Reusable toilet paper in Stuff

7 years ago we were on a family vacation in San Francisco. I remember specifically we were waiting to ride a cable car for no particular reason other than that we were tourists and thought it would be fun. While we were in line for our turn, I grabbed some random free magazine that was in a rack in front of a store and flipped through it, stopping at a story whose headline said something about a couple from the city that was giving up toilet paper.

I thought this was confusing. My initial idea in my head was that they would jump in the shower after using the toilet, and not really understanding why that would be a better idea than using toilet paper.

Of course I read further into the article and figured out the details. It made a lot of sense to me. I used cloth diapers when the kids were little. I used to use cloth menstruation pads before I started using a cup. We use cloth towels in the kitchen both in place of napkins and paper towels. I’m all about using cloth instead of disposable paper. So why not toilet paper too?

So I bought these small trash cans with lids for each of the bathrooms, and then purchased a huge assortment of small cotton cloths. Dark colors and patterns. I know that many people that use cloth toilet paper make them themselves using old clothes, but I didn’t feel handy enough to pull that off.

When we first started doing it, we each chose our own style and color and made sure to not use each other’s cloths. I think that was mostly because it was new to us and even though the cloths are always clean, there seemed like something weird about using a cloth that someone else used last time. But after about six months we stopped doing that. The cloths are always clean and it doesn’t matter.

Logistically, we handle it like this. When the trash cans get full we replace them with empty ones (we have several) and wait until we have enough clothes to do a full load of laundry. It’s usually about once every 10 days. I’m the one that washes them. I empty the cans into the washer by taking the lids off and dumping everything in, so I never touch the dirty cloths. They are washed with soap and hot water and come out perfectly clean.

I’ve only bought one package of toilet paper in seven years, and that was to have it on hand for when we have guests.

I’m sure it’s not for everyone, but I’ve definitely had the attitude that once we tried it we never wanted to go back to the old way. And I’m grateful the kids were on board.