Please educate me on cloth "paper" towels...

[sarahsthreads]

I was looking on etsy for cloth napkins for DD1's school lunches (I planned to do this last school year and never got around to it) and most sellers also have a paper towel size. We do a lot of environmentally friendly stuff, but I'll admit I love my select-a-size paper towels. I do think we use too many of them, however.

So if I were going to try to switch us over to cloth "paper" towels, should I just go for white cotton ones? Pretty flannel ones? Is there an advantage to all white vs. busy patterns vs. darker colors? Are some fabrics more or less absorbent than others? Am I overthinking this???

Thanks,
Sarah

[Momof3Labs]

I just bought a couple of packs of bar towels several years back at Bed, Bath and Beyond. Fold them up, stack on the counter, voila.

They finally bit the dust (relegated to cleaning rags) and Costco had a huge pack of thick, white washcloths (24 of them, I think) for $10, so we now have new unpaper towels.

Pretty much anything can work - we prefer something a little thicker and soft because we also use them (a clean one) on the kids' faces after meals.

[chlobo]

We buy packs of 12x12" towels & keep them in a drawer. We use them for napkins & papertowels.

[cono0507]

We've been using these for a few years as "paper towel" in the kitchen.
http://www.amazon.com/Scotch-Brite-K.../dp/B0000E3QK1

The microfiber has been working out really well.

We have a drawer of kitchen linens that has a big piles of those towels, a stack of dish towels and a stack of kids washcloths for faces and hangs.

[brittone2]

We use a mix of dishtowel and washcloth sizes. I buy whatever for the most part. I have a few darker dishtowel sized ones I use and I like those for messy jobs like wiping out the cast iron.

My white ones get stained but it doesn't bother me. I wouldn't shell out for anything particularly precious/expensive.

I keep mine in a lower cabinet so the kids can access them too when we have spills, etc.

I find 2nd hand cloth napkins all of the time and we have a big stack for everyday use. I have nicer ones for holidays/company but our everyday ones are mostly thrifted.

[salsah]

we use old wash clothes and cloth diapers. the wash clothes are used for most "paper towel" jobs. the cloth diapers are really absorbent so i use those for big spills. i also use cloth diapers for all cleaning, from counters to floors (i put them on a swiffer mop and spray the floor with diluted vinegar). my cloth diapers are about 12 years old and need to be replaced soon. i'm thinking of replacing them with bar towels.