Reducing paper waste with toilet cloth (part 2)

 

To help dispel those doubts, I spoke with Cynthia Thompson, owner of Zoom Baby Gear, an online reusable cloth product store based here in Portland. Don’t be fooled by the name of her shop - in addition to cloth diapering supplies, Cynthia also sells other reusable cloth products, including hand towels, handkerchiefs, and toilet cloth. Read on to learn about her thoughts and tips on using toilet cloth.

 

 

Cynthia: We started about a year ago, when my then 6 year-old daughter heard me talking about it and said, "Why aren't we doing that?" I had wanted to for several years, but felt like I needed another person in the house to support it.

 

C: Myself and my now 7 year-old daughter use it, but I think my husband is on the verge of converting too!

 

C: My daughter just uses cloth to wipe urine for now. I use it for both, but she is still a little young to properly rinse the cloths as needed for both.

 

C: We use the same cloths and I wet them down in the sink if I need a wet one.

 

C: Clean cloths are stored in a small basket on the floor by the toilet and the used ones go into a small plastic container nearby. This is open and dry in our house, but some people prefer wet or closed storage. Open storage encourages air circulation and reduces bacteria and odors! I rinse any "dirty" cloths and then throw them in the bin.

 

C: No, but that would be a nice addition. I use the sink to wet a cloth as needed.

 

C: I empty the bin in the bathroom a couple times a week and put the cloths in an old ceramic bowl in my laundry area (this is the same bowl I use to soak my mama cloth). I fill it with water and add a squirt of BacOut. This is my preferred soak for any reusable cloth item including pads and diapers. The enzymes take care of most bacteria and proteins that cause stains. They can soak for a day or two until a suitable load comes around. I wash them with towels or whites, on hot with Charlie's Soap, occasionally a dash of borax. I keep them separate from our kitchen cloth and hankies.

 

C: Toilet paper is always on the roll for anyone who wants it. It's really best not to mix too many different bacteria in your home laundry as the water temperature is not high enough to sanitize the cloths in most cases. Keeping the cloth "in the family" means you just need to clean them, not disinfect them.

 

C: I cut up some of my husband's old white t-shirts to make our family cloth. They are about 5x6 and I didn't need to hem the edges or finish them in any way. They can just be thrown away if they are stained or worn out. We have about 50;  you can never have too many!

 

C: More comfortable for sure.

 

C: I have dropped a few in the toilet, but most of the time I have fished them out before flushing. Because they are recycled [from old t-shirt material], they can be tossed guilt-free at any time.

 

C: We have easily cut our paper use in half.

 

C: Cloth diapers for my daughter when she was a baby, cloth training pants, cloth swim diapers, cloth menstrual pads, cloth nursing pads, kitchen cloth, floor cleaning cloths, cloth napkins, cloth food storage.... Really, I use washable cloth for everything I can.

 

C: Start small. Moms probably use the toilet the most, so just one person can make a difference in the amount of paper used. Use recycled fabrics so you aren't out a bunch of money to try it. Later you can upgrade to nicer wipes if you want. I did not buy one single thing to start using family cloth. I just did it one day and it has been a really nice change for us.

 

C: Don't make it an all-or-nothing situation or a big deal. My daughter and I used it for several months before my husband asked about all the little white squares in the laundry. Now he is thinking about trying it himself. Assure him that he can use paper for most of the "clean up" if he wants and just finish with a warm wet wipe (be sure to dry off with a clean wipe afterward!). Use BacOut or very diluted bleach as a laundry presoak if he is worried about germs. As a family, you all share the same bacteria so there is little chance of some kind of illness. Just keep your bathroom stuff separate from your kitchen stuff, as you probably already do. Treat your family cloth like a raw chicken; wash your hands with soap and water, and don't intentionally spread bacteria to food surfaces (or toothbrushes).

 

C: Really, it is not gross like some people think! Just try it and see. We have to get over the disposable mentality if we are going to reduce our waste stream. One funny thing: when my husband folds the laundry and it has family cloth in it, he will carefully fold each one into a tidy square and stack it in the basket. I just toss them in!