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We use a lot of towels in our house. And with constant use, they wear out very quickly. I hate throwing any cloth away if there is a way to reuse it. So here are some ways to upcycle old towels that prevent or delay this useful cloth going to landfill.
Ways To Upcycle Old Towels
Unsponges
Plastic scrubbing sponges are so bad for the environment. But you can reuse your old towels by making unsponges and make something that does the job just as well, doesn’t cost a penny, and can even be composted once it has worn out. I call that a triple win!
Unpaper Towels
We throw away so much paper in the form of kitchen towels, so why not make these useful and reusable kitchen cloths whilst upcycling your old towels?
Make Up Remover Pads
Even the smallest pieces of old towelling can be used by making these. Whilst you can make them as just a square shape to be as zero waste as possible, I love this hexagonal tile shape, that also minimises wastage yet looks oh so pretty.
DIY Travel Toothbrush Holder
Why not use an old towel to make this ingenious family travel toothbrush holder? Swoodson Says has this great beginner sewing tutorial on how to make your own.
Picture courtesy of SwoodsonSays.com
Family Cloth
Toilet paper has been a rare and valuable commodity in recent weeks. One way of reducing your use of loo paper is to use fabric toilet cloths instead of paper and wash after using. Most people use them after a bidet/lota or just for pee. And this saves paper.
Wash Cloth Soap Holders
I love using shower bars instead of shower gel in plastic bottles. But hate the way the bars go mushy straight away. These wash cloth soap holders keep your soap or bar secure and create a great lather in use. Plus they are a great way to upcycle old towels.
Bath Mat
You can use a towel as the base for a rag rug. The picture is of my hessian based rag rug, but instead, you can use an old towel and sew your jersey strips onto the old towel to make a brilliant absorbent bath mat with this tutorial.
Swiffer Mop Covers
I love my Flash speed mop (or Swiffer mop), but hate using the disposable cloths that you are supposed to use and throw away to landfill. So I have made a Swiffer Mop cover using old towelling. These can be washed and reused again and again. Thus saving so much money and stopping so much plastic wastage going to landfill.
Garden Kneeler Pad
Use old towels as the padding for your knees and keep gardening gentle on your joints with this lovely homemade garden kneeler pad from Homespun Seasonal Living.
Photo courtesy of Homespun Seasonal LivingShower Pouf
Those plastic shower scrubbers that come with so many toiletry gift sets make me cringe with horror. Not only do they end up being mouldy and stinky, but they cannot be reused, and so end up going to the rubbish heap. These shower poufs are made from old towelling, can be washed, and are compostable at the end of their life… Plus they look pretty!
Reusable Sanitary Towels
So much plastic wastage is produced by disposable sanitary products. But by making some reusable sanitary towels, using old towelling as a core, you can save so much money, and save the planet too!
Baby Bibs
A lovely cheap way of making a baby shower present is to make some baby bibs up cycling some pretty fabric remnants with a towelling backing. Burp cloths are always an essential for a new baby, so any new mum will be happy to have these!
Find my tutorial and free template here.
I hope that you have enjoyed finding out some brilliant ways to upcycle old towels. Do you think that will be following any of these ideas? I would love to know what you think. Comment below or holler at me on social media.
And please do pin this post for later.
These are all such great ideas! I love the soap holder and the bath mat.
Thank you Michelle. I really do hate throwing cloth away!
Love the ideas here… I am old and suffer from occasional incontinence…. why didnt I think of recycling towels?
I also recycle old bed sheets: our vegetable oil comes in a 3 gallon plastic tank. I cut a square hole in the empty, leaving the cutout piece intact on one side to make a flap, and fill it with 8×8 or so squares ripped from cotton sheets. They are great for every kind of cleanup and can be laundered.
Thank you! And I too recycle old bedding. Theres a separate post here on the blog on some ideas of what else you can make, but love your wipes idea!
What fantastic ideas! I would never have thought of any of these. I tend to use old towels as rags for cleaning but I much prefer these super ideas.
Great excuse to buy new towels and not waste the old faded or stained ones. Must make the shower buff. Who knew it would be so simple.
These are great tips I am going to try. I have started cleaning with old (clean socks) they do shine up well!
So many great ideas I never thought of! Will definitely need to try some
What a lot of great ideas. I have never thought of using my old towels etc in this way so thank you for the ideas.
Brilliant, i especially like the kitchen towel replacement, I’ll give that a go! Thanks for the tips.
In Zimbabwe we also make reusable baby napkins much better than disposable diapers. Both my children had cloth napkins. They do use quite a bit of water to wash but I really hate the sight of piles of disposables lying on the side of the roads. We do not have reliable refuse collections.
Oh my goodness you are just so clever! I wish I knew how to sew so I could make all you wonderful things. Loving the reusable ideas.
I’m always horrified at the number of young people who have never been taught to sew or knit, they are such useful skills. Honestly, it’s not difficult – although I was taught to hand-sew (I still sew at 10 stitches to the inch, my teacher went over hand-sewn seams with a magnifying glass!) at school, I didn’t get my first sewing machine until I was an adult, and basically taught myself. Try it! And some of these ideas are not only useful, they are simple enough that they would make great apprentice-pieces for the complete beginner
I totally agree. Sewing and embroidery are cheap and easy skills to learn. So many people do not know how to sew a button back on, or how to mend a rip in some clothing. Is it any wonder we are such a throw-away society?
What a fantastic post! I’m off to pin loads off those as I will give them a go. I’ve been using so much more reasonable stuff and I love it, I can’t imagine going back to throw away items after one use
Thank you so much. A lot of these items are really so easy to make. And once you start up cycling your old towels and cloth, you won’t ever want to buy anything again!
Great ideas. I ususally just use old towels as rags for cleaning. I love that rug you made. x
Kim Carberry recently posted…I have just about got the garden that I wanted.
Brilliant ideas! I love the rug and the makeup remover pads. Such a fab way to reuse what you have. 🙂 x
Thank you Jayne!
Some great ideas here… though I am still not ready for the reusable toilet paper! #MMBC
What fantastic ideas !! I love re-purposing too.
Naush @doodlebuddies
Love these ideas. I consider myself a creative and frugal person, but these ideas top any of mine!!! Kudos to you!
Awesome ideas! I am a big fan of upcycling too. Can’t wait to try some of these.
Thanks for sharing!
I make dish cloths out of old towels to wash my dishes. Love your ideas. Thank you.
We use our old tatty towels for our two dogs. Also for mopping up water spilt when I clean out our two fish tanks. Have also used a wet hand towel in our worm farm on hot days to prevent the worm overheating and dying. Left it in there long term and they ate it or at least it disintegrated being cotton. So many uses for old towels. Can cut them up and use them to polish your shoes with too.
Great ideas…..but the reusable toilet paper, not for me. You could also use them as wash rags depending on how worn the towel is.
Certainly reusable toilet paper is a divisive subject. I don’t, but a lot of people who use it with a bidet tell me it is a really great thing. Thank you for reading!