How to Give Up Paper Towels Forever

Our family hasn't bought any paper towels since last summer. In fact, with the exception of toilet paper, (which we aren't giving up.  ever. ) we've bought very few disposable products at all.

Not only does it free up some space in our grocery budget, save trees, create less trash and decrease the pollution involved in the production, packaging and distribution of disposable paper products, all while teaching our children about the value of caring for our good green earth...

...it is also totally do-able.  Like, I don't even miss paper towels.


Here's what you will want to have around the house in order to go paper towel-free (psss... you likely already have most of these things)

• Rags for cleaning things.  We have three types or rags in our house: blue rags for the kitchen, yellow rags for the bathroom, and miscellaneous rags made from old clothing and whatnot for everything else.

• Microfiber cloths for cleaning mirrors and windows.  I have two of them in my bin-o-cleaning supplies and that works just fine for me.

• Cloth serviettes/napkins for wiping ketchup off your face.  They are also way classier and look super nice folded at the table for a dinner party. We bought most of ours second hand or on clearance and slowly built a mismatched yet still sorta kinda coordinated stash of them.

• Old towels for big spills. (affectionately called "pee towels" in our home. we have a three year old boy who is at that potty-trained-but-still-easily-distracted stage of life. I'll let you draw your own conclusions about how they got their name....)

• Bar mop towels for everyday spills and messes. These are what primarily replaced paper towels in our home. I keep a stack in a drawer at kid level and taught my kids to make use of them if they spill their juice or track mud through the house.

Here are some more tips for paper-free success:

Soak the grease off fried or fatty foods by placing them on a used paper bag. Whenever I get groceries in a paper bag, I save the bag to be repurposed later. I've heard of people using newspaper for this but I've seen how much ink comes off on my fingers, I don't want that on my chicken parmigiana.

Get perfectly cooked, not greasy bacon every time by cooking your bacon in the oven. No paper towel draining necessary.

Use your oldest, rattiest rags for the super messy jobs, then they can get thrown out if need be after a long and useful life.

Make it easy on yourself by keeping rags, cloths and towels in convenient places. I keep bathroom cleaning rags in the bathroom, bar mop towels in the kitchen, serviettes near the table. In fact, now that I have the right tools for the job in each room of the house, using cloth is way more convenient than always running to the kitchen for the paper towels ever was.

If you are up to it, why not make some of these un-paper towels?  They are super cute and can sit on a paper towel holder on your counter.  Fun fun fun!

But isn't it a lot of laundry? I recognize that living paper towel-free doesn't work for everyone, but if you own a washing machine and have a family, you are probably already doing multiple loads a week.  A few small cloths and rags won't change that.

What about germs?  Let's face it, if you have kids or pets there is probably on occasion some pretty gross things in your washing machine. You don't throw your kid's bedsheets out because they peed their bed, you just wash them with soap and hot water and trust that they are clean, right?  I just keep kitchen rags separate from bathroom rags and wash icky things in hot when possible.  Simple as that.

Won't guests think I'm weird if they ask for paper towel and I don't have any? Maybe.  But you'll hand them a towel or a serviette instead and I'm sure they'll be just fine.

See.  You can totally do this.  

In the interest of full disclosure.... Last week we were at a birthday party and as we were pulling out of the driveway it became apparent that the combination of bouncy castle and hotdogs did not agree with my son's stomach. My friend, armed with a roll of paper towels, came to the rescue. And I was very thankful for that.

Thanks so much for visiting The Complete Guide to Imperfect Homemaking!

How to Paint An Exterior Door

I've had a hard time finding a colour I like for my exterior doors. Our siding is a greyish sage green colour that doesn't go with much. Originally, I painted the doors burgundy, but that wasn't really my style. I tried black, too stark. I settled on beige for a couple years, and lived with it.

This year the doors were *finally* in need of a new coat of paint so I jumped at the chance to try a new colour, and oh.my.word I like it. A lot.

Anyways, in my extensive painting and repainting of every paintable surface in my home I've learned this: With paint, you get what you pay for. Quality paints go farther, smooth better, and dry harder.  Buy a good quality exterior paint and primer combo.  I used Valspar Duramax in"Sun Spark". Did I mention I lovelovelovelovelove it?

Start by sanding your door with a fine sanding block. You just want to rough up the surface a bit so that the new paint adheres well to the door. Dust it with a damp cloth and allow to dry thoroughly.

Tape off any parts of the door you do not wish to get paint on.

Using a good quality paint brush, apply two thin coats of paint to the door, starting in crevices and decorative pieces and then do the flat areas. Allow to dry about one hour between coats.

 

Apply one more coat of paint, this time with small roller to avoid visible brush marks. I prefer foam rollers for this, but I was out of those and used a microfibre one I had on hand instead.  

Once dry to the touch, peel off the tape and step back to enjoy your happy new door!

 

Or go paint two more of them.....

 

Thanks so much for visiting The Complete Guide to Imperfect Homemaking!

How to Wash Your Pillows (and get all the nasties out!)

Most of us have read by now that our pillows are filled with dust mites and fungus and  and probably a whole host of other things we don't like to think about when we crawl into bed at night. Some researches even suggest that a third of your pillow's weight is from bugs, dust mites and skin cells. 

And while I don't think that this news is something most of us should spend our time worrying about, it is a good reminder to wash our pillows!  Here's how:

1.  Load two pillows at a time in a washing machine, ensuring that they are positioned so that the load stays balanced. 

2. Do a hot wash using your regular detergent with a few drops of tea tree oil (to kill germs and bugs) and half a cup of baking soda (to remove smells and perspiration stains).

3. If you have a laundry line, wash the pillows on a sunny day and hang them to dry (use lots of clothes pins!).  If the pillows have some discoloration due to head sweat it'll almost completely disappear while drying in the sun!

Alternatively, you can dry them in a dryer on the hot setting (Maybe with a few drops of lavender on your dryer balls so that the pillows have a nice relaxing scent?). 

Either way, make sure to get them really dry so that they don't get mildewy!

Thanks so much for visiting The Complete Guide to Imperfect Homemaking.  Now go wash your pillows!

3 Super Easy Ways to Make Perfect Asparagus

 

Start by trimming the woody ends off the asparagus spears.  Just bend the spear gently until the end snaps off.   Don't try to save time by cutting the ends off all at once with a knife,  this will leave you with woody ends on some of the spears and wasted yummy parts on others.

 

 

 

 Method 1:Sauteed Asparagus

 

Melt about a tablespoon of butter in a pan over medium high heat. Add trimmed asparagus spears and cook, turning often, for about 8 minutes until bright green and tender crisp.


To make it extra awesome: use garlic butter and top with toasted sesame seeds. Yummmm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Method 2: Oven Roasted Asparagus

Place trimmed asparagus spears on a single layer on a cookie sheet or baking tray. Drizzle with some olive oil and a sprinkle of kosher salt. Bake at 325 degrees for about 12 minutes or until fork tender but not too soft.  Turn once or twice during cooking.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Method 3: Grilled Asparagus (my favourite!)

 

Place the trimmed spears on a large piece of tinfoil and drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of kosher salt.  Fold the tinfoil closed tightly around the asparagus and place on barbecue over medium high heat for 10 to 15 minutes.  Serve with steak.  That last part is optional.

 

Easy, right?  Enjoy this decadent springtime vegetable and let me know how it turns out! 

Thanks so much for visiting The Complete Guide to Imperfect Homemaking.