Hankies?

[pegkerr]

Investigating another possible green decision: Anyone use hankies instead of Kleenexes? Do you have a brand to recommend?

Comments

[tassie-gal.livejournal.com]

I love the Japanese ones from somewhere like Dasio or the Japanese dollar type stores (dunno if you have any in your area). Other than that, I tend to cut up tea towels and rehem them, they are great when you have a really runny nose. I also buy the cotton ones from target.

[irielle.livejournal.com]

This is a silly question, but which area do you find these in at Target? I don't remember seeing them.

[tassie-gal.livejournal.com]

It might be because I live in Australia!!!

yes, hankies: next up, cloth napkins?

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I do! I buy them from antique stores, mostly, and they don't have brands. You can still buy mens hankies in a department store, and they are soft and nice, though bigger than a ladies' hanky.

A dear friend gave me a pile of them a few years ago, which might be my lifetime supply, though I do buy interesting and fun ones when I see them. I wash them in a lingerie bag and air dry them so that they last longer.

There's always a hanky in my pocket, and probably there's a hanky in the pocket of every sweater and jacket I've worn in the past winter.

You can look in eBay to see the exquisite range of hankies.

I've bought them in France in the chain grocery store, but they were stiff cotton and hard on my nose.

K.

[haniaw.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry but the yuck factor on hankies is just too high for me. Also, have you considered the negative impact of laundering them?

[irielle.livejournal.com]

I'd be laundering mine constantly because of allergies! The first thing I thought of was the laundering costs. I like the idea of hankies though. If you do try them Peg, all the best to you!

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Adding a few hankies is no meaningful increase to a full load of laundry, which one does anyway.

K.

[irielle.livejournal.com]

You're absolutely right. I'm just concerned that I'd be using more than a few hankies because of allergies. Having never used them, I have no idea how many good nose blowings you can get out of one hanky.

[castiron.livejournal.com]

I get quite a few out of one hanky, but I'm also the kind of person who keeps using a paper tissue until I've used the whole surface -- the idea of taking a paper tissue, blowing once, throwing it away, and immediately taking another is alien to me.

Hankies are usually fairly thin fabric, so you can add quite a few to a load before you notice a difference -- ten hankies take up less space than five pairs of briefs, in my experience.

[schnoogle.livejournal.com]

A hankie or two doesn't add much at all to a load of washing, and you'd probably save a lot in terms of packaging, manufacturing, bleaching, transporting etc. :)

Why do they have such a big yuck factor for you? I'm curious - I've always had hayfever so I'm pretty relaxed about snot. ^^

[coraa.livejournal.com]

I like ordinary men's hankies from the department store (I think I got mine at JC Penney, but it was years and years ago now), no particular brand. I find that hankies intended for women tend to be more attractive, but also smaller and less absorbent. They work for the occasional sneeze or hot-peppers-in-the-soup runny nose, but for an actual cold or allergy attack I need the size and absorbency of the mens'.

[naomikritzer]

I tried hankies as a teenager. (I raided my father's supply.) I found them unsatisfactory as a solution when I had a bad cold -- re-using a handkerchief full of snot is really not any more practical or fun than re-using a tissue full of snot, and you have the added bonus of having to carry them around with you for the rest of the day. On the other hand, there are other things I tended to use tissues for (like cleaning my glasses) that a handkerchief provided a good substitute for.

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

I use them. My nose runs when I row, and constant sniffling tends to eventually have unpleasant results (sinus headache, for one). I can't take a tissue; there's nowhere in the boat to put one that wouldn't get splashed or sweaty. So I tuck a handkerchief in the leg or back of my shorts. I prefer ladies, since the men's ones are big enough to be awkward and lumpy. I don't like the flowery Japanese kind though some places near me carry them, basically because I can never tell what's meant to be a hankie and what's a scarf, and otherwise the ladies' size They can be hard to find, or used to be (I never looked in Target). The Vermont Country Store reliably carries them.

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

By the way, don't boggle at the prices. Those are for sets of up to 12 hankies.

[pameladean]

Recycled Kleenex-like objects might prove a useful compromise.

P.

[severely-lupine.livejournal.com]

My dad has actually used handkerchiefs for as long as I can remember. It's really less a new green thing than something from the olden days before tissues were around. Not that I think you don't know that--I just thought it was a good time to underscore that just because something's old-fashioned doesn't mean it's bad or non-PC.

It's probably a good idea, though, you're right. I hadn't thought about it that way.

