Toilet cloths

[Vivid-Dawn]

<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">I see a few posts about toilet paper. This is not about toilet PAPER, really… but same subject about wiping yourself clean after using the toilet.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">TP is convenient in that you use it once and down the drain it goes. That is…if it breaks up/dissolves well enough and doesn't clog up the drain. My dad had to spend a couple hundred dollars when some TP we were using stayed in clumps and clogged up the sewer.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">It's also a bit expensive. I haven't bought it for a while, but last I knew it was $6 a package. Now, if you're like my sister and use a whole handful at a time, and go 3 or 4 times a day, a roll only lasts a week at best. Or even if you're like me and limit yourself to 4 sheets at a time and try to make a roll stretch for nearly a month… you're still having to spend a good $1 a roll on average.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">In my never-ending quest to live frugally (and usually that equates to "green" too!), I came across the wonderful concept of using cloth!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">If you do an internet search for "toilet cloth", "family wipes", or similar, you'll get plenty of information about what and how to use.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This is what I do:</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Wal-Mart has a pack of 18 wash cloths for $4. I bought 2 packs for a total of $8 - the same you'd spend for ONE pack of TP!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I also bought one of those small garbage cans with a lid that opens when you step on the petal at the bottom. Also some small garbage sacks from the dollar store (they're in a package of 28, and in different scents…I don't like "rose", but those are the smallest…if you don't mind bag ends hanging over the can, the blue ones are "mountain breeze" which I like better!)</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Line the can with a garbage bag and set it next to the toilet and/or tucked into a corner. Get a small plastic basket or box (about the size of a shoe box) and put it on the tank/back of the toilet. Fold the wash cloths once length-wise and put in the basket/box (I can fit 24 in mine, without them rising above the rim). I also got a pump bottle of hand sanitizer and tucked that in with the cloths.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">After using the toilet, take a cloth (preferably kept folded) and wipe yourself. Open the garbage can with your foot, and toss the cloth in. Sanitize your hands and/or wash them.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Once a week I take the cloths and put them in the washer with 2 cups of bleach in the bleach dispenser of the washing machine. Don't let them sit more than a week, or they'll mildew (from being moist AND contaminated with human waste)…yup, I got lazy and did this once! Every 4 days or so would probably be even better, especially if you use the toilet more than 3 times a day (like me…I have a small bladder, AND my diet requires I eat every 2 hours so obviously I make more waste than just eating 3 meals).</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Since I hate "wasting" water on such a small wash load of only a dozen wash cloths, I also wash towels or my cats blankets they've puked/peed on too. That way I get lots of sanitizing done at once!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Also, I then air dry them, since you don't NEED toilet cloths to be nice and fluffy from a tumble in the dryer - that saves energy! One a side note, a good way to get rid of static without buying sheets or liquid softener, is a crumpled ball of foil about the size of a baseball - kind of noisy, but cheaper since it will last a good 3 or 4 loads! Then it's very small and dense and doesn't do a good job, so I give it to the cats as a toy (saves more money there, too!)</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Now, I have my own washer, so don't go to a laundromat. I'm not sure on their policy of using bleach (or even the extra large amount I do).</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Oh, and you might want to spray the garbage can with Lysol or rinse it out with vinegar or some other disinfecting thing when the cloths are in the washer, too. And use a new bag, of course. I think that's the only thing that gets wasted…but compared to all the other ways you're saving (money and the environment), I think it's worth it! Since I like to reuse as much as possible, I use the bag to put scooped cat litter in that day, THEN throw it out <img src="/images/boards/smilies/wink.gif" align="absmiddle" border="0"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Or I think they even have new bags that are biodegradable. More expensive probably.</p>

 

[dragonflyinthesky]

Some may find this to be too yucky. Many people don't remember washing cotton diapers and hanging them on the clothes line. Sometimes you rinsed them in the toilet first then&nbsp;threw them in a trash bin to be washed later. My mother told me her fingers would be so cold from hanging the laundry outside and sometimes it would freeze.&nbsp;<br>Your idea is good and green.<br><FONT color=#00ff00><b>Dragonfly</b></FONT><br>

 

[She]

The problem I see is having enough to wash every week. I won't be in the van much. I work. I&nbsp;probably would only use my&nbsp;toilet&nbsp;at night. I think it would stink the van up? Good idea really...as dragonfly says it is very green.&nbsp;

 

[sl1966]

In India and the Middle east they commonly use the left hand and water to clean up afterwards. Hence why it's rude to offer anything using the left hand in said countries.<div><br></div><div>However this wouldn't really work in an RV because your greywater tank becomes like the blackwater tank. Unless you've got one of those shower head/hose attachments that can reach the commode. You can keep everything of that nature to the black tank, but then water conservation goes out the window then. I mean given how often you said you use it per day. At least the towels are only used to dry yourself off now.</div><div><br></div>

 

[Phantom Blooper]

Install a bidet....<br><br>Then shake....<br>

 

[Vivid-Dawn]

