The Best Reusable Paper Towels for You

There are many reasons why you should switch to reusable paper towels, but two obvious ones are to reduce waste and save money. Fortunately, there are easy ways for you to make the swap to reusable towels. Swedish paper towels, old rags, second-hand napkins, sewing your own, or buying a roll of unpaper towels are all options. Take a look below for a breakdown of the pros and cons of each paper towel swap and find which is best for your lifestyle.

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Why make the switch?

1. Reduce waste with reusable paper towels

According to the Ocean Conservancy, more than 13 billion pounds worth of paper towels are used every year in the United States alone. Used paper towels are non-recyclable, so unfortunately they end up in the landfill if they are not composted (and whether or not they can be composted depends on what you used them to clean up). If you do regularly use paper towels, you may want to consider starting your own compost bin.

2. Save money by switching out single-use towels

A roll of brand name paper towels can cost $4 and, depending on your use, may last only a couple of weeks. That money adds up over time – if you were to buy a roll every other week it costs more than $100 for the year. Even the most expensive option that I list below for switching to reusable towels costs less than half of that.

Switching to reusable paper towels

I get it, paper towels are convenient and that can almost make it seem worth the money. But a lot of that is a matter of habit, and once you make the new habit of reaching for a different product it becomes just as easy to grab the reusable version. Plus I am going to tell you the pros and cons for five ways you can swap out paper towels for more sustainable alternatives so that you can determine which of these approaches work best for your lifestyle and fits your motivation for going green. My family uses a combination of these depending on what mess we are cleaning up. Before you know it, grabbing a reusable paper towel will be as second nature to you as the old paper towels used to be.

Best for the easy switch – Swedish paper towels (also called Swedish dishcloths)

Swedish paper towels are a great first switch because they act a lot like regular paper towels but better. These clothes are made of cellulose and cotton. They may not seem very paper towel-like initially because they start out stiff. But add some water and viola – you have a cloth that you can use like any other. After you use them you can put them in the dishwasher (top rack) or washing machine to clean and use again. Some brands claim that one cloth can replace 17 rolls of paper towels. After they are no longer usable many can be composted. I especially love all the cute designs that you can get. Look at these cool prints!

Best for putting in very little effort – Extend the life of fabric you currently have

Old clothes, rags, and towels are great options for cleaning counters, bathtubs, and even the grill. Socks are great for dusting! It doesn’t cost you anything to reuse old fabric, and they can often be washed and reused multiple times. 

We keep our old fabric in a bin in our bathroom. It’s nice because it keeps them out of sight, but unfortunately out of sight can sometimes mean out of mind. For that reason, I recommend keeping an old rag or two in a convenient location – like in a bin under the kitchen sink – because there is nothing worse than having a huge mess and then tracking the mess throughout the house trying to get to a rag to clean it up with.

Best for the thrift store shopper – Find hand towels in a second-hand store

Another great way to reuse fabric is to pick up some cute hand towels or cloth napkins from a local thrift store. There is often a nice selection to choose from, they are very reasonably priced, and you are keeping existing materials out of the landfill. Flannel, terry cloth, microfiber cloths, bamboo, and cotton are good fabrics for unpaper towels.

Best for the DIY-er –  Sew your own

In the true spirit of DIY, you can always make your own unpaper towels! As a bonus, the towels will be used for cleaning so it is okay if they aren’t perfect. I don’t sew so I can’t personally attest to this method, but fortunately there are a lot of resources online with tutorials for how to make unpaper towels. Here are a couple that I found:

1. Terry and cotton flannel clothes with snaps by A Beautiful Mess
2. Flannel unpaper towels with a serger or zigzag stitch by The Lovely Little Farmhouse

Best for a paper towel holder – Buy a set of unpaper towels

There are some very cute unpaper towels on Etsy. I bought some with fun prints that make me want to showcase them on my kitchen counter. I put them in a small wire basket like this. You could also roll them up on an existing paper towel holder. I still reach for a hand towel for larger spills, but these are very convenient and do the trick for face washing and wiping off counters. The snaps are a nice addition to keep them all together and make them more like traditional paper towels. With a toddler in the house I go through these pretty quickly, so you may want to consider ordering two sets to keep some in stock while you wash the used ones.

So there you have it – five ways to trade in your paper towels for more sustainable versions. I hope this list helps you make the switch to reusable paper towels. Let me know in the comments which method you find works best for you!