The Cloth Confusion

I experienced something today that happens from time to time.   It’s not a good or a bad thing, it’s more about preference and the “what you know is what you like” mentality.   It has to do with white cloths.

At our house we use twelve-inch square white hand cloths for many purposes.   They’re cleaning cloths, drying cloths, dusting cloths and napkins to name a few that come to mind.    In almost all cases, when many people reach for a paper towel, napkin or other disposable item, we use white cloths.    We wash them and use them again and again.   It’s the most ubiquitous tool in our house, used by parents and children alike.

Today we were at the house (and pool) of close friends for a cookout and pool party.    As is common with parties, much of it happens in the kitchen.   I had brought a cheese plate that needed setting up and some watermelon.   There were finger foods and drinks to be served.   My children wanted food, more food, and then even more food.  

Throughout the afternoon I would need to wipe my hands, mouth, clean up something, clean up a very messy post-cupcake child’s face, or dry something.   In each of these situations I wanted to have a good, sturdy cloth with lots of absorption power to get the job done and then stick around with me because I was surely going to need to use it again in sheer moments.

The only option I had at their house was paper towels.   Paper towels work well, it just wasn’t what I was used to.   One paper towel would likely do the job, even when wet, but it felt weak and flimsy and it’s absorption powers were questionable in my mind.   Did I need two paper towels?   I didn’t know because I truthfully don’t use them very often.  I think we change paper towel rolls out in our house about once a month.

I also don’t know when to throw the paper towel away.   Sure, you’re using it for a meal and when you’re done eating out it goes, but what if you just dried your hands on it after washing them?   Is it good to then clean the counter top with after lunch?   Do you always throw them away after a single use?   Where do you store them if you’re still in the “usable window” of a particular towel?

All those questions I know the answers to with white cloths and how we use them in our house.   Sometimes, when we go on trips, I bring along a few cloths of my own so I can have them for me or for the children in the case of a red sauce pasta dinner because that is a two cloth minimum meal for them—I can’t imagine how many napkins or paper towels they’d need to make it through the meal.

The Big Boy Update:  I asked my son if he wanted to help me with laundry folding this morning.   I offered a quarter for the assistance.   He argued about how many quarters he should get with numbers ranging as high as twenty.   Finally he said, “I’ll do it for a dime”, in a tone that told me that was the last compromise he intended to make.   I chuckled and told him he’d convinced me and I would be glad to pay him a dime for his help.    He folded a very tidy stack of white cloths.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter has been less interested in using her iPad on the stand that lets her lie on her back to watch it.   She prefers to sit or lie on her stomach and look at it that way.   Tonight she asked if she could not use that iPad stand anymore.    Hopefully something is improving visually that makes her prefer to watch in other ways.