Cloth Toilet Paper? Yay? Or Nay? (aka "Family Cloth")

Does any one use toilet cloth ?
What are your thoughts ?

Bidet. The civilized way. Your bum's never been cleaner. You're welcome.

We use old t-shirt cut ups for our baby bottoms. Here's our exact system: http://www.unconventionalparents.com/how-to-make-homemade-baby-wipes/

I don't think it's a good idea for adults. Don't underestimate the washing footprint.

I think the amount of water and energy used in a "family cloth system is nothing compared to the energy,waste,and chemicals when using dry paper
But that's just me
Saves a ton of money too

I didn't really know what forum to post this in so I just put it in this one. I came across this article about using cloth toilet paper and I wanted to know what you all thought. I had heard of cloth diapers, which isn't that different than this, but never of completely cloth toilet paper. I want to hear your thoughts!

I think it's going to be baby steps in my household for a bit. I am only just coming to grips with the idea of a composting toilet (this thread has me super excited!). I am starting to formulate plans for being able to live nicely off grid, and quitting TP is something I've thought about. My biggest problem with this is that it really requires daily attention, and while I can get a lot of work done, anything that requires daily attention is going to end badly for me.

I may consider something like this many years down the road, but in the short term I'm going to have to live with the non-permie solution.

Hahaha! ..........Sorry, that is my typical American response to the idea of a bidet. Makes sense though to use a towel just to dry the cleaned bum. Similar to after showering.



But seriously, this is a good read.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/earth-talks-bidets/

Justin Thomas, editor of the website metaefficient.com, considers bidets to be “a key green technology” because they eliminate the use of toilet paper. According to his analysis, Americans use 36.5 billion rolls of toilet paper every year, representing the pulping of some 15 million trees.

With all that said, I guess a half nay.

OMG that is the most hilarious thing! That seems like a pretty good alternative to toilet paper! Butt spray! Hahaha

Cassie Langstraat wrote:OMG that is the most hilarious thing! That seems like a pretty good alternative to toilet paper! Butt spray! Hahaha

France invented the idea in the 1700's.

I know a family of four here locally (Mesa - part of the metro Phoenix area) who uses only cloth toilet paper and has been doing so for years - no problemo.

Yeah - it takes awhile to get used to. However, having grown up in cultures where one uses water instead of paper (and paper was considered gross) it doesn't squick me out.

Yeah I would be scared people visiting would be really freaked out by it but I suppose you could always have a roll of toilet paper handy.

Yep - that's what they do.

That Japanese thing seems better at least you don't need a life long nappies washing.

Angelika Maier wrote:That Japanese thing seems better at least you don't need a life long nappies washing.

Here is my prejudice on that design.......its way too techy for me. I like pure mechanical systems due to reliability and independence from power needs. I cant see why there is not a design that runs on pressure in plumbing through mechanical levers. This thread inspired me to investigate this a little further, perhaps I may design a system myself, or at least conceptualize one for myself.

Jennifer Wadsworth wrote:Yeah - it takes awhile to get used to. However, having grown up in cultures where one uses water instead of paper (and paper was considered gross) it doesn't squick me out.

Love that...couldn't agree more!

I am Permie saturated on most things...my family...not so much, nor most folks I meet in the "Western World." My "nanny" if you will (Mothers dear friends) had been old Korean woman, and Japanese Man...so they "potty trained" me the old Asian way...least to say...no sitting (only squatting)...no paper or cloth....only water/soap...has been the way of it my entire life...

Amedean Messan wrote: Here is my prejudice on that design.......its way too techy for me. I like pure mechanical systems due to reliability and independence from power needs. I cant see why there is not a design that runs on pressure in plumbing through mechanical levers. This thread inspired me to investigate this a little further, perhaps I may design a system myself, or at least conceptualize one for myself.

I like mechanical systems too - and simple ones at that!

