When I first heard of the idea of Un-paper towels, I wasn't very sure they would work for me. A few years later, I decided on a whim to try making a set for myself , it has been close to 2 years and I am happy how well they have worked for me and my family, I have never had to use paper towels in my kitchen for the longest time.
They are a breeze to make and once you start using them you can completely replace your paper towels with these up-cycled, reusable replacements which will last many years, saving money and single use papers all the while.
Adding step by step instructions to make yours:
- Take an old /discarded Turkish towel or curtain cloth or any thick cotton cloth which is absorbent . Mark out 8 inch squares on the cloth . And cut out the squares. I am making a roll of 12 towels from an old towel, so I cut 12 squares.
- Now take any scrap cotton , old tee or an old kurta for the other side (soft cotton works best ).
- Pin down your towel squares to this fabric. Pin squares close to each other , make most use of the fabric here and avoid wastage ( Don't cut out the fabric yet )
- Zig zag stitch all four borders to attach the two layers.
- Trim the edges and separate out your 2 layered towels from the rest of the fabric.
- Add velcro on the top side of each towel - add soft piece of velcro on one end and the rough sticky side of velcro on the other. Attach velcro on the top side , soft cotton side (you will use the backing side of thick cotton for wipes and hence this side stays a little more protected and also velcro won't come in the way when you use the towels for wiping ). You could also use good old press buttons but I chose velcro for ease of use and stitching. (If you don't have velcro, keep them as lose pieces and store in a basket or inside your kitchen drawer .)
- Stick them together as a chain and roll it up on an old cardboard towel holder.
- Use as required and toss it into your next laundry load before reusing it.
Place the roll in a convenient corner of kitchen instead of your paper towels and you will see how much less of paper you use each day, compared to before.
For pics of my making process please head to my Instagram page.
I had published this tutorial in 2020 on my Instagram page. The idea was to share a simple sustainable living idea but the response was so enormous that a few months later I added them to my shop and it remains a favourite product of many. So if you would rather buy a set, here is where you can get them in India.