What’s the deal with “Family Cloth”?

What's the deal with family cloth-When I first learned that “Family Cloth,” aka reusable toilet paper, was a thing, I was appalled. Gross. Nasty. Backwoods.

But when I started working with David Suzuki’s Queen of Green, coaching families on how to be “greener,” I also started evaluating my own waste footprint. I looked at what was in my trashcan, and, since I had a cold, I noticed it was full of toilet paper. (I don’t buy “facial tissue, we’ve always just used toilet paper for our noses.)

I was already using squares of flannel to wipe Cub’s nose, since I found them much softer and more effective on his sensitive little honker. Why not use reusable hankies for my own nose?

Because it’s gross to wash them? Um, no. Do you know what would be gross? Having to wash a family’s worth of hankies by hand. And generations of women did that. I have the luxury of collecting all my hankies in a wet bag which I can then dump into my washing machine and press a button.

So I started by blowing my nose with squares of flannel cut from old pajama pants. When I found myself out and about, without my luxurious hankies, my nose shuddered at the roughness of disposable tissues, and my hands got dirty since snot passes right on through paper products!

It wasn’t long before I decided to start using my flannel squares to wipe after pee. Look, I wipe my son’s pee and poo with reusable wipes and wash them… why can’t I do the same?



Guess what? I don’t think it’s gross, nasty or backwoods anymore.

I like it because it’s really quite comfy to wipe with cloth (I remember opting for cloth in the tender postpartum phase, after all). I like it because my hands stay dry without having to take a toilet-clogging quantity of TP. I like it because I am very concretely, and at zero cost, making way less waste. (Just because it goes down the toilet doesn’t been it isn’t garbage!)

Here’s my set up:

On our towel rack, which is in front of the toilet, I’ve got my wetbag for used cloths, and an Ikea container that clips onto the rack for the cloths.

family cloth

I also provide regular toilet paper for guests and for big (aka husband-sized) messes!

I wash the cloths with diapers or with a load of towels, whichever comes first. Now, you can obviously choose more glamorous cloths than my fabric scraps. I am not too fussy about that, but many WAHMs can make you very pretty cloth for your bathroom!

If you’d like more tips on using reusable wipes, here’s my how-to!

Update, July 2016: I wrote this post almost two years ago, and I have continued to use our family cloth! I also use these cloths to wipe my children’s noses. We’ve moved into a new place, and it has four bathrooms, so I keep my cloths in the two bathrooms the kids and I use most. Yes, there’s still toilet paper for poop and for guests!

Update, August 2023: Well, the great toilet paper shortage of 2020 was a storm we easily weather thanks to our family cloth! Still going strong here even with double the children from when I last updated!

Shop:

If you don’t want to make your own, a great option for buying cloth wipes is Öko Creations. You can save 15% with code oko.love.lindsay

Öko’s Who Gives a Crap resuable TP

Öko’s organic cotton wipes





23 responses to “What’s the deal with “Family Cloth”?”

  1. Bianca Munoz

    Always thought this was…interesting to say the least.
    We use cloth diapers, sometimes wash cloths for cloth wipes, and I guess you could say we also use cloth paper towels, because we reuse them… lol did that make sense?
    I have yet to use mama cloth…
    And I have no idea if I could ever convince my family to use family cloth!
    Maybe one day!

  2. Anna Smith

    I think it’s interesting that after getting over the idea of poopy diapers in the laundry some of us still have an issue with this in our heads. I know that I do. Pee may not be such a big deal but wiping after a poop is hard to swallow 😛 I know I once watched a show where these families had to use cloths to wipe as well because it was supposed to represent the “old days”. Thanks for sharing 🙂

  3. I did look at reusable breast pads given the number I get through at the moment however I think the ones I was looking at couldn’t be tumble dried so I’d have to have them hanging around trying to get them to dry. We’ve had terrestrial downpours for the last couple of days even doing the laundry has made the kitchen rather warm! I had handkerchiefs when I was younger but often find that when I do need to blow my nose I need a tea towel size tissue instead of a normal one!!

