paper waste by making reusable cloth paper towels.

     For the last year I have been really mindful about what I can do to show God that I am a good steward of the Earth that He allows me to live on every day. The first thing I did was convert our main household trash can into a recycling bin. We are lucky enough to live somewhere that doesn't make you sort your recyclables but the downside is that we have to drop them off rather than getting them picked up weekly. Up until now, I emptied that big bag into the trash once a week. I am ashamed to say, it still goes out once a week and it's just as full but it's going to the recycling bin now. We have a small 8 gallon can for just trash and I empty it once a week also (unless it's stinky). I can't believe how much of our trash was recyclable. Almost ALL of it!!
      So recycling got me thinking. Where else can I reduce waste? The first thing I thought of was paper towels and napkins. Did you know the average American uses an estimated 55 lbs of tissue paper (paper towels, Kleenex, toilet paper, napkins) each year?! That's about 6 napkins per person per day. It's also about 3,000 paper towels per year per person. That results in around 6 BILLION pounds of waste each year because these papers can't be recycled. Don't ignore the 350 gallons of water per day and the trees used to make the towels. Also, I didn't realize until I researched online, tissue paper releases methane and carbon dioxide as it decomposes. Annnd consider all of the gas and emissions produced by the factories and delivery trucks and the materials used in packaging the products. It goes on and on.
     The first thing I did was find some super cheap napkins that match my dishes and decor and I throw them into the wash each week. It doesn't make any more laundry than before because I already had to wash dishcloths and dish towels. We don't use many rolls of paper towels but it's still somewhere I can easily scale back. I saw some cloth "paper" towels online and thought they were a bit pricey and knew I could do as good a job on my own. So here's the whole process in pictures.

My first floor is decorated in shades of turquoise and light grey with black accents. My kitchen is black and white. So I chose several  fabrics in different patterns of black and white. You can choose whatever fabric you like, obviously. Your individual choices may alter the materials you may need but this is exactly what I used and the steps I made. Please read all directions and notes before starting to cut or sew. There are a few variations you may rather try.

MATERIALS:
pack of 18 washcloths ($4)
3 half yards of fabric ($7.70)
4 fat quarters ($7.96)
a spool of white thread ($1.39--I have no idea why this was half off, but yay me!, right?)
a spool of black thread ($2.79)
fabric scissors

sewing machine and bobbins, seam ripper, etc.
If you want to keep them on a roll you'll also need:

pack of Babyville Boutique white snaps ($7.99)
Babyville Boutique plastic snap plier set ($9.99--This is because I had a 50% off coupon thanks to a good
     Samaritan in line behind me. The regular price is $19.99)
.
 *NOTE: These prices are for the items I had to buy that I didn't already have. Obviously it'll be a cheaper project if you already own a snap plier set or are using old washcloths/dishcloths or scrap fabric, etc.
*ADDITIONAL NOTE: In case you didn't know what a "fat quarter" is (I didn't), it's literally a quarter of a yard but it's different than if you ask for a quarter of a yard at the cutting counter. Fabric comes folded in half on a bolt. For a fat quarter, they cut a half yard and open up the fold and cut off half of that. So if you ask for a quarter of a yard it's going to measure 9" x 44" and a fat quarter will be 18" x 22". So that means you will get more usable fabric for this project. I bought them because they were cute fabrics and on sale. Good enough reason as any!

TIME:
I really can't even estimate the time it took me to complete this because I did it here and there for about a week until it was done. I think if you were a decent sewer and were really motivated and had no distractions it could be done in a Saturday afternoon.

STEP 1--CUTTING:
     Lay out your fabric on a hard surface that you can't cut through. (Stupid mistakes happen to
everyone...hopefully only once. Hello, I'm pretty smart and pretty careful but I ruined an antique quilt by
cutting fabric on my mom's bed when I was in high school).
     Place a washcloth on top and line it up with your selvage edge (that's the finished edge--not the cut edge--of a roll of fabric that's sewn to be least likely to ravel).
     Cut the fabric to the same size as the washcloth.
     IMPORTANT! Cut one piece of fabric to fit one washcloth and set it aside. Start the next one with a new washcloth, and so on. Sometimes they are slightly off and if you cut them all the same as one, that may be the only one it'll fit. (I found this out the hard way.)

Place the fabric on top right side up (I offset them so you can see both layers).

STEP 2--"QUILTING" :

     I used black top thread and white bobbin thread so my stitches wouldn't be obvious (especially if you're like me and can't ever seem to sew a straight line). 

     Now I sewed the two layers together so that when you wash them they won't wad up. 

IMPORTANT STEP: (In case you're skimming the instructions, don't miss this.) When you stitch them together make sure you start in the center and don't pull. This is an old quilter's tip. This will keep the washcloth from stretching and the two layers from not fitting as well together. I did a giant X pattern on each one.  If you try to go from one corner to the opposite one it will get really off. 

     The left picture shows me starting to sew from the middle. I pinned the middle and the 4 corners before starting. (If it gets a bit off kilter as you sew, it's okay, you can fix it later when you do the edges.) When you get about an inch from the edge, do some reverse stitching to lock it in place (photo on the right). 

