Greener Every Week – Use a Handkerchief
“Greener Every Week” is my ongoing series in which I do one (cheap, easy) thing every week to make my home or lifestyle more healthy & eco-friendly.
I am slightly allergic to cats. I have three cats. This means I go through my fair share of tissues. Or I used to, until I switched to old fashioned cloth handkerchiefs.
I used to think fabric hankies were sort of gross (I mean, who wants to carry around a bunch of snot?) But after using them for a couple months now, I’m sold! I got six organic, bamboo handkerchiefs (who knew they made fabric out of bamboo? Not me. But it’s super soft and awesome.) from an Etsy vendor (the ones I bought are here but if you search “organic handkerchiefs” you’ll find plenty of options)
I also got myself a cute little bag that I can keep them in (who doesn’t want an excuse to buy cute little bags on Etsy?)
It’s got an organic plastic lining on the inside and it fits perfectly in my purse. (If you do a search for “small wet bag” you’ll find a lot of options for these, too.) I keep a few handkerchiefs in there at all times, and then when they are dirty I throw them into the wash along with my napkins and microfibers. Nothing to it. And it feels so much nicer on my nose to use a super soft, organic fabric instead of tissues. It’s positively luxurious, I tell you. Not to mention the money I save on tissues!
Does anyone else use fabric handkerchiefs or am I totally old-fashioned? I kind of want to get them monogrammed just to be extra fancy. Maybe I can also start wearing a monocle. Tut-tut, cheerio!
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I used to use handkerchiefs exclusively when I was an undergraduate. I had some gorgeous antique lace ones, some plain ones, and a bunch of beautiful Japanese hankies that my Japanese penpal gave me as a gift. I also got used to them very quickly and loved using them–not sure why I stopped! I think it may be time to revive the habit.
i love hankies too!
the soft, organic bamboo ones are fantastic.
i also have some soft, pretty, cotton ones found at thrift stores and antique stores. lovely!
We gave up kleenex a couple years ago. Didn’t go with organic or anything but bought 3 or 4 packs of men’s hankies at the big box store and keep them in a basket on the back of the toilet. It took a while to convince my hubby but now it’s super easy and he’s always got one in his pocket
We just toss them in the laundry basket and wash with the rest of our clothes. Glad others do this, too! Sometimes I get funny looks when guests use the bathroom. Once someone noted how nice it was that we have individual towels to dry hands. I didn’t have the heart to say it was a snot rag…. love going green!!