Pros and cons of family cloth (2024)


Welcome to the January 2012 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Experiments in Natural Family Living

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have reported on weeklong trials to make their lives a little greener and gentler. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

I put out a poll for which natural family living experiment to tackle, and the people spoke:

FAMILY CLOTH

(It was a close race, though! I might have to do some more experimenting soon.)

Pros and cons of family cloth (1)Family cloth is something I've been interested in for awhile, but I could never … quite … take the plunge. (Get it? Plungers? Prepare yourself for more toilet talk to come.)

Day 1, December 19

We've run out of toilet paper upstairs, so that's a good reason to start in on the family cloth, right? For those of you not in the crunchosphere, "family cloth" is a euphemism for reusable bathroom wipes, a replacement for toilet paper (or "bath tissue," as commercials inexplicably call it).

There are good reasons to switch from toilet paper to something reusable. It does seem astonishingly wasteful, when I think about it, to use non-recycled paper one time only and flush it to where it can never be used again. And then repeat that several times over the course of the day, using dozens of rolls just on my own toileting per year. Sam and I are perhaps toilet paper snobs, too, preferring the softest and most luxurious brand we could find. It's one of our least eco-friendly purchases, and we go through quite a lot of it.

Besides the qualms of cutting down old-growth trees and new forests, manufacturing that toilet paper takes water and fuel and produces waste. The bleaching process produces toxins. Flushing the paper requires further cleaning of the water. All in all, it's a mess.

About a year and a half ago, I started sewing up cloth napkins and hankies, trying to make the switch to more reusable products elsewhere. In the back of my mind was the idea, Someday I'll probably make the switch for toilet paper as well. Just before Alrik was born, I was buying a selection of postpartum pads from Lunapads and decided to try their baby wipes. I purposely threw in an extra dozen, thinking ahead to family cloth. I even asked Sam at the time, Is this a stupid idea? and he gave me the go-ahead. It remains to be seen, though, whether Sam will actually use them along with me!

Did I mention I bought a bidet toilet seat attachmentPros and cons of family cloth (2) at the same time? Ok, well, I love this thing, and I should really do a full review sometime. We installed one on each toilet just in time before the birth. (The bidets were awesome postpartum, by the way, even better than a peri bottle.) I figured being able to spritz away some of the yuck would make family cloth less objectionable.

Pros and cons of family cloth (3)
I love you, Blue Bidet.

So, today, I pulled some of our cloth baby wipes out of the cupboard and brought them to the bathroom. I took our Planet Wise hanging wetbag from the doorknob in the bedroom and moved it to the doorknob in the bathroom so it's easily accessible. Since it has two compartments — wet and dry — I can put the unused wipes in the dry section of the hanging wetbag and the used ones directly into the wet, mere inches from the toilet. (We have a very small bathroom.) I've decided it's less icky the less I have to handle these dirty cloths.

How did wiping with cloth feel? It felt soft, and a little wet. I decided to spray myself with the bidet ahead of time so that it wouldn't be as dirty when I wiped. In that sense, then, it just kind of felt like cleaning myself with a washcloth in the shower. A quick swipe for my purposes (it was just #1, for those playing along at home), and I tossed the wipe into the wetbag. I looked at it as it went in, and you couldn't tell it was even dirty — it just looked wet.

Mikko peed this morning but used the very last of the toilet paper. I was about to offer him a wipe when he reached out to grab the TP, so I left it at that for now. I figure I won't try to make the boys do my experiment, just offer the cloths as an option.

My general feeling about this is excitement and contentedness. I don't feel anxious now that it's finally started.

See Also
What Is "The Family Cloth" And Why Do People Use It? An ExplainerFamily Cloth?! Yup, Reusable Toilet Paper is a Real Thing.Please Don’t Use Cloth Toilet PaperWhy You Should Switch to Family Cloth - The Pistachio Project

Day 2, December 20

I'm feeling grumpy about this today. The novelty has apparently worn off, quickly. I had my first experience with dropping a cloth wipe into the toilet and had to fish it out, sopping and yucky. Just, all over, yucky.

I decided to try swapping out all my paper usages for cloth for the extent of the experiment: toilet paper, tissues, paper towels, napkins — to make things more interesting. Or, as my current mood would have it, miserable.