Amedean - I hope you DO design a system and then post it here for all of us to ooh and ahh over

as someone who considers using flush-water in a porcelain toilet a true wasted resource, I took readily to composting toilets.

to take it a step further, and eliminate the "waste paper" used wasn't so very hard - re-usable cloths, personally hand washed daily? easy.

saves those precious pennies for the things that truly matter. . . like coffee, heh.

Our family has used cloth wipes for nearly a decade. We have several types of fabric as some needs require different textures. Our most common is the wash cloth. I buy a bulk bundle of bathroom washclothes, cut them into four pieces each, hem them. There is a pile that is clothes cut into 8 pieces for those male needs. Why use more than you need?
These sit in stacks on a shelf next to the pot. Hanging on that rack is a spray bottle for each person in the family. It is that persons job to keep their bottle sanitized and full of water. The water is used to make wetwipes, should a person prefer or need a better cleaning than a dry cloth.

We all much prefer this system to toilet paper or store bought disposable wet wipes. We keep a paper roll handy for visitors as we don't want them using our wipes.

It does require some work. Dirty (manure!) wipes go into their own sealed bucket, using a foot pedal. Wets (piss!) go into another one.
These get washed often, usually every few days as I have a rotator washer that is small and takes actual boiling water (something electric washing machines don't use) for washing. They also get a poolshock treatment couple times a month (yeah, I know... the horror!).
I found the commercial washers are too big on the small load, but yours might work. I like boiling water to clean such matters, which household hot water heaters can't provide.
They do take some water. Four gallons for a full start to finish wash-dry routine. Extra one on the poolshock days. Might be able to do with less but for me I find this gives the best results, and given what is on the wipes, I want them CLEAN.

Right now we're traveling for the year so we're back to using 1ply in the RV. I actually miss the cloth wipes.

IT DEPENDS!

If you are in a place where water is precious, I can see where using paper and composting it as better than washing. Leaves would be better, but if water is that scarce often so are big soft leaves.

But if you have water, it is so much nicer on the bum!

I use the cloth wipes for a few months last winter. I fell back to TP when given a big case of it but will go back to cloth.
Have also tried the bidet method just a couple times. I have a small, hand-pumped agricultural sprayer tank that was never used for chemicals, with a kitchen sink rinse hose and nozzle adapted to it. I use this for watering the houseplants. It gives a nice gentle stream so seemed perfect to try out the bidet idea after filling with warm water. But when cooled to room temperature it felt a bit too cold down there for me, and after the next plant watering I didn't put it back. I wonder if a small squirt bottle would be good, the kind for mustard & ketchup in greasy spoon restaurants.

I love the idea and am not bothered at all but I don't want to use the water to clean it and right now my washing machine water goes into my garden in an area I would not want that water to go. I have a switch though so I can send water to my septic tank if I choose to. I prefer to not use my septic tank since it is is in need of some work that I don't have the money to get done. I am seriously thinking that I will start growing mullien and then perhaps keep a basket of mullien leaves in my bathroom. I don't know how long they will last after harvesting though.

I love bidet's and even though they use water and I try not to use much water for things like that I would get a bidet someday if I had a larger bathroom. I have funny dreams about composting toilets and bidets, I am thinking maybe I will get a urine diverting toilet that uses the least amount water of any toilet I have found and then get a japanese toilet seat to use when I am having digestive problems...

This article making fun of 'family cloth' came across my radar:  Some People Are Ditching Toilet Paper In Favor Of Reusable ‘Family Cloth’. It's a click-bait thing full of twitter snarky comments about using family cloth and this rather DIY-craftsy-cute picture:



But get this - here on permies.com folks have been discussing this for over 7 years! You cool, people, you! I merged two threads that were about the same thing, then we also have threads about:

alternatives to toilet paper
toilet paper alternative - wash with water

I'm considering a poor man's bidet - just a simple squirt bottle and old t-shirts cut into squares to dry off after wards. Probably just for after urinating for me, might still resort to paper after poo. (Baby steps and all.)

