Another Dumbass Article From "The Atlantic"

[Ben]

"Americans are weirdly obsessed with paper towels."

No, we're not weirdly obsessed. If we use more paper towels per capita than other countries, it's because we're very smart and efficient. Maybe someday the other countries will figure it out.

Paper towels are one of the greatest inventions ever. Why do I want to wipe up dirty grimy spills and stuff with dish towels, or keep "spill rags" around that I either have to constantly rinse (water waste!) to clean, or else let get dirty, moldy, and smelly? Or mistake a spill rag for a dish towel? Paper towels for the win.

https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/12/paper-towels-us-use-consume/577672/

[K Frame]

You LIKE paper towels?

YOU TREE RAPIST, YOU!

Not sure if it was in the Atlantic or not, but this goes right in line with those articles about the American "obsession" with air conditioning. Usually it's got the bent of Europeans feeling all smug about their not being an AC driven culture. Of course, most of them have never lived through one of our summers.

I knew a woman from German who came here when she was in her 20s and her first summer here ended up with heat stroke because she was totally and completely unacclimated and unprepared for a DC summer, and the year she came was a BAD one -- lots of days with feels like temperatures well in excess of 110 degrees.

[DittoHead]

Although we have some at the moment, months go by with not a single roll of paper towels in my household. We have lots of rags and we use cloth napkins and for that matter used cloth diapers. It's cheaper and we produce less garbage. I can't say I'm familiar with anyone who is "obsessed" with paper towels but I do have a lot of people that are initially surprised and sometimes a bit weird about cloth napkins when they come over.

[K Frame]

I, too, use very few paper towels. I'm pretty sure that I've been working on the same roll of paper towels for at least the last month, and I've only gone through half of it.

I did go through a period when Seren was a puppy and working on house breaking that I went through a bunch, but now that we're done with that in general I use cloth rags, towels, and sponges.

I do like paper towels for cleaning windows, especially my car windows, as they do a superior job at removing streaks and smudges.

[DittoHead]

I do like paper towels for cleaning windows

Agreed! They're hard to beat for cleaning windows, although I prefer just not cleaning them. 

[K Frame]

I rarely clean the house windows, but car windows, especially the windscreen, yes.

[230RN]

What's the relationship between having an in house washing machine and preferred use of cloth toweling?

I was a big fan of single-ply cloth diapers for general rag use when I had a house with a washer and dryer.  After that, not so much.  That smell of even a slightly fermented dishrag got to me after a while. Worse than gym socks.

[Ben]

A thought occurs to me.

What's the relationship between having an in house washing machine and preferred use of cloth toweling?

I was a big fan of single-ply cloth diapers for general rag use when I had a house with a washer and dryer.  After that, not so much.  That smell of a fermented dishrag got to me after a while. Worse than gym socks.

If I switched from paper to cloth, I'd be running my washing machine twice as much with the dish/cleaning cloth load being a small one, because I'm not going to let them sit around and collect them to make a full load. In the Winter, that means running the dryer too. Or else hand washing all the cloth towels, and I have way better things to do. I'm pretty sure the extra use of the washer/dryer cancels out the paper towels.

[230RN]

If I switched from paper to cloth, I'd be running my washing machine twice as much with the dish/cleaning cloth load being a small one, because I'm not going to let them sit around and collect them to make a full load. In the Winter, that means running the dryer too. Or else hand washing all the cloth towels, and I have way better things to do. I'm pretty sure the extra use of the washer/dryer cancels out the paper towels.

I didn't have that problem.  You hang 'em up to dry to stop the fermentation, and when you get enough of a regular load, you throw them in with the rest.  Sounds like a silly thing to argue about, to me.

I note your "if," as if it were purely theoretical, and not a matter of practical practice.  But to each his own and all that.

[K Frame]

"That smell of a fermented dishrag got to me after a while. Worse than gym socks."

Very big reason why I don't use dishrags.

I use scrubber sponges. I also wring them dry and make sure they're out of the sink. And I also frequently soak them overnight in white vinegar, which kills most of the nasties.

[BlueStarLizzard]

We go through a lot. Not me so much as Dad, who will grab twice what he actually needs and uses them for stuff I would use a dishrag for. He's also under orders from me to put paper towels on the counter when he makes his instent coffee because he makes such a mess.

Between dealing with Dad mess and animal messes, we go through a lot of paper towels. I also am a big fan of Clorox wipes and baby wipes. I do keep a dish rag, but that's generally reserved for drying, not cleaning.
I could care less about being bad for the environment or what Europeans think. I have enough trouble keeping things clean without adding to it.