Now, don't get me wrong — we already use cloth for a lot of things, such as for cleaning up spills and children. But there are plenty of places to improve. I have a nice store of casual and formal cloth napkins, as well as baby wipes. Still, I find myself reaching for the disposable wipes when it's time to scrub off some poo. I know —why, when we cloth diaper? Since we mostly use a diaper service, (my) wipes need to be separated from (their) diapers, so mostly it's just convenience. But some of the reason is why we hadn't been using family cloth. It just feels weird to use cloth on poo. I've heard some people say, "Oh, I don't use [cloth wipes/family cloth] on poop, either."

But as a true scientist (not really), I needed to be thorough, which means: I have now tried out using family cloth on my poo. I tried to use the bidet to wash as much off as possible before wiping … but I have to confess it was still quite disturbing to me. I also had this sinking feeling of, I've ruined this wipe! Even though that's kind of silly. It seems gross to me to reuse family cloth for anything else, even though theoretically —and hopefully —they're nicely cleaned by the washing machine. I don't feel that same stigma when I use diaper service prefolds, which are pooped on by the dozens, even for things like wiping my baby's mouth. Then again, I know the diaper service prefolds we get are highly disinfected. I don't have the same confidence about my laundering routine. So, that's another strike in the ick column.

Pros and cons of family cloth (4)
Mikko helped me sew up a bunch of simple cloth squares from sheets.

For nose functions, I have had to round up as many of my cloth square napkins/hankies that Mikko and I sewed out of old sheets, some flannel and some regular cotton. I have a few legitimate cotton handkerchiefs from Lunapads as well (same giganto pre-baby order), so I'll have to find those. I have a lot of nose congestion, and I have to say I've never liked using handkerchiefs in place of tissues. I'm giving it a try again, but I don't like it again. I feel like I'm blowing my nose into a sheet. Oh, because I am. I also feel like it's not getting me as clean. I hate to get too graphic here, but I can clean off the goopy bits better with a thin tissue than with the necessarily thicker cloth of a handkerchief. Maybe I just haven't found the type of handkerchief I like, though. I'm willing to try out the handkerchief thing again for a week at least to see if I can get used to it.

Pros and cons of family cloth (5)
One of the many handkerchiefs I have that I don't like.


It felt soft and normal to use a cloth napkin, though, and I also have plenty of rags and dishcloths around to use in place of paper towels. I guess maybe just because I've used cloth napkins off and on since I was a child, it doesn't feel as weird to wipe my hands on cloth. Or maybe it's because we use hand towels and not paper towels at home. Wiping dirty hands on cloth seems normal, whereas wiping other dirty body parts still seems odd.

Day 3, December 21

Still feeling grumpy, and damp. I feel like I can't get as dry a wipe as I could with paper. My nose is stuffy, too, and I can't figure out how to solve this problem. I think I might need thinner wipes and kerchiefs, but then again, I don't want to get pee and snot all over my hands. I'm having paper envy, looking longingly at the box of tissues or the roll of toilet paper near me. I was excited when we went out to run errands, and I had to use paper in the public restrooms. I purposely went again before we left to go back home so I could get in one more hit. I must be going through withdrawal.

I washed my first load of wipes and snot rags today (same difference), along with some cloth pads (mine, worn during the medicinal phase of a yeast infection) and dirty undies (not mine, for what that's worth) that needed intensive cleaning. With the amount of wipes I have, I'll need to do laundry every other day or so if just I use them. If the whole family uses them … we'll need to get more wipes. If I regularly had cloth diaper laundry, I'm sure adding to the load wouldn't be a big deal. As it is, using a diaper service for most of our diapering, I feel I have to save up the dirties till I have enough to justify running the washer on "extra small." I did a cold soak to help with the poo staining (hope it does something), and then a hot wash and hot dry to get them less ickified.

Day 4, December 22

Today I had an opportunity to introduce Mikko to the idea. It's hard to know how new things will go with a four-year-old. Sometimes they can be hesitant to change up a routine. As it turns out, though, he was thrilled — with the wipes, with the two-compartment wetbag, all of it. He even asked to throw my wipe in when I was done, and then he went to wash his hands and asked if he could use a wipe to dry them off. Sure! At least someone's excited, right?

I told Sam he could try them out, too, but he seemed skeptical till I said, "Just for pee is fine." He seemed more accepting of that one, so we'll see. He's sick right now, so maybe it's not the best time for him to experiment with communal cloth.