So, there are loads of reasons I'm making this switch:

#1 - my urine sprays - despite instruction and advice from our epic women peeing outdoors thread and others, my urine makes a smelly mess down there - I like to be clean after I pee!

cloth is more comfortable - paper, even the super soft expensive stuff, just doesn't compare and doesn't dry as well

cloth is less toxic - paper has glues, bleach, and other things (plastics in the recycled kind!) that I don't want on or near my sensitive parts OR in back in nature (whether septic, sewer, or alternative toilets like composters or willow feeders)

cloth won't shred or fall apart, or leave debris behind (well, is less likely to any way)

cloth is more frugal - washing the equivalent of another t-shirt in a load of laundry each week is not enough for me to even calculate the cost compared to buying TP

cloth is lower carbon footprint and less of a stress on plumbing, outhouse, composting toilet, willow feeder, septic, sewer, ets.

I've already done the cloth thing for my monthly cycle (read more about that and other options in shark week: pads, tampons, cups, free bleeding, etc. ) and simply kept a little container under the bathroom sink in which to soak the bandannas I used for that. If I've already rinsed myself off with water from the squeeze bottle, and am just drying with cloth, it will be far less messy than my monthly cloths!

Plus, the more adept I get with the spray bottle and cloth, I'm thinking I could grab the bottle and a cloth to go outside to add my urine's nitrogen et al to the landscape, and still feel clean afterwards! It's a thought...

I'm sure this is outside of most people's comfort zone (well, this whole thread is) but I've noticed that unless they're sick, animals generally don't have feces left on their butts after they poop. I think this is because they instinctively know to squat when they poop. People are trained not to squat, so poop comes in contact with outside butt parts on its way out. Does anybody else think that if we build our commodes to facilitate squatting to poo, we can eliminate (haha) most of the need for wiping/spraying? I know it's hard for a lot of people to squat that long, but it's probably because we haven't developed the musculature and muscle memory for it. If we build a bar to grip while squatting, it's easier to maintain that position. I learned so much playing softball, as a catcher. I'm grateful for that.

Except the municipal water in Tampa has 6 times the normal amount of chloramine, according to the water dept. guy. Is that good for one's...nether regions?

I just realized why we shouldn't want men to put DOWN the toilet seat...

I would be 1000x more okay with this if no one called it “family cloth,” which I find ultra-creepy.

I am fine with this for urine. For feces, I would usually just prefer to use TP or an old rag that can then be composted (when using my sawdust toilet system). I only use natural fiber rags and usually have an overabundance of them. For women this still saves a TON of TP and is usually a much easier sell.

I much prefer squatting outside although I have never had or used an inside squatting toilet. I'll clean with a little water from a water bottle that is exclusively used for this purpose. The water bottle is always held in the right hand and the left hand is used to clean off the bottom while pouring water on hand and bottom. It is generally dry in the desert so I don't even use what I prefer to refer to as a "drying towel". My wife almost always uses the indoor potty and sprays with a handheld bidet sprayer and drys with a drying towel.

who washes the shit

We have used reusable cloth toilet rags for years without trouble. I just cut up old towels into squares and bind stitch the sides to prevent fraying and keep them in a basket next to the toilet. Then an 18 inch high tupperware with a fitted lid for the dirties. We wait until we get the tupperware full and then run them through our washer on hot. Dry as usual in the dryer. Our washer has a sensor that only uses enough water for the load, so it adjusts accordingly.

We keep regular TP for guests b/c, you know, hospitality and all that.

Interesting to note: a diet full of protein, fruits, veggies and plenty of good roughage means there is less, um, mess? Yeah. Let's say it like that. Mess. To clean up. Or off. Or whatever. The towel squares don't ever get too crappy. Ahh, jeez...

This feels like TMI.

Suffice it to say that we have had no trouble using ours and it saves money, and the plastic that the TP comes wrapped in, and "running out" of TP is no longer an issue. We just like it better, but to each their own! I could see good reasons for going in either direction. And everyone's body is different and will have different needs, for sure.

