It’s no secret that the world is facing serious environmental problems these days. There’s global warming, natural resource depletion, soil degradation, and so much more.

To solve current environmental problems, people are trying to come up with solutions.

One of them is reducing waste and recycling. In theory, these ideas work. Reducing waste helps prevent pollution, saves energy, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

Introducing the “family cloth”.

The “family cloth” is also known as reusable toilet paper. It’s supposed to be great not just for the environment but for your body, too.

Environmental problems aren’t the only reasons why people came up with reusable toilet “paper”.

With the pandemic devoiding store shelves of commercial toilet paper rolls, people just had to come up with an alternative. And existing users swear by them.

How to use a family cloth

For urine, you can use dry family cloths. However, for anything apart from urine, you’ll need to get one wet. An alternative is to keep a spray bottle filled with water next to your toilet.

Refrain from keeping a premoistened wipe in a container. Although it’s convenient, it’ll just make the cloths musty and prone to bacteria.

In theory, the family cloth will not stink. In fact, you’ll probably smell urine even before you smell excrement. Washing the reusable toilet paper every three to four days can further minimize the chance of smelling.

How to wash the wipes

Unlike regular toilet paper, you have to clean and sanitize your family cloth. If you are using flannel wipes, you’ll need to add fabric softener.

There’s no need to use any type of bleach when washing the reusable wipes. Urine is considered sterile. However, if you want to make sure that they are completely clean, you can use hot water when washing.

The one thing you have to be careful about is washing your family cloth with kitchen towels. You wouldn’t want to cause cross-contamination.

The things you may not like about reusable toilet ‘paper’

Even if you’ve washed every single one of them, you’re likely to be left with stains at some point. And eventually, they will start to look grungy.

Apart from staining, you’ll also have to face the thought of wiping yourself with something another person may have used. For most people, that’s off-putting.

Reusable toilet ‘paper’ may also feel different in terms of texture. It’s something that may take a couple of days to get used to.

Should you use it?

Well, at first, reusable toilet ‘paper’ may seem gross. However, it’s no different from cloth diapers which a lot of people have already accepted.

Plus, since they are reusable, they are eco-friendly. And if you are creative, you can save money by making them from old bed sheets and t-shirts.

Reusable toilet paper also reduces the amount of waste coming from the paper industry. Using them can minimize water pollution, too.

If you are thinking of giving it a try, you don’t have to go cold turkey. You can make the switch slowly.

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Source: House Beautiful, Life Hacker