The wipes came out of the wash smelling like nothing, which is to say, clean. There are little dim, splotchy stains on some of them, but nothing too gross (yet). I didn't have an idea of keeping our wipes pristine, so it doesn't much matter; I just would rather not have them turn me off (or turn my stomach) as I'm using them. If we had a clothesline and a place to hang it outside, I know the sun would help bleach the stains and any bacteria away. Alas, that is not an option in our shaded condo.

As I did the laundry yesterday, I realized something important: We need another wetbag, or a different container. I had to wash the one I was using with the wipes, giving me nowhere to put any I used in the meantime so I used (don't tell!) paper for the one time I went during laundry. I know some people use a hard container with lid. However, our bathroom is teensy tiny (as in, we can barely close the door past the toilet), and I have nowhere to put one.

Day 6, December 24

Merry Christmas Eve. I don't feel as damp in my nethers anymore. I think I'm getting the hang of wiping with the correct amount of pressure. I'm not a huge fan of our Lunapads wipes, though, because they persistently spring into long curlicues (you can see them in the first picture – they're the plain white ones), which makes it hard to do more than one swipe with them before they roll back up. It somehow seems wasteful to use a substantial cloth for such a weensy purpose.

I've been thinking about this, how I've calibrated down to a science just how much of any particular paper product I need to get a job done. Wiping a sheen of snot from the tip of my nose? One sheet of toilet paper. Blowing it heartily? That's a three-sheeter. Cleaning up a dot of a spill? I'll rip a corner off a paper towel. But with cloth, there's one size only; you can't tear your handkerchief or wipe into smaller bits for a particular job. It feels extravagant to use a whole wipe for one task only, but at the same time it feels gross to save it around in case another mess comes along. For instance, I still haven't gotten the hang of figuring out where on my hankie the clean spots still are. Every time I throw a barely used rag into the wash bag, I wonder if the paper usage for that task would have been less than the water and energy it will take to launder that particular cloth.

See Also
Woman shows how her whole family uses rags as reusable loo paper

Day 8, December 26

It's nice that using family cloth has gotten normal for me. What isn't so nice is I lately seem to be doing a daily load of laundry. I don't know if it's just having Mikko double up with me, or if I'm using the wipes to blow my nose too often, but we keep almost running out after just a day. But it seems ludicrous to run the washer and dryer for such a small daily load. I'll need to make some more wipes, or figure out a different wash routine.

I'm making sure to include in the family cloth batches any other similarly soiled items: cloth diapers and covers, cleaning rags, napkins, dish towels, hand towels, kid-besmirched clothing. Anything that might benefit from a thorough wash. But it still seems wasteful.

Day 11, December 29

Now I'm sick, too, with Sam's shared gastroenteritis. To be perfectly frank, it's coming out that end, the family cloth end. At least I have something soft?

Day 12, December 30

My sweet baby is now sick as well, and has vomited all over me. Multiple times. Poor thing.

I also have my period, early. (My body's messing with me big time.) Yes, I'm using family cloth for that, too (the little that escapes my DivaCup). I figure blood's not any grosser than poo, and the cloth (plus bidet) does a better job cleaning me thoroughly than paper ever did.

I'm throwing everything in the washer on warm, so that nothing sits overnight. I'm a little concerned about whether family cloth gets clean enough on warm —but it's not like hot sanitizes anyway, right? I've heard the water's not hot enough. Does the dryer sanitize?

Great news, though: I received a shipment of beautiful, bright, handmade family cloth from Dionna of Code Name: Mama. I'm so excited to add it to my stash! First of all, it's pretty. Secondly, it's darkly colored which helps me feel more comfortable getting it dirty without worrying about stains (however irrationally I was doing so). Third, it's stinking soft and easy to wipe with. Fourth, I just needed more wipes, full stop! With the sickness, too, now, I've been doing laundry constantly.

Pros and cons of family cloth (6)
Ah! Pretty. And so pampering.

Day 13, December 31

We're still sick. Happy New Year's Eve. I've allowed myself to use some paper for the nastiness, but it doesn't feel as good. I guess I'm spoiled now.

I've noticed the same thing for wiping my nose. I still haven't found the perfect hanky solution —I might try cutting up some old t-shirts —but I now find that blowing my nose on paper doesn't feel as good as it used to, either. Sigh.

Day 14, January 1

Well, I will officially end the experiment here. My take on family cloth? It wasn't as hard or yucky as I feared.