[230RN]

...

I could care less about being bad for the environment or what Europeans think. I have enough trouble keeping things clean without adding to it.

Thank you.

That was another thing I was going to comment on.... how silly it was to bring up schlock from the Atlantic about what the Euros think.

Jeeze.  

Terry

[Ben]

Very big reason why I don't use dishrags.

I use scrubber sponges. I also wring them dry and make sure they're out of the sink. And I also frequently soak them overnight in white vinegar, which kills most of the nasties.

Yeah, I never use dish rags, also just sponges for when I don't use that other evil invention, the dishwasher. Dish towels are only used for drying off dishes that have already been cleaned by the sponge.

[230RN]

We go through a lot. Not me so much as Dad, who will grab twice what he actually needs and uses them for stuff I would use a dishrag for. He's also under orders from me to put paper towels on the counter when he makes his instent coffee because he makes such a mess.

Between dealing with Dad mess and animal messes, we go through a lot of paper towels. I also am a big fan of Clorox wipes and baby wipes. I do keep a dish rag, but that's generally reserved for drying, not cleaning.

I could care less about being bad for the environment or what Europeans think. I have enough trouble keeping things clean without adding to it.

I mentioned a while ago that using a small cheap glass-cleaning squeegee to run most of the wet stuff from the counter into the sink eliminates a lot of dishrag or paper towel or sponge use.  You've got to get  used to using it at first though.  It doesn't seem "natural" somehow, but it actually works pretty good.

This one's top-of-the-line but they're available cheaper:

          

Terry

[Fly320s]

Agreed! They're hard to beat for cleaning windows, although I prefer just not cleaning them. 

I’ve switched to using dish soap, a cloth towel, and a squeege.  Works so much better than any commercial glass cleaner, it is quicker and easier to clean.

[Fly320s]

As far as paper towel useage goes, I have two young kids.  I need paper towels more than I need oxygen.

[BlueStarLizzard]

I don't have a whole lot of real estate, counter wise, plus there is a lip on the sink that would make the squeege less than ideal.

I also have a folded rag that I keep along the edge of the sink that keeps most of the splashing in check.

The real obnoxious thing is the Dad mess. The instant coffee is bad, but he's also not careful about raw meat. I just clorox wipe on general principle most of the time.

[230RN]

My squeegee rides right over that lip and carries most of the stuff over it.  My suggestion is not meant to  imply a surgically clean result, but gets the bulk of material out of the way and into the sink without using a mess of paper towels.

I often follow up with a sterilant, too.

Hey, I don't get a commission on squeegee sales or anything.  Try it or not, I don't care.  Use it successfully or not, I don't care.  Find naysaying objections to it before trying it, I don't care.

It works for me, and I ain't on commission.

Terry

[BlueStarLizzard]

My squeegee rides right over that lip and carries most of the stuff over it.  My suggestion is not meant to  imply a surgically clean result, but gets the bulk of material out of the way and into the sink without using a mess of paper towels.

I often follow up with a sterilant, too.

Hey, I don't get a commission on squeegee sales or anything.  Try it or not, I don't care.  Use it successfully or not, I don't care.  Find naysaying objections to it before trying it, I don't care.

It works for me, and I ain't on commission.

Terry

  Get a snickers, man!

I was just saying I don't think it would work here, with the layout and the way the sink is currently (old sink, the lip isn't exactly flush with the counter anymore, so it would probably shove water and junk into the crack instead of the sink)

[MechAg94]

When I think about what fills up my trash can, paper towels do not make the top ten.

[BlueStarLizzard]

When I think about what fills up my trash can, paper towels do not make the top ten.

Yeah, I would say the bulk of ours is food packaging and plastic/aluminum from drinks.

If the Europeans want to get judgey about our trash, they'd have more of a point getting after us about all our pre-packaged food rather than our love of paper towels.

[freakazoid]

I noticed this while here in Japan. It's much more common to actually use tissue paper like a Kleenex in the household. At a restaurant you usually get a hot rolled hand towel and for disposable napkins they usually use these tiny paper towels that seem almost waxy, I hate using them and they barely absorb anything.

[HeroHog]

drink, food cans and packaging here as well.

[Scout26]

Severe thread veer.

For those using Firefox, when you get recommendations for stupid Atlantic articles, do you also get recommends for "How to chose to the perfect diamond/engagement ring " ??

[lee n. field]

Severe thread veer.

For those using Firefox, when you get recommendations for stupid Atlantic articles, do you also get recommends for "How to chose to the perfect diamond/engagement ring " ??

Is that "recommended by Pocket"?   I turn that off.