Lately I have been challenging myself to find spots in the house where we can eliminate waste and swap out a reusable item where we would normally do a disposable option (here’s a great post with lots of our reusable favorites), and I’ve decided to tackle my kitchen first! One item that most of us use a lot without even thinking about it would be paper towels! Got a spill? Paper towel. Need to dry something? Paper towel. Clean a baby’s face after dinner? Paper towel. You can really go through a lot in an average day without thinking about it. I’d been trying to use a giant rag pile under my sink more and more, and while it does help the paper towel usage, I don’t always want to dry my hands or clean off Lola with them since they can be rather stained and rough, as I tend to use them for the dirtier kitchen jobs.
That’s where a roll of “unpaper” towels come in! The first time I saw a roll of these I thought it was the most genius thing I had ever seen. Reusable paper towels are basically mini cloth towels that attach together (I used the snap method on mine) so you can still have them in a roll on your counter and keep them accessible. But when you are done, you wash and reuse them instead of throwing them away. It’s less waste in your trash can and you’ll save money buying paper towels in the long run, too! I’ll show you how I made mine and then give you a “cheat” to make a set faster at the end …
Supplies:
-2 yards of cotton terrycloth fabric
-2 yards of cotton flannel
–straight pins
–sewing machine
–mesh canvas sheet
–snaps and snap setter
–rotary cutter, cutting mat, and ruler
Let’s get started! Wash your fabric pieces in hot water so that any shrinking will occur before you sew and dry them. Place your two fabrics on top of each other on top of your cutting mat and smooth out both layers so there are no wrinkles. You are going to cut 12″ x 12″ squares and it’s really helpful if you have a template that you can use to cut each one so you don’t have to measure out each square every time. I happened to have a smaller cutting mat that was the perfect size to use as my template, but you could also cut a piece of cardboard to be your template instead. Use your template and ruler to cut through both layers of fabric with your rotary cutter. Continue to move the fabric sections onto the cutting mat, smoothing the layers each time, and cutting with your template until you have 12 squares of two-layered fabric.
Use your straight pins to pin each set of squares together.
Sew around your squares with a 1/2″ seam allowance, leaving a 3″ opening so you can turn your fabric through the hole when you are done. Clip the corners of your square with scissors and then turn your fabric through the hole. You can press your seams flat by ironing each square if you like, but I found they flattened very well just by smoothing them with my hands, so I skipped that step.
Once they are all turned right sides out, make sure your 3″ openings are folded in and even with the rest of the towel edge and sew all the way around each square again with a 1/4″ seam allowance this time. (This will close your opening for you and help keep the towels lying flat.)
Once you have all your towels ready (yay!), get out your snaps and snap setter. Snaps have a stud side and a socket side (the stud part sticks out and the socket part goes in), so you’ll want to arrange all your towels with the flannel side up and set two socket side snaps facing downwards on the right side of the square and two stud snaps facing up on the left side of the square. I cut a piece of mesh canvas the height of my towel and marked two squares (the same height and depth from the edge) with a marker so I could just line that up with the edges and mark where to place the two snaps so I didn’t have to measure every time. Repeat by setting four snaps in this same manner on each towel.
To make your unpaper towel roll, there are a few different methods out there, but this is the one I used. Cut a piece of canvas 6 1/2″ wide and as tall as your towels (should be about 11″ tall). Attach stud and socket snaps (three on each side) with one set facing down and the others facing up as you see in the first photo above so that your grid will overlap about 3/4″ on each end when you snap it into a roll. It can be helpful to use clips of some sort to help keep your roll rolled up while you are marking the spots for your snap locations. Once your end snaps are attached, you’ll want to attach two stud snaps that face outward when the roll is snapped together in the middle of your canvas the same distance apart as the snaps on your towels. (You can use your grid template from the last step for this measurement, too.)
NOTE: If your plastic canvas is too thick, your snaps won’t be very strong and may snap when you go to unsnap them from each other. If that happens, try a lighter weight canvas and that should solve the problem. You can also attach two snaps the right distance onto a cardboard roll leftover from a regular paper towel, so that’s always an option, too!
Once your snaps are all set, you can snap your roll together and start assembling your unpaper towel roll until all your towels are added!