Admittedly, I haven't looked into bidets or really understand all the steps in using them. I know they use water to cleanse the hiney, but then aren't you just wet? Don't you have to dry off after that? So isn't something absorbent touching your nether regions anyways that needs to be washed and dried for hygiene's sake? (Really, I'm not being sarcastic. I really haven't learned about them or the functionality at all.)

Using cloth toilet paper is something I've thought a lot about and still haven't been sure if it's something I want to do or not so I enjoyed reading all the ideas and opinions on this thread.

I use cloth diapers and cloth wipes for the baby, and I like cloth menstrual pads, so using cloth toilet paper and a squirt bottle kind of seemed like the logical next step. I think I will go ahead and give it a try once I have time to get a system in place and sew some cloths up.

We'll still have regular TP for visitors.

couldn't you just keep a weed spray pump canister of water next to the toilet as an eco-friendly and no-eenergy bidet solution?

I've been thinking about it for awhile and based on the tips in this thread I'm giving it a try when I'm back in the city. Pee only. I use way too much tp for a pat dry. But I'm willing to continue using it for poop. ;)

Lindsey Jane wrote:We have used reusable cloth toilet rags for years without trouble. I just cut up old towels into squares and bind stitch the sides to prevent fraying and keep them in a basket next to the toilet. Then an 18 inch high tupperware with a fitted lid for the dirties. We wait until we get the tupperware full and then run them through our washer on hot. Dry as usual in the dryer. Our washer has a sensor that only uses enough water for the load, so it adjusts .)

Lindsey, do you treat the used cloths with anything or rinse them before storing them in the container? or just wipe and save? How long do you store before washing?

After reading this forum a few weeks ago, about the time toilet paper ran out because people were panic-buying due to Covid19  pandemic, I decided to give cloth wipes a try.

I cut up old cotton underwear into little pieces, about 1”x2”. I just need to use them when I pee, (baby steps). Then I throw them in a container with some soap and tea tree oil to disinfect. At the end of the day, or the 2nd day, I squeeze them a little bit and rinse with water with some vinegar. Then I hang them to dry In the garage. Somebody suggested hanging them in the sun to disinfect. So tonight, I hung them outside.

I cut them up really small in case I accidentally throw one in the toilet, and flush it down, which I have done a couple of times.

We do have one of those simple bidet that gets hooked-up to the water line of the toilet. Gets cold in the winter, but still works.

I know someone who has a $5000 toilet with a bidet with heated water and air dryer. The remote control has different settings for water pressure, spraying front and back,,, It flushes on it’s own when you’re done The Heated seat cover also opens as soon as you walk in the door and closes when you’re done.

Thought I might have already posted on this thread because I've been keeping a bunch of cheap washcloths in the cupboard for emergency use for a long time.  We've tried them out, and decided that they were more comfortable than toilet paper; if it was just me, I'd use them all the time in place of paper, but my autistic daughter would use the whole pile up in one sitting, leaving none for me!  If it comes down to really needing to use them, I'll hide most of them and only leave one or two out where she can see (out of sight, out of mind with her).  

Maybe twenty years ago, I asked my grandmother (born in 1913) what they used before they had access to toilet paper.  We had, at times, used the proverbial Sears catalog pages in the outhouse when I was small, and we used leaves when camping or doing other outdoor activities where no bathroom was available.  She said, "Rags, of course!"  They kept a bucket in the outhouse to deposit the rags in, and when they did the laundry once a week, boiled those and washed them with the rest of the clothes.  Toilet paper is a fairly recent invention, yet most people don't know how to live without it.  

Charles, you and me both. It is an aspirational goal and something I tried a tiny bit in vanlife but heck trying to deal with the aftermath with limited water gets hairy.

Now with my humanure compost pile I get excited with dirty toilet papr for the compost heap.

Carbon, baby. Carbon.

I remember now, that 20 years ago, when I was regularly hiking the Alps, I always had a bottle of water with me and I would just wash myself (and then my hand). I’ll think about returning to that method again.
I guess in a normal toilet setting water can still be used to clean oneself and then the cloth could just be used to dry. Should not get too dirty/stinky then and can be comfortably collected until being washed.
I like the idea!