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

I buy them in thrift shops -- especially the ones run by churches. There's usually a little pile by the linens. Church sales are good, too.

I use them for cleaning my glasses or drying off my face after being in a rainstorm. If I have a cold, I use disposable tissues.

[commodorified.livejournal.com]

Yes, and another one who gets them at thrift stores, here.

[lisatheriveter.livejournal.com]

I've used hankies and cloth napkins and dishrags (instead of paper towels in the kitchen, for all the things one uses paper towels for) for years now. I started doing in less because it was green than because I did not have a car and did all my shopping on foot. Paper towels and napkins were just too bulky to carry back, and the cloth varieties didn't have much net effect on the laundry pile.

About ten years ago, I got fed up with how much I was spending on tampons and pads and switched to cloth pads, as well. :)

[corinnethewise.livejournal.com]

What brand of cloth pads do you use? I'm looking into getting some of my own as soon as we move to the new apartment with our own washer and dryer (there's no way I could do cloth pads if I have to go to the laudramat).

[http://users.livejournal.com/_lindsay_/]

i don't know if there as an aversion to tampon-like products but i LOVE my diva cup (divacup.com) it's amazing

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

I've toyed with doing that, and done some research on it. Frankly, I guess I've held off because heck, I'm almost fifty. I'm hoping I won't need tampons much longer anyway.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_lindsay_/]

i hear you, but maybe even bring it up with the girls for later...

[schnoogle.livejournal.com]

I used to, and I only fell out of the habit because I grew out of my cute kiddie ones and never got around to replacing them. Brands etc don't matter, but make sure you wash them a few times to soften them up and go for thinner everyday-use ones rather than pretty more formal ones. And remember to have more than one hankie on you when you've got a cold or whatever and keep them handy!

[snippy]

I like using handkerchiefs. I usually have at least 3 on me, because over the course of the day they get used to the point I want to move on to a new one. I have a strong preference for *linen* handkerchiefs with no lace or only very narrow lace, but they're expensive; given that you can get a yard of linen for under $10 (and I'm a reasonable sewer) I'm going to make my own.

I don't iron them, just snap them straight and fold when they come out of the dryer; mostly works fine.

[dreamflower]

The inexpensive cotton bandana types are what we use. I prefer the plain white men's hankies. My DH especially loves the colorful ones, and much prefers them to tissues. Plus, he also uses one when he's working outside and sweaty, as a bandana on his forehead or to wipe his face. (Not the same one he uses to blow his nose, LOL!)

We might go through a couple a day, but they are a minimal addition to our daily load of laundry. (I don't separate, I launder daily with a c/c setting, and I notice no difference to when I *was* seperating.)

[diatryma.livejournal.com]

My dad always has a bandanna-handkerchief on him. He gets a bunch, then washes them until they're nice and soft.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

As I wear glasses constantly, I have to carry both. Can't clean eyeglass lenses with a used handkerchief, and Kleenex (or generic) will scratch plastic lenses . . .

[wild-patience.livejournal.com]

I use cloth hankies a lot, as I have a lot of allergies. (If I have a cold, I switch to tissues. I go through a lot of tissues if I use just them.) I prefer men's, as they're much larger. I use nice women's hankies for church, but they're smaller and mine all have embroidery so there's less usable space -- I carry several to church.

If you can't find them in thrift shops, the place to find men's hankies is in the men's dress department, where they have suits and dress shirts and ties. I bought my last ones at Macy's because none of the less expensive stores had them. They were about $13 for a dozen and they'll last me for years with weekly laundering.

[nellorat.livejournal.com]

In addition to thrift shops, I'd say estate sales. About 30-70 years ago, hankies were THE gift for a teacher, so any teacher (like my mom, Supergee's mom) will leave dozens and dozens, most never used!

[volkhvoi.livejournal.com]

I learned to use them from my husband, and never looked back. Buy men's cotton or linen. Don't buy poly/cotton, because the cotton wears out before the polyester, and worn polyester doesn't work as well as worn cotton.

[perimyndith.livejournal.com]

My father always carried handkerchiefs when we were kids, and many noses were blown into them. They are so much softer than tissues and less dusty -- I've been thinking of buying some myself for the kid. We used cloth diapers when she was younger and it's really not that awful to have to carry some nasty cloth home with you -- you might buy a small "wetbag" designed for cloth diapers to keep dirties in.

[coalboy.livejournal.com]

I counted mine sometime since January 6, on a whim. Have 63. Now I always keep at least 3 in my purse.