    1. Torrential even! Not terrestrial downpours!

  4. Stacy Renee

    I had a cold last week and realized how much toilet paper I was using up just blowing my nose so I started using the flannel cloth wipes I made for my upcoming little one as hankies! So many rolls of toilet paper (and my money) have been saved! Now I want to stop using paper towels but I don’t think my SO would jump on board the family cloth idea. Not a bad idea for when times are tough, though!

  5. I sometimes use cloth for hankies, my husband thinks it’s gross, but I do get what you’re saying. I can see how using cloth on behinds would be a huge step for the environment, but I don’t think I’m ready to try this out yet.

  6. In generations past, old catalogues and newspapers were used as toilet paper in outhouses all across the country. However, they would not flush very well in modern toilets or be good for plumbing systems. Interesting idea, but I would never get my teenagers on board with this.

  7. Wow. I like reading about how others do things even when it’s quite different than what I’m used to. I hate how much waste we generate but I’m just not sure I am ready to go that extra step. You’ve made it look easier than I thought it would be though.

  8. Oh boy, I know this is not a new concept, but it is, a bit, for me. I think it would be great to get, ahem, behind this idea and try it out, but I am not sure I would have the courage, LOL. Thanks for sharing this idea though. It is definitely worth thinking twice about..

  9. Thanks for a very interesting review. I admit, that I had not considered this option before, but you definitely put it on my radar. My grandpa told me when he was child, they used newspaper as their solution.

  10. Brandi Stevenson

    Since I started using mama cloth and then cloth diapers I’m much more aware of all the waste my family & I are creating. And to me that’s really what’s gross! I’ve already decided I’m switching to family cloth for myself. I never thought about cutting up old PJs, that’s a great and cheap idea! I don’t think I can convince my husband though. But as a woman, I use the most TP in the house anyway (we also don’t use facial tissues), so I think my switching will really reduce our TP waste.

  11. Cassandra Rae

    Thats awesome! If we didnt live in an apartment I would! It’s hard enough doing laundry and cloth diaper laundry using shared machines. I think ill try in the future 🙂

  12. […] was absolutely opposed to the concept until I had a baby in cloth diapers. Heck, now I don’t even use toilet paper! I wrote extensively and descriptively about my first period using washable pads, and I discovered […]

  13. Kim Keen

    Do you spray off poop wipes or do you use tp instead for number 2?

    1. Lindsay

      Since I use cloth diapers, I am used to poop on wipes. So unless it’s a really messy one, I just use cloth and throw them in the wet bag. If it’s a messy one that would possibly need to be sprayed, then I go with toilet paper instead!! Same with my kids at diaper change: I get the big mess off with toilet paper then the rest with cloth. Does that make sense?

      1. Kim Keen

        Makes sense. I always sprayed my cloth wipes after diaper changes.

  14. […] been putting off for years. I’m already using washable menstrual products, cloth diapers, family cloth (yes, that’s washable toilet paper) and handkerchiefs. I’ve had worm composts […]

  15. I have used family cloth when I am post partum. It is so much nicer.

  16. […] diapers, and so would every other family. Heck, we’d all be nose-blowing and wiping with family cloth, wearing menstrual cups and reusable pads, carrying around stainless steel water bottles and cloth […]

  17. […] Homemade Reusable Toilet Paper […]

  18. […] 6: Pat dry. (Use cloth if that’s what floats your […]

  19. […] have a post all about how we use “family cloth” at our house. We use the same principal for reusable handkerchiefs, something I don’t want to over emphasize […]

  20. […] of my higher commitment swaps can seem daunting. Our use of cloth diapers, cloth menstrual pads, reusable toilet paper and handkerchiefs place us firmly in the “granola” camp of zero-waste lifestyle […]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Welcome to my Wolf Pack!

My name is Lindsay and I am a 40-year-old mama of four trying to live an eco-friendly, budget-friendly life! I am a substitute teacher and Child Passenger Safety technician in Calgary, Alberta. Join me on my adventures!

Wildcard SSL Certificates