Reducing Paper Towel Waste

[rebekki78]

This is from MI.gov Tech Manual R 400.1924 page 121 :
• Have a clean, disposable paper or single-use cloth towel available.

Can you link me to the tech manual? I am just looking at the "Licensing Rules for Family and Group Homes".

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dhs/BCAL-PUB-0724_212611_7.pdf

Thank you! I want to do it right

[daycare]

I invested $200.00 in white hand cloths off of amazon. We use them like paper towels. Take one use it put it in the dirty basket.

I wash daily and bleach them. Would not do it any differently.

I have 12-14 kids daily.

[daycare]

For me the wash cloths make sense as I already wash two loads of laundry each day (I follow the FLY Lady system - a load a day keeps the CHAOS away:: ) and as someone else pointed out, they are small enough that it doesn't add to my loads. I'm also on a well. For me the bigger hazard was papertowels being flushed down the toilet and clogging my septic

I had the paper towel go down the toilet and cost me about $800 to fix. So the $200 investment was more than worth it to me.

[AmyKidsCo]

I use washcloths too - a couple packs of the really cheap Walmart ones. I have to wash them every other day or so, but I'm doing at least 3 loads of laundry to keep up anyway so I toss them in with clothes if there aren't enough for a whole load.

[Childminder]

Can you link me to the tech manual? I am just looking at the "Licensing Rules for Family and Group Homes".

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dh...4_212611_7.pdf

Thank you! I want to do it right

http://mi.gov/documents/dhs/Home_TA_410282_7.pdf

[Christina72684]

We use the select-a-size paper towels and then cut them in half so they're a square. Most kids are good about taking just one square, but I'll look in the trash every now and then and see a clump of 3-4. But since we're only using 1/2 a piece at a time it's not too bad. I wanted to try the washcloth idea but I hate doing laundry, especially since my washing machine is upstairs.

[Second Home]

I must use paper towels , no cloth allowed . I place 1 on the sink counter for the child to use if they need more then they need to ask .
That way they do not take a huge bunch to wipe their hands or flush.

I have a large stack of paper towels on a shelf all ready to go and in case my licensing specialist shows up .

I also use baby wipes for hands and face clean up after lunch/snack .

[AnythingsPossible]

How many washcloths do you make available per day? I am thinking with my group we would need 50 to 75 wash rags, if not more. That's a lot of rags! If you were to have enough for multiple days, I can't even fathom where I would store them all!

[SignMeUp]

No idea how many I actually have. But I buy in packs of a dozen and I have lots of packs :: At least six different colors, and I am sure I have two packs of some colors (um, dark blue! :
I always make sure there are at least as many laid out by the sink as I have children. Whenever I'm in the bathroom, I put out a few more, as needed. I'm there a lot anyway for handwashing, helping toddlers potty, etc.
The rest: I have one shelf devoted to washcloths in the over-toilet storage. The rest are either stacked on the end of the folding table in my laundry, or in transition (in the "dirty" basket, in the laundry, etc.)

[daycare]

I must use paper towels , no cloth allowed . I place 1 on the sink counter for the child to use if they need more then they need to ask .
That way they do not take a huge bunch to wipe their hands or flush.

I have a large stack of paper towels on a shelf all ready to go and in case my licensing specialist shows up .

I also use baby wipes for hands and face clean up after lunch/snack .

why cant you just do the same exact thing with a clot towel as you do the paper towels?

[Country Kids]

I help the kiddos wash their hands and then I grab one or two paper towels for them to wipe their hands.

I buy the folded ones at Costco.

[rebekki78]

http://mi.gov/documents/dhs/Home_TA_410282_7.pdf

Thanks a bunch!

[Second Home]

why cant you just do the same exact thing with a clot towel as you do the paper towels?

State regs require us to use paper towels .

[Papa]

Each child in our daycare has a cloth towel with a loop sewn on hung on a hook by their name in the bathroom. They get washed daily if there is illness going around. Otherwise they get changed out according to how much they get used or if I'm doing laundry anyway at least twice a week. we also have a metal basket hung on the kitchen wall that holds lots of washcloths. we use those for wiping hands, faces or spills. I hardly buy paper towels anymore. Nasty clean ups get paper towels!