Keeping it clean...

One of my favorite things to use to save money, and be green, are reusable rags. I use them for cleaning, dusting, wiping messes, clean my baby's hands and face, among many other uses. And these don't have to be your torn up, gross tee shirt rags, or forbid, underwear!

I have three favorites to share:

The first of my favorites to use are the heavy duty HandiWipes you can buy at any grocery store or dollar store in the cleaning aisle. I find they are very large so I cut them in half and have double the rags for my money. These are great for quick messes because they rinse so easily and the soap permeates with just a squish of the rag.

My second favorite is a dollar store find of microfiber cloths. I use these to dry counters, my steel sink of water drop marks, in the bathrooms, and if I need something to better scrub something with. I have also cut them in half lengthwise to stick to the Velcro pads on my Swiffer mop, then I just hand spray my own floor cleaner. (Another eco-savings I'll share later) Microfiber is also great for dusting and we use them, sometimes slightly damp, to dust anything and everything. We also have a microfiber dust wand, Swiffer style, and two microfiber dusting mitts.

These have been so useful in our house that we very rarely buy any paper towel, although we still keep it on hand. Sometimes there is just a nasty mess you want gone... not waiting in your washing machine. All of these items wash well and last for a long time. Occasionally, we replace the HandiWipes, because of their thin texture they do wear faster.

Third, and this is my *Dirty Little Secret* are the cheap washcloth packs you can buy at home stores like Target or Wal-mart. The have about 8 or so in a pack for $4-5. Besides cleaning, mostly in the bathrooms for us, or removing my makeup, and wiping away hair, or a quick clean of the counters... my favorite place to use these were when changing my baby boy's diapers. Which, if you have ever changed a baby boy's diaper, you know the risk of getting wet with his water gun! We kept these on hand at all diaper changes and sure saved us a lot of changes of clothes. And are way cheaper than a Pee-pee Teepee, though not nearly as cute.

Any of these towels can be used for cooking too, to dry off fruit, wipe off mushrooms, or wipe extra grease out of your frying pan. Including cleaning the car inside, windows, golf clubs, you name it... Just think of any place you would use a paper towel and try using one of these reusable towels instead.