   

     Now flip it around and start in the middle where you started last time. (You will be completing the line you made from the middle to the first corner.) Do some reverse stitching to lock in place the starting points of this and the last line of stitching and end it like the last one, locking the stitches about an inch from the corner. You should have one line of stitching from one corner to the opposite corner dividing it in half diagonally at this point.

     Here it is after the X is completed. I know it sounds complicated but as you do it, you'll realize it's not. I just described it as well as I could for anyone who may not have much experience sewing. It takes only about a minute to make the X on each towel. It's difficult to see the stitching because of the color of the thread against the busy pattern in the same color. As you can see, my edges are wonky. It's okay.

STEP 3--SEWING:
     Starting about an inch or two below the corner, tuck in the edges of front and back layers toward the middle and sew together. Stop about an inch before the corner.The photo is at the end of the first side so you can see how the layers are folded down the middle.

     For the corners, first I folded the washcloth layer of the second side like I did for the first. This makes the corner come to a point.

     Next I folded up the point and held it in place with my finger. This helps hold the sides in place too while you repeat the steps to the fabric layer.

     Again, I know this sounds like origami and like you need a third hand, but it's super easy. If you need to, stick a pin in it while u work on the fabric layer. I promise by the end of the first towel you won't need to pin anymore. Here's what it should look like as you sew the corner together.

   
     Here is a finished corner. As you can see, the X doesn't go all the way to the corner but it doesn't matter as long as the middle is sewn together it won't bunch up.

If you don't plan to keep these on a roll then ta-da! You're done!

STEP 4--ATTACHING THE SNAPS
     After all of the towels are individually sewn, it's time to attach the snaps. Wait until they're all done because an important part is stacking them all together and lining up all the corners. If they don't all line up it's okay, just make sure as you attach the snaps that THEY all line up. This way you don't have to have them in the same exact same order when you wash them and put them back on the roll (what a pain in the butt that would be!).

READ CAREFULLY:
     Snaps are difficult to  remove if you put them on wrong so make sure you're giving this your full attention.

     The top two corners of each towel should have the "male" side of the snap facing away from you. The bottom of each should have the "female" side facing toward you. This is a top and bottom corner of a finished towel.

     To attach the snaps to the top edge, poke the prong of the flat disk through the patterned side and on the opposite side place the "male" closure flat side toward the washcloth. Place the flat disk in the pliers on the same side as the little black cup/tray. Line up the top part of the snap in the pliers and squeeze hard. This will smash the sharp prong inside so that the two pieces will be locked together.

     For the bottom corners of the towel repeat the process, but this time, the flat side of the disk goes on the washcloth side and the "female" closure goes on the fabric side. Here's the finished photo again.

     Once you get all of your snaps attached you can snap all the towels together.

     Now you can place them on a paper towel holder and wind them into a roll just like real paper towels.

Voila! You've now single-handedly saved the planet!


*UPDATE* I've been using these for nearly a year now and we absolutely love them. Here is one of my favorite functions that I've found after using them for awhile. You can snap them up to make little pouches to set aside either to drain and keep warm or sometimes I do this with lettuce so keep it cool, damp and crisp in the fridge if it'll be a few hours before I use it.

2: Snap together remaining corners.

Here's some sausage I'm draining for pizza night
1: Snap together opposite corners.

There you have it!
Warm and draining the excess fat while the crust prebakes.

SOME ADDITIONAL NOTES:
1) I now wish I'd put an additional absorbent layer in the middle of each towel. How I would've done it is, I'd have trimmed off the edge of another washcloth and placed it between the outer layers before quilting them all together. By cutting the edge off the inner layer it wouldn't add bulk to the edge being sewn down. A microfiber cloth or cloth "chamois" would work too.

2) A variation I tried first was turning the fabric layer right side DOWN and sewing it like a pillow. I left a small opening and turned it right side out, and stitched shut the opening. I used a zigzag stitch the join them together so the fabric layer wouldn't unravel. Then I quilted it down. I didn't like this method, even though it went a little quicker because you don't have to fold in the edges or corners. It didn't look as good when it was done because the edges weren't nice and flat and it was a bit smaller. I sewed a straight stitch close to the edge to try to help it lay down but it still looked warped. That also created an extra step which seemed tedious to me.

3)Another variation (and my original plan) is to place right sides out and run a zigzag stitch or serge the edges instead of folding them in. I didn't end up doing it this way because as I cut them out, my OCD kicked in, and I kept trimming the edges over and over trying to make them the exact same size as the washcloth. This made them a little smaller than rest of the washcloths. The washcloths I bought were cheap so they weren't exactly square or all the exact same size. So all the fabric I cut fit the first one, but not the rest. (Hence the note I made in the cutting step.)

4)You can upcycle old washcloths or old clothes for the fabrics.

5) You can use a microfiber cloth instead of a washcloth for a lint free towel.

6)You can use cotton duck canvas or oilcloth for the outer fabric to be water resistant so they're only absorbent on one side.

7) You can add a layer of thin transparent vinyl between the fabric and the washcloth to save your fabric from staining.

8)You can get cute and creative with this idea like the ones I saw online. You can buy terry cloth in really bright colors and use coordinating fabric and colored snaps and contrast stitching.

The possibilities are only limited by your own imagination!