Not a bad way to keep towels right on your counter within reach, right?! To do the “cheat” version of this DIY, you can just buy towels like these to start with instead of making your own, and then finish out the steps to connect the towels and make a holder. I keep dirty rags and towels under my sink in something like this until I have a load of laundry that I can throw them in with. I usually wash rags on hot, but if you worry that may continue to shrink the fabric you chose, then try warm and see if that does the job just fine. Once your towels are clean and dry, you can snap them back together and start over again!
There are different thoughts on the paper vs. fabric towel debate as to which uses more energy since you have to wash the towels, but I definitely use my fabric towels and rags for several jobs per towel as I can shake them out or give them a quick rinse and use all over again (I always found that harder to do efficiently with paper towels when I would try). Also, it’s a good idea to wash your towels and rags in with other items that use the same water temperature so you always have a full load and are making the most use of your washing cycle too (especially if you don’t have an energy efficient washer) and you can use the power of the sun or a drying rack to dry your towels and save some energy there as well. I wash them the same time that I wash my reusable makeup wipes as well!
You can also make a double batch of towels so that you always have one clean roll while the other one is waiting to be washed. There are also lots of fun patterns and colors of fabric that you can use for your towels, but I did white thinking then I could bleach them as needed or lay them in the sun to help with staining if that bothers me. Your unpaper towels will probably fit onto your current towel holder just fine, but it can be handy to have a holder like this to keep the towels from unrolling very far since they are heavier than the paper version. I’ve only been using my new roll few weeks, but I love it so far! xo. Laura
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Get the How-To
Supplies
- 2 yards of cotton terrycloth fabric
- 2 yards of cotton flannel
- straight pins
- sewing machine
- mesh canvas sheet
- snaps and snap setter
- rotary cutter (cutting mat, and ruler)
Instructions
- Wash your fabric pieces in hot water so that any shrinking will occur before you sew and dry them. Place your two fabrics on top of each other on top of your cutting mat and smooth out both layers so there are no wrinkles. You are going to cut 12″ x 12″ squares and it’s really helpful if you have a template that you can use to cut each one so you don’t have to measure out each square every time. I happened to have a smaller cutting mat that was the perfect size to use as my template, but you could also cut a piece of cardboard to be your template instead. Use your template and ruler to cut through both layers of fabric with your rotary cutter. Continue to move the fabric sections onto the cutting mat, smoothing the layers each time, and cutting with your template until you have 12 squares of two-layered fabric.
- Use your straight pins to pin each set of squares together.
- Sew around your squares with a 1/2″ seam allowance, leaving a 3″ opening so you can turn your fabric through the hole when you are done. Clip the corners of your square with scissors and then turn your fabric through the hole. You can press your seams flat by ironing each square if you like, but I found they flattened very well just by smoothing them with my hands, so I skipped that step.
- Once they are all turned right sides out, make sure your 3″ openings are folded in and even with the rest of the towel edge and sew all the way around each square again with a 1/4″ seam allowance this time. (This will close your opening for you and help keep the towels lying flat.)
- Once you have all your towels ready (yay!), get out your snaps and snap setter. Snaps have a stud side and a socket side (the stud part sticks out and the socket part goes in), so you’ll want to arrange all your towels with the flannel side up and set two socket side snaps facing downwards on the right side of the square and two stud snaps facing up on the left side of the square. I cut a piece of mesh canvas the height of my towel and marked two squares (the same height and depth from the edge) with a marker so I could just line that up with the edges and mark where to place the two snaps so I didn’t have to measure every time. Repeat by setting four snaps in this same manner on each towel.
- To make your unpaper towel roll, cut a piece of canvas 6 1/2″ wide and as tall as your towels (should be about 11″ tall). Attach stud and socket snaps (three on each side) with one set facing down and the others facing up as you see in the first photo above so that your grid will overlap about 3/4″ on each end when you snap it into a roll. It can be helpful to use clips of some sort to help keep your roll rolled up while you are marking the spots for your snap locations. Once your end snaps are attached, you’ll want to attach two stud snaps that face outward when the roll is snapped together in the middle of your canvas the same distance apart as the snaps on your towels. (You can use your grid template from the last step for this measurement, too.)
- NOTE: If your plastic canvas is too thick, your snaps won’t be very strong and may snap when you go to unsnap them from each other. If that happens, try a lighter weight canvas and that should solve the problem. You can also attach two snaps the right distance onto a cardboard roll leftover from a regular paper towel, so that’s always an option, too!
