Maybe look at what you you using the paper towels for first. They come up with alternatives.

A recent post on under-sink storage mentioned a container for used rags. Maybe you could find a spot for one.

I've been putting my used paper towels in my compost bucket. My dirty dish towels and rags get shoved in a corner on a lower shelf until I take them to my big laundry basket in my bathroom. Not very elegant, but it works for now.

I buy cotton bar towels in a bag of 25 at Costco. I keep a couple folded on the counter, and the rest in a drawer. Dirties get tossed into the nearest laundry basket. I have paper towels, but rarely use them.

Thanks! I will have to check out the Costco bar towels.

We use white terrycloth "shop towels" as cleaning rags and spill-wiping rags. Soft low-lint knit rags are window/mirror cleaning rags. Paper towels are for the "ewwwww" cleanups where towel and cat barf are tossed into the trash.

The dirty shop towels get tossed into a small hamper in the laundry room and washed when there's enough for a small load.

$15-30 in shop towels pays for itself really fast by displacing paper towel use.

We use cloth towels exclusively. One or two hang on a couple of hooks on the wall by the sink. One resides folded on the counter. When a towel is deemed dirty, it gets tossed on the floor in the corner until evening, after which it gets put in the laundry basket in the basement. The towels on the floor are used to wipe spills on the floor with a foot if needed. Outside shoes are never worn inside the house. All towels, no matter what, are changed at least every two days.

My work office is in the basement, so my chore is to move all dirty laundry down to the washer and dryer every day. My wife manages the dish towels otherwise. We've done it this way for almost 30 years with no issues.

Our dirty towels go in a mini laundry basket I found at Dollar Tree that fits under the kitchen sink. It's harder to remember to wash the towels up than when it sat on the dryer in the laundry room just off the kitchen at the old house. But it works when we remember to empty it in the laundry upstairs (and bring it back!)

We keep wet rags in a trash can in the laundry room that fits in under the laundry room sink. I have been trying to train everybody to take the rags out of the kitchen at night but that rarely happens so I take care of it in the morning.

I do keep a couple of rolls of the good blue shop paper towels for messes that I consider worth the luxury of something disposable, like people getting sick but those are kept in the laundry room, not in the kitchen otherwise DH would grab them for cleaning counters. My kids have never known what it is like to use paper towels for cleaning so they are trained. Good luck, it is a worthy endeavor.

Thank you all!

I would like to cut down pt use also. We eat a LOT of bacon. What do you put your bacon on? I've always used pt, and just cant see all that grease ending up in a cloth that goes in the washer.

I buy bar cloths in a package of 8 when they come on sale for half-price. I've never seen them in Costco, but thanks for the heads-up Rhizo.

They get used to wipe spills, and cat food off the floor. They get hung on a door knob if it's wet then put underneath kitchen sink to be used again if not too dirty. They get bleached when needed as well.

Bacon grease?? Definitely use paper towels, then it's thrown into the green bin with our other compostable waste.

OOTM,

After years of cooking bacon in the microwave, I started cooking it in the oven on a rack over a cookie sheet. This seems to cut down on the amount of grease that needs to be "patted off" with paper towels. I also usually save the grease from the pan to use as flavoring for other dishes. If I made a LOT of bacon, I'd likely pour off the excess grease into an inconspicuous area outside - lol.

I don't use paper towels that much, but consider them made for things like excessive grease and pet mishaps.

An alternative to dish rags is sponges and chore boy's. They can be easily cleaned and disinfected and dry quickly right at the sink.

I do the throw em on the floor thing too! Ha!

I did actually get a laundry hamper that fit in the room right next to the kitchen. It was nice, plus it helped kid socks get closer to their proper place. I don't have a big house; I don't know why I need so many hampers...

I think a basket or stack of bleachable bar towels would be nice. Do you have a spot on the floor or under the sink where you can tuck a small basket to collect the used ones?

I toss all but the really wet yucky towels on the stairs going up (laundry is upstairs). I just pick them up and put them in the laundry room whenever I go up. The really yucky ones go straight up.

We drain bacon on the splatter screen. If it needs a touch up, I have a few spare napkins from fast food or whatever in a drawer that can handle the little bit left. I have heard of others using brown paper grocery bags for that as well but mine are used for fire starting.