Well, we finally did it. We made the switch from store bought tissues/Kleenex or actually Puff's in our case, to handkerchiefs. I've been wanting to try this out but was, well, to be honest, worried about the snot. Here I go being yucky on a cooking blog again....but seriously this is saving money BIG TIME! I read some other posts and articles (thanks Becca for your article on the subject) and was grateful to hear other's experiences with returning to handkerchiefs. My fears about tons of snot in a piece of cloth have being alleviated. The amount we have is very excessive for regular daily use but since we have allergies and I wanted to be prepared for the next round of colds, I supplied us generously. We have roughly about 50. About 7 per person in the family is probably sufficient to get through a week but you could very well use even less or if sick, possibly several more.
What I did:
-cut up cotton flannel squares (receiving blankets work great!) in about 6x8 sizes and hemmed them (or you can surge them with a surger.)
-gave each kid their own stack of about 6-10 handkerchiefs for their nightstand drawer.
-put a stack in our master bedroom.
-explained to the kids that they should stick one in their pocket at the start of each day.
-explained that they could use the hanky many times over and then put it in the laundry at the end of the day if it was used up or continue to use it the next day.-filled an old Puff's tissue box with our handkerchief's folded in half for the kitchen (we all tend to use that box the most) and figured that out of habit we might still reach there for a tissue.
-if we use one from the kitchen box we toss it in the laundry room basket.
-kept a store-bought box of tissues in the guest bathroom for guests who may find our hanky going ways a bit strange.
Why We Will Never Go Back:
-using a hanky is nothing like I thought it would be! It's WAY better!
-the cotton flannel is soft. Way softer than store bought tissue, even the lotion version which is what I was buying.
-it's way more absorbent which means you can use it over and over again and it even drys out quickly (we live in a dry climate so I don't know if all climates would be the same in that regard.)
-it doesn't shred.
-it doesn't fall apart when it gets wet.
-you can blow more than once in it.
-you don't have to look for a trash can when you are done with it. It goes right back into your pocket.
-you don't have to buy tissue.....you can cross that expense off your grocery list. (and man! tissue isn't cheap!)
-your nose will be happier because it's so soft.
-you can carry just one in your purse instead of a whole wade that gets torn and ruined anyway.
-my kids absolutely LOVE this change as do I.
-I've even got my husband using them now...shhhh, don't tell anyone.
How did tissue companies ever talk mankind out of hanky's? I have no idea!
8 comments:
This is a wonderful idea! I must say that I don't like tissues. They fall apart as soon as you use them, which then you have to use more, which then you have to buy more, which then you spend more money.
Flannel is a good fabric for this.
I am definately going to give this a try!
blessings,
maria
I should make some of these for wash cloths... I have a stack of them in the kitchen for noses, and face washing.
My children all got a personalized handkerchief last year for Christmas (with their initial embroidered on the corner). I would have loved to have given them all a stack, but that wasn't possible (time-wise).
This year I am making more (out of an old sheet). For the girls, I am edging them with a scallopd edge stitch from my sewing machine.
I'm glad you are loving the hankies! It doesn't take a dry climate to dry them quickly; I live in Pittsburgh, which is pretty humid, but a folded hanky in my pocket getting normal use does not get soggy. When I have a cold, I carry several hankies and switch off.
We have some in an old tissue box, too, next to the bed where we tend to use them once and toss them into the laundry basket. That's where we put all the odd-sized pieces left over from cutting squares out of worn-out clothes.
this is a cool idea, but when I get a cold, my nose gets really, really sore, that is why i lean toward kleenex w/lotion. i know i can use petroleum jelly, but it still gets really really sore. so....my question would be, I'm I going to go back to having a sore nose???
Sarah,
I was concerned about this as well and was previously buying tissue with lotion as well. We are prone to sore noses as well. The flannel hankies have been just as soft as the tissue with lotion for us. The hankies that we made out of receiving blankets have NOT been as soft as flannel that we've puchased at the fabric store. So, I would go the fabric store route if you are concerned about the softness. For us, it's worked great and I'm actually happier with it than the tissue with lotion.
Hope this helps!
Baby sized washcloths can be a good hanky substitute too, if you don't sew, or if you run out - I used to keep them in my pockets for minor spitups when the kids were babies, and then when the spit up phase ended, the drippy nose phase started!! They vary in softness though, so you have to find soft ones. I kind of fell away from it at some point, I think because they were a bit small for an adult so I ended up in the habit of buying disposable tissues. I really should make some though!
My grandmother gave me some pretty hankies for Cmas, with embroidery on them. I keep them in my purse. They keep better than tissue and they don't leave bits and pieces of tissue on my face. They are especially nice at funerals. The tissues at the funeral home are usually hard and crumbly.
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