I definitely prefer the Code Name: Mama wipes over the others I have, and I don't want to do laundry as often as I have been, so I will need to make more of those if I continue on this path. Since I haven't replaced the toilet paper upstairs, I'm continuing for now!

It's an auspicious start to the New Year.

Update, January 5

Well, setback. I've just gotten a second yeast infection. As mentioned in passing, I had one just before this experiment started (my first in well over a year, though I used to get them frequently), which is one reason I actually started the trial later than I'd intended — everything was so goopy down there with the medication I needed to use. I did end up starting the experiment before the full course of medication had run, though, because I wanted at least a couple weeks to try out family cloth before writing my post. Now that I've gotten another attack from the yeasty beasties, it strikes me that family cloth might have reinfected me! (Eep.) So I'm stripping all my wipes with OxyClean and then vinegar to kill off all the yeasties. I'm reinstalling paper in the upstairs bathroom and will use it throughout the course of this infection, to be on the safe side.

Here's how all the elements stacked up:

Family Cloth (vs. Toilet Paper)

It was somewhat weird but not as odd as I'd feared, even for poo. (Using the bidet beforehand helped a lot there, though. I think I'd want paper on hand for particularly nasty outputs.) Since we were using the softest of soft toilet paper, the cloth is softer but not by leaps and bounds. It is scads softer than the one-ply recycled paper we should have been using. I prefer Dionna's flannel-and-jersey wipes for thickness and luxuriousness, so I'll have to give making more a go.

Things that concern me about family cloth: How clean do they get? Can I really wash them on warm or even cold (gasp!) in joint laundry loads, or do I need to keep them separate and scalded (if only for my own anti-ick reassurances)? Is using more laundry water and energy at home better or worse compared with whatever's used to manufacture the toilet paper I'm replacing? What horrifying things will happen to our plumbing if I accidentally flush a cloth wipe, as I've no doubt will happen eventually? Am I really spreading infection with my wipes (yipes)?

After this infection has run its course, I'd like to go back to family cloth, but perhaps only for pee (or even — um — can I call it "light" poop?). I might also try downgrading our toilet paper, though when we tried that before, it …well … it chafed. (Perhaps our family has special toileting needs. I wouldn't doubt it.) Now that we have a bidet, though, maybe it's possible.

Handkerchiefs (vs. Tissues)

I still hate handkerchiefs. I've gone back to mostly tissues since the experiment ended, although I've kept handkerchiefs in my pockets for when I'm out. However, I find ways around using them, such as co-opting napkins when we're at a restaurant. I need to find a handkerchief material that feels right for my nose. Maybe old t-shirts, or even the traditional fine linen. (But where to find such that isn't mondo expensivePros and cons of family cloth (7) and too nice for the likes of my boogers?)

Dishrags/Washcloths/Sponges (vs. Paper Towels)

I actually had no problem not using a paper towel since the experiment started. Maybe it's because I don't cook or clean much, heh. But when I did clean, I used the microfiber rags I have for the purpose. When I needed to wash a little face, I went for the casual cloth napkins Mikko and I made. When I wanted to dry my hands, I used the kitchen towel. When I needed to clean up a spill, I grabbed the sponge. Easy peasy. Now just to wean the rest of the family off of them…

Cloth Napkins (vs. Paper Napkins/Tissues)

I have to interject that we never have paper napkins unless we've gotten takeout, but we do use tissues for that purpose. I don't have a problem using cloth napkins. I just have to make sure I have clean ones on hand and readily accessible. I'm thinking of setting up a supply in several locations, where our tissue boxes are now.

Pros and cons of family cloth (8)
Yup, at one point I had cloth napkins/hankies folded handily into old tissue boxes and set around the living area. I got out of this habit but need to find the will again.

So that's where I'm at right now with cloth vs. paper usage. I'd like to continue this changeover to reusable products, and I think the most important steps will be to increase the amount and, in some cases, quality of the cloth substitutes I have available, and to put them in easily accessible areas so that everyone can find them when needed. And eventually I might also need to downgrade the accessibility of the paper products!

Pros and cons of family cloth (9)
This guy would be happy to help me cut up some more wipes!

If you can answer any of my questions, I'd love your advice and opinions!

If I don't have a full diaper load, how often should I wash family cloth? Is it all right to wash it on warm or cold or with regular laundry, or is that just …gross? Should I dry it on hot to sanitize?

