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northlut

Single use (then wash) cloth hand towels

Northlut
11 years ago

I love when I go to a nice restaurant or something and they have single use cloth hand towels out. I was thinking it would be nice to do that for our guest bathroom at home. It always seems yucky to have to dry your hands on a hanging hand towel that who knows how many other people have used in the past.

Have any of you done this before? Do you have any tips? What kind of towels do you use? Do you just buy washcloths, or are there towels made specifically for this? What do you have for people to toss the used ones in? Do people "get it" and do the right thing, or throw them out (or leave them laying around)?

Comments (10)

  • enduring
    11 years ago

    They use these at a fine hair salon for a modern clientele, in a city near where I live. Wash cloths are used, rolled up and stacked in a basket set on its side. The wash cloth is large enough to dry the hands. It is nice.

  • Northlut
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thanks. Most of the "fingertip towels" I'm finding online seem more like ornamental hand towels with embroidery and stuff on them. What I'm thinking of are plain white. I checked the ones at a restaurant over the weekend and they were perfectly square, but there were no labels (I assume they'd been cut off).

    Anyway, I think we'll give it a try and see how it goes :)

  • enduring
    11 years ago

    Great! I like the plan for plain. I think it needs to be un-fussy, because of the plain-ness of hand drying activity.

  • kashmi
    11 years ago

    If you are willing to really go plain, what about shop towels? Our Costco sells big packages of them. They are all cotton, white, and about 14" square. Thinner than a nice washcloth, but very absorbent. We use, wash, and reuse. Some now have multi-colored spots because we've used them for several painting projects! I think they are sold as single-use, but clearly they don't have to be. They would roll and stack well -- but would also look utilitarian compared with some other options. Just thought I'd throw this out as an alternative.

  • writersblock (9b/10a)
    11 years ago

    Check out Etsy, too. There are a lot of folks making "unpaper" towels and holders for them these days:

    Here is a link that might be useful: unpaper towels

  • shanghaimom
    11 years ago

    I get them at TJ Maxx and/or Homegoods. I roll them up and keep in a basket on the bath vanity counter. When guests are coming, I put a "prompter" towel in the "used" basket so that it will be obvious what they're for and where to toss them when finished.

  • homepro01
    11 years ago

    I use face cloths. This is what most places use too. Fingertip towel is too big for one use in my opinion. I use white towels and this allows bleaching them every so often. Target and tj maxx are usually good places to looks for white face towels.

  • pricklypearcactus
    11 years ago

    You might also look at dish towels. I have some white ones that are rectangular and in between the size of a wash cloth and a standard hand towel. They're plain white and fairly absorbent. I think I bought mine at Crate & Barrel.

  • Babka NorCal 9b
    11 years ago

    Dinner napkins work beautifully! Bed Bath and Beyond has all sorts of colors. They are plain and just the right size. Here are some red ones I picked up at World Market (Cost Plus). 6 for $9.00. Gotta iron them. ;-)

    -Babka

    {{gwi:1442687}}

    This post was edited by babka on Mon, Mar 11, 13 at 19:28

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