- Once your snaps are all set, you can snap your roll together and start assembling your unpaper towel roll until all your towels are added!
this is a great idea!!!
I love this project. The only problem I’m having is that my snaps pop off the grid and I have no idea how to fix that!
Totally applaud using washable rags rather than paper towels. What I don’t get is the need to replicate the form of a paper towel roll. A hanging pod or a basket to hold rags would keep them accessible. The snaps add to the environmental cost and add no value to the purpose of cleaning. The time it would take to reattach the cloths onto a roll is just another time waster. You don’t even have to fold them if you use a basket or a pod. Form should follow function, shouldn’t it? For quick mop ups, it will take more time to unsnap these fancy snapped cloths than grabbing one out of a basket or drawer. Then, the roll has to be repositioned to keep the remainder on the roll. This seems to me to be a version of the crocheted big skirted dolls our grandmothers used to hide the extra toilet paper roll—a chance to be creative for something useful. Part of it reduces plastic but it seems over the top to me.
I bought some cloth paper towels, and have washed them in the sink or thrown them in with laundry… I don’t feel I am using more water and soap as a result. Also, they are single layer thin flannel I think… My daughter is making several batches for Christmas and the double layer looks like a lot more work. The single layer seems fine.
My friend would really like to be more eco-friendly in her household products but because she entertains a lot of very high-profile business associates, she has been reluctant to replace some single use household products because of how they look. I’m more practical, and don’t worry about that for myself, but for her line of work, appearances are very important. I made her a roll of unpaper towels using very attractive materials and she loves them and is able to have them displayed and used in her home. She also has received so many positive comments and questions about them from her work guests, she has been able to “educate” others on being more conscious. So, while I did purchase the materials (instead of upcycling old towels or other fabrics like I used for my own roll), the fact that she is using them AND exposing others to zero waste ideas has been a great achievement! Each person who adopts even one zero waste idea/practice is more conscious and moves a step forward, I believe. Over time and with practice an individual can deepen their knowledge, ideals, and practices regarding consumerism, sourcing ethical and eco origins of products, etc. If this is your first step, BRAVO!
This would be a good wzy to use up old towels. Ive just moved house and am gradually sorting through towels. I guess you could just use a single layer and overlock the edges. Get more on a roll that way
Yes, hemp is eco friendly but rough textured, Likely good for scrubbing. Linen is also a better choice than cotton. It is much longer lasting. My favorite cleaning cloth, towel to dry with is baby diapers. Once my last ones were to thin and full of holes to use I purchased a dozen. The are already finished and ready to use. They last 15 to 20 years and can be washed in hot water and bleach.
Have a wonderful day.
Sharon
Ever since I saw this on pinterest I’ve been obsessed with making one myself! Thank you for sharing i love it so much. I’m writing a post about being sustainable and will include this in my post linking back to your site. Hope that’s okay!
LOVE, Love, Love these types of tutorials! Please keep them coming ladies 🙂 Can’t wait to make these & the reusable makeup wipes. Thank you so much <3
I really love using the flannel and the terrycloth. The flannel is great for windows, glass surfaces, and wood while the terry cloth is great for spills and other types of general clean-up!
I stopped using as much plastic as possible – the multi-pack of paper towels always came wrapped in a big plastic wrapper so I quit purchasing them. The idea of “one and done” doesn’t work well at my house.
I have home-made grocery tote bags, wax food wrappers, and cloth kitchen towels. I know there are suggestions that cotton – due to the fertilizers used – is harmful to the environment. I believe that the argument to halt this practice should be considered rather than the complete disuse of the fiber. Surely there are better ways to fertilize cotton.
I have considered using linen as a replacement. I am currently researching the environmental impact of linen.
It is lovely to find sites that are devoted to change.
Thank you!
I love this idea! Reducing waste is a mission of mine too and I love that these look so similar to traditional paper towels! I think my husband would love this swap. Thanks for sharing!
Love this idea!! Can’t wait to make them. They will be added to the wash with the cloth diapers I have been using the past 2 years!
How can I print a copy of these instructions for unpaper towels?
What snap setter was used for this project?
