The reusable dishcloth and paper-towel replacement guide

The four cloth types that replace paper towel

1. Swedish dishcloths (cellulose + cotton)

Thin, stiff-when-dry, super absorbent when wet. Machine washable and dishwasher-safe. Compostable at end of life. Best for surface wiping and light spills.

2. Woven cotton bar mops

Thick terry cotton for heavier tasks — spills, hand-drying dishes, oven cleanup. Longer-lived (2–3 years) but require higher-temperature washing.

3. Microfibre cloths

Best for glass, mirrors, and dust. Wash separately (they shed synthetic microfibres) and use a filter bag in the machine.

4. Waffle-weave hand towels

For drying hands. Cotton or linen. Change daily to avoid mildew.

How many you need

For a household of 2, a working stash looks like: - 6 Swedish dishcloths in rotation - 4 cotton bar mops for heavy spills and dish drying - 2 microfibre glass cloths - 2 hand towels

That's about A$60 total, one-off. Paper towel spend for the same household is roughly A$8/week — payback in 8 weeks.

The colour-coding rule

Cross-contamination is the reason people give up on cloth. Adopt a colour code: - Green: kitchen surfaces, dishes - Blue: glass, mirrors, taps - Yellow: bathroom (toilet-adjacent surfaces) - Red: floors, boots, garage

Buy each colour in one cloth type so the code is unambiguous at a glance.

Washing routine

• Daily: rinse used cloths under hot tap water, wring, air-dry on the tap or a drying rack. Never leave wet in a heap.
• Weekly: machine wash on 60°C with normal detergent. Skip fabric softener — it coats the fibres and destroys absorbency.
• Monthly: boil kitchen cloths for 5 minutes to strip biofilm.
• When smelly: vinegar rinse (1 cup in machine, no detergent) or bin the cloth. Persistent smell = replace.

Where paper towel still wins

Keep a single roll (unbleached, recycled) for: - Draining fried food (grease saturates cloth) - Cleaning up raw meat juices - Pet vomit and toileting accidents

You'll go through one roll every 2–3 months, down from one per week.

Kids and pets

• Give kids their own coloured cloth for wiping hands and craft messes.
• For pet paw cleaning, use dedicated old cotton bar mops.

Our picks

• If You Care Swedish Dishcloths (4-pack) for surfaces.
• Ever Eco kitchen roll of unpaper towels (cotton snap-together) for a paper-towel-shaped experience.
• Any Australian bar-mop pack from a hospitality supply store for heavy tasks.