What can I use for handkerchiefs that doesn't blow? (Ha ha ha!)


Visit Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

(This list will be live and updated by afternoon January 10 with all the carnival links.)

  • Make your own moisturizer! — Megan at boho mama whips up a winter skin-friendly moisturizer.
  • Cold Water Only — Brittany at The Pistachio Project talks about how you do not need hot water to wash laundry.
  • Family Cloth... Really?? — After lots of forethought and consideration, Momma Jorje finally decides to take the plunge with family cloth.
  • Reduce, Reuse, Recycle : 5-5-5 Things A Day — Luschka from Diary of a First Child writes about decluttering her home in an attempt to create a gentler living space. She takes on a new project where she sets a goal of reducing, reusing and recycling every day.
  • Pros and cons of family cloth — Lauren at Hobo Mama would love to continue replacing paper products with family cloth … if she could only get over how damp she feels.
  • Craftily Parenting — Kellie at Our Mindful Life finds that crafting makes her a better parent.
  • Changes — Laura at Pug in the Kitchen couldn't choose just one area to experiment with, so she wrote a long post about all the fun changes initiated in her life!
  • Life without Internet: Not all it's Cracked up to Be — Adrienne at Mommying My Way tries to go a week without the Internet, only to realize a healthy dose of Internet usage really helps keep this stay-at-home mom connected.
  • My Progression to Raw Milk — Kerry at City Kids Homeschooling shares her natural parenting progression all the way to trying raw milk.
  • mama's new little friend. — Sarah at Bitty Bird tries a menstrual cup to "green her period," and is pleasantly surprised when she falls in love with the product!
  • Before you throw it out, try homemade laundry soap! — Jennifer at Practical OH Mommy shows visual proof that homemade laundry soap is cheaper, easier, and works better than the store-bought chemicals!
  • Oil, Oil, No Toil, No Trouble — K from Very Simple Secret talks about her foray into the oil-cleansing method.
  • I Need a Hobby — Amanda at Let's Take the Metro couldn't decide which experiment to run, so she did them all.
  • 7 days of macrobiotics for a balanced family — The Stones make a [successful] attempt to release the "holiday junking" with 7 days of macrobiotic meals to balance their bodies and souls. Elisabeth at Manic Mrs. Stone includes an explanation of macrobiotics.
  • Chemical Free Beauty Challenge — Jenn at Monkey Butt Junction turned to natural alternatives for her daily beauty and cleaning routine, with great results.
  • Greening my Armpits!? My Green Resolution — Shannon at The Artful Mama talks about how she decided to give up her traditional antiperspirant and make the switch over to crystal deodorants and definitely isn't looking back!
  • Going Raw (for a while) — Jenny at Chronicles of a Nursing Mom shares her family's experience with raw food.
  • Do we get to eat gluten today? — Sheila at A Gift Universe has been trying to figure out if her son does better with or without gluten in his diet … but it's really hard to tell for sure.
  • Hippies Can Smell and Look Fabulous Too! — Arpita of Up, Down And Natural details her experience of going shampoo-free and overhauling her cosmetics to find the balance between feeling beautifully fabulous and honoring her inner hippie.
  • Our cupboards are full...but there's nothing to eat — Lucy at Dreaming Aloud takes on the challenge of chomping through the contents of her storecupboard rather than going shopping — but there's something that she just can't bring herself to do …
  • Elimination Experiment 3.0 — MudpieMama recounts the messy adventures of her baby daughter trying to be diaper free.
  • Family Cloth Trial — Amyables at Toddler in Tow talks about making and using family cloth wipes in the bathroom for the first time.
  • Taking a Hiatus — Amy at Peace 4 Parents shares how her experience of much less internet interaction affected her family and how it will change her approach in the future.
  • Trying Out the Menstrual Cup — Lindsey at an unschooling adventure ditches the tampons and gives menstrual cups a try.
  • Managing Food Waste in Our Home — Tired of the holiday waste, Robbie at Going Green Mama takes a weeklong focus on reducing food waste in her home, and learns some lessons that can take her through the new year.
  • Going Offline, Cloth Tissues, and Simplicity — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama muses over her time away from blogging and social networking. In addition, she shares her newfound love of cloth tissues and simplicity.
Pros and cons of family cloth (2024)
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