Hi every one, just a little comment, i do not intent to offend anyone,just sharing a memory
My mother and probably yours too,they really did not use paper towels to dry our hands,or to clean kitchen messes they actually use kitchen towels, and to clean and dry the bathrooms my mother used an old T-shirt, cut it in pieces (rags) and when done cleaning the bathroom clean the piece of rag and hang it outside to dry,our mother never really used paper plates,maybe only in parties, chemicals to clean anything else they were that many,again my mother used detergent to clean the bathroom the kitchen,our clothes and for the floors pure water,then again she was a stay home MOM so clean pretty much everyday and mop 3 times a day
I’ve been using homemade canvas shopping bags for close to 15 years. The canvas came from roller shades I had made for my windows 10 years before that I repurposed for the bags. About a month ago I heard the argument about the impact on the environment of cloth vs plastic. So, I sat down and did a little math. My canvas bags can hold the equivalent of what 3 to 4 plastic bags will hold and I generally came home with a minimum of 24 plastic bags a week. Even without considering the countless times I ran in for 3 items and didn’t bag them or putting items in a bag from another store I shopped the same day, I saved close to 20,000 bags just by using my canvas bags. While standing in line last week, I counted the # of bags used to bag a customers order and realized I had low balled the number of plastic bags I saved. They used close to 40 plastic bags to bag up the customer’s order! Pay attention next time you’re out and about and count the plastic bags you see on the side of the road, discarded in shopping carts, flying around in the wind, etc….I will never be convinced that my canvas bags have more of a negative impact on the environment.. That said, I raised a daughter that does not use any disposable products like paper napkins, ziploc bags, plastic wrap etc…in her home. She does have a roll of paper towels on hand that she’ll use for only the grossest clean ups that may come up. We baked bread and used a canvas bag I had made for just that purpose to freeze it. The other loaf was wrapped in a linen towel. The freezer bag actually keeps it better than if she had frozen it in a plastic bag. She has another bag she uses for loose rolls she buys from her grocer’s bakery.
I had bought remnants of diaper cloth from the fabric store because of it’s absorbancy, and natural flannel- (the dye process adds a lot to the impact of textiles) to make these unpapertowels. They’re going into a gift box for my daughter that will also include wool dryer balls, beeswax kitchen wraps, and linen lettuce bags. A trick from my waitressing days- get a small bucket with a lid and fill halfway with water, a drop of dishsoap and 2 or 3 drops of bleach. Throw your used unpaper towels or rags into the bucket until you have a full wash load to wash them with. My rags last longer despite being in the small amount of bleach and I’ll reuse the soaking rags for multiple wet clean ups between washes.
I’m am definitely going to do this, need to have a wardrobe sort and have just checked and have an old towel that has holes at the end, nice blue colour so will be perfect.
Great work. I personally prefer a very easy-to-wash and quick-drying, absorbent and thin Turkish tea towels in the kitchen. It’s been a long while I’ve left the paper towel. But that’s not a bad idea. I wish I could be as skilled as you.
I love this idea and will definitly make color coded rolls. i too use lots of paper towels and will be happy to do my part in reducing waste. I also make my own dusters as well as laundry soap, vinegar for rinsing, toilet bombs and my bath fizzies as well as hand soaps.
most of these ideas came from friends doing their!
Thank you again for this clever idea!
Yvonne
I didn’t have time to read all of the comments so hope I am not repeating another person if they, too, have my idea. I have a stack of new, unused white washcloths and, after reading the project here, I am going to take them and start rolling them interlocking them one after the next to form a roll. They, too, can be peeled off one at a time and thrown in the regular wash, no extra detergent or special wash needed. Thanks for this idea which sparked my own!
I’m sold on the idea of Susan’s washcloth roll. EASY & “Eco-nomical”! Thanks, Susan!!!
I have been doing this idea for years. Thank you for putting your tutorial on line for others to follow. Great job! In regards to our environment and whether green choices help or hinder us. Each of us share in protecting our planet. Someone will always be affected in a positive manner while others are impacted in a negative manner. I made my choices by looking at all of the positive impacts that green choices have assisted us in our stewardship. Making my rolls took me about an hour per roll. I made 4 rolls. One afternoon I sat down and completed them all. So for my 4 hours worth of work, I am living my convictions with all of my green choices, spending time with my family, having a nightly bubble bath, and over the course of the year we have saved so much money that we almost paid for our family vacation on a Disney Cruise to Alaska. Some may not agree with my choices and that is fine. The people that enter my home on a daily basis are the ones I give thought to when they voice their opinions and ideas. Set your convictions and live them. Thank you again for your great post.