She - Ohhh. Yup, might not be a good option then. See, I don't work, and spend all my time at home. I'm out in public maybe 10 hours a week, and even then I don't use public restrooms (now -that's- yucky!)<br>The van wouldn't get stinky, because the garbage can has a lid to trap odors and the cloths are taken out regularly. I have my bathroom door closed to keep the cats out, and it doesn't get stinky in there.<br><br>sl1966 - I'm not sure what you're talking about? The only water you'd use is to wash your hands, and wash the cloths in - and both of those should be clean fresh water. And as I said, I just sanitize my hands. My bathroom sink has virtually NO pressure, so I only get a trickle anyway. Most of my water is in the kitchen sink - but the cold water handle is broken, so I only get hot water (and it gets HOT quickly!). Needless to say, I try to use water sparingly! LOL<br><br>

 

[She]

Hey I can tell you where all the clean bathrooms are in a 10 mile zone. LOL I drive for a living so being female (no defense to you guys)I want a clean bathroom to use.&nbsp;

 

[sl1966]

sl1966 - I'm not sure what you're talking about? The only water you'd use is to wash your hands, and wash the cloths in - and both of those should be clean fresh water. And as I said, I just sanitize my hands. My bathroom sink has virtually NO pressure, so I only get a trickle anyway. Most of my water is in the kitchen sink - but the cold water handle is broken, so I only get hot water (and it gets HOT quickly!). Needless to say, I try to use water sparingly! LOL

<div><br></div><div>I was talking about alternative ways of cleaning oneself after defecating. Use your hands and water to clean yourself in the same way East Indians do it. Then you would use the towels just to dry yourself off with instead of mucking them up. Basically it's the poor mans bidet.</div><div><br></div>

 

[Vivid-Dawn]

Ohhh! I thought you were meaning to get the towels wet and then wipe. Some people do that, but I figure it's extra work (and besides, without details, I wonder how you get the towels wet... stand up and go to the sink? I figured if I did it, I'd just keep a spray bottle with the towels and spritz them)<br><br><br>

 

[yesican]

<p>I've spent too much time cleaning my younger siblings dirty diapers and cleaning up after incontinent adults and realize, cleanliness is next to godliness.&nbsp; It takes many chemicals to sufficiently clean&nbsp;cloth after BM and urine.&nbsp; Toilet paper is a renewable resource and will eventually degrade.&nbsp; Save the world...use toilet paper!</p>

 

[judycmomx6]

Steve, that is probably one of the main reasons why the people in those other country's get terrible diseases much more than we do here in America! I don't think you could wash enough times to get all those terrible germs off your hands, and also out from under your fingernails, could you even imagine? That's sooooo nasty!!!

 

[sl1966]

Steve, that is probably one of the main reasons why the people in those other country's get terrible diseases much more than we do here in America! I don't think you could wash enough times to get all those terrible germs off your hands, and also out from under your fingernails, could you even imagine? That's sooooo nasty!!!

<div><br></div><div>Until something else better comes along I'm sticking with toilet paper. Well, not sticking in the literal sense. You know what I mean.</div><div><br></div>

 

[yesican]

<p>Everyone has their own preference on how to clean themselves.&nbsp; I choose toilet paper, a biodegradable product from a renewable resource.&nbsp; Is a matter-of-fact, you can get toiletpaper that has been recycled which is better yet.&nbsp; </p>

 

[Phantom Blooper]

<P>I use a Sear &amp; Roebuck catalog and finish it off with a corncob........</P>

 

[Guest]

I am with Rae on this...TP for me these days....even when using the desert to do your biz....you can throw it in the fire or on a calm day...set fire to it out in an open area....<br><br>When I replace my toilets here at home...coming in the not too distant future....I will plumb in spray hoses like they do in Thailand....you just spray yourself, front to back and you are cleaner than you can get yourself with a dry rag or tp.<br><br>The very best for me was the toilets in Narita Airport in Tokyo. They had a series of buttons and switches....you sat, off-loaded and then hit the warm water spray button and the little wand came out from the side of the bowl and hosed you off . Another button and gentle warm air dried your area.... awesome.....<br><br>Bri<br><br><br><br><br>

 

[SoulRaven]

Yeah well the train has gone of the track here... I am of the "KISS" logic crowd and this cloth idea is just to far out for me... TP for me... PS The clogging problem Dad had to deal with was probably a septic system and the wrong type of TP was used...<br>

 

[yesican]

<p>I like the idea of installing a sprayer for pure rump freshness.&nbsp; Hmmm. Good idea.</p>

 

[Guest]

<span id="post_message_1272853750">I like the idea of installing a sprayer for pure rump freshness.&nbsp; Hmmm. Good idea.</span>

<br><br>The ones they use in Thailand are exactly the same kind I have in my kitchen sink...they hang it on a hook on the wall by the toidy and there you are...no fuss, no muss and if one wants, a small pad of paper to dry everything off....At least I carried my own paper there....<br>Bri<br><br>

 

[twokniveskatie]

Now you know why I hug everybody the minute I see them. Avoids the whole handshake issue. And you all thought I liked you....:

 

[karl]

Just never know what one may learn by frequenting this forum.......<br>