Eco Friendly Kitchen
How Many Unpaper Towels? How big is your household
So you’ve decided to try UNpaper towels or perhaps you’re still considering switching? One of the questions I wanted to know the answer to when I finally swapped out my paper kitchen towels was how many reusable towels do I need for my home.
On average 10 UNpaper towels are enough for most home kitchens. This allows for half of the towels to be in use whilst the other half is being laundered. Naturally, the size of your household, the level of use your kitchen gets and how often you launder will all affect the number you’ll need.
Whilst this has given you a good starting point let’s have a closer look to ensure this number is right for you.
What are UNpaper Towels?
UNpaper towels are a direct replacement for disposable kitchen towels. Made from various materials, UNpaper towels are used to clean up small spills in the home. Their most appealing benefit is due to their reusable properties they are ideal for anyone wanting to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle.
According to the Norwex Movement 254 million tons of paper towels are discarded globally every year.
Although these paper towels are not made from plastic we should still be considering the impact they have on the environment such as transport, packaging and waste processing of these items.
These environmental concerns make paper towels a candidate for an eco-friendly alternative and this is where UNpaper towels come in.
Exactly How Many UNpaper Towels Do I Need?
It’s actually very difficult to predict how many UNpaper towels you’ll need.
I’ve already mentioned a few of the common factors that influence the numbers you’ll want to purchase such as household size and laundering habits but there are actually many other variables that make this question almost impossible to answer precisely.
There are some variables that commonly use many more towels than others.
For example, take the age of the people in your home. You would think that a family with small children would need more towels than a household with no children and in my experience, this is absolutely correct!
I seem to remember using so many paper towels when my children were young.
Pets are another big consumer of paper towels especially dogs in their puppy stage when cleaning up accidents is commonplace.
With this in mind, when we last surveyed our customers and subscribers we asked five specific questions specifically about UNpaper towels.
The first 3 questions were:
- How many people are in your household?
- How many UNpaper towels do you have available for use?
- How many UNpaper towels do you have in the laundry?
Here is the average data from that survey.
| Small Household | Medium Household | Large Household | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. People | Up to 2 | 2 to 4 | 5+ |
| Towels (In Use) | 3 | 5 | 10 |
| Towels (Launder) | 3 | 5 | 10 |
| Total Towels | 6 | 10 | 20 |
I think it’s no surprise that from the data provided it’s clear that people have 2 equal-sized sets of UNpaper towels, one set in use and one set in the laundry.
The survey also captured the answers to the following two questions:
- If you have young children have you increased the number of UNpaper towels you have (No/Half Again/Doubled)?
- If you have pets have you increased the number of UNpaper towels you have (No/Half Again/Doubled)?
The results were fairly similar with the average purchaser adding half again to the number of UNpaper towels they bought if they have pets or children.
I think it’s worth pointing out that much fewer pet owners increased the number of towels purchased – probably because not all pets are created equal when it comes to being messy!
So what do these numbers tell us?
For example, a medium-sized household with young children on average bought 30 UNpaper towels.
Here are a couple of quick lookup tables you can use if you do have young children and/or pets.
Average Number of UNpaper towels by Household with Young Children OR Pets
| Small Household | Medium Household | Large Household | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. People | Up to 2 | 2 to 4 | 5+ |
| Towels (In Use) | 3 | 5 | 10 |
| Towels (Launder) | 3 | 5 | 10 |
| Young Children (+) | 3 | 5 | 10 |
| Total Towels | 9 | 15 | 30 |
Average Number of UNpaper towels by Household with Young Children AND Pets
| Small Household | Medium Household | Large Household | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. People | Up to 2 | 2 to 4 | 5+ |
| Towels (In Use) | 3 | 5 | 10 |
| Towels (Launder) | 3 | 5 | 10 |
| Young Children (+) | 3 | 5 | 10 |
| Pets (+) | 3 | 5 | 10 |
| Total Towels | 12 | 20 | 40 |
So hopefully you can now see how tricky it is to give a definitive answer.
There are so many possible variables that any answer can only come down to an educated guess.
And that’s hopefully where I’ve helped to give you some guidance by showing you some of our survey data.
What’s critical is that you do not put off making the switch, worrying about how many UNpaper towels you need.
From an eco-friendly perspective, it’s always better to move forward and so perhaps the last piece of advice I can give is to keep the number of towels you buy on the low side. You can also purchase more.
Common FAQs – UNpaper Towels
What size should UNpaper towels be?
As a general rule UNpaper towels should be around 10 inches or 25cm square. This size is ideal as it gives enough surface area for the towel to scoop up kitchen spills, fits nicely in the hand during use and also allows for simple and discrete storage.
How long do UNpaper towels last?
On average UNpaper towels can last up to 2 years due to their reusable qualities. There are so many variables that affect the time these towels will last including the quality of the towel, how often you use them and of course what you use them for.
What is the best fabric for UNpaper towels?
Most people agree that the best fabric for UNpaper towels is organic cotton. This is due to the sustainability of the cotton itself and the fact that organic cotton is biodegradable giving the user a zero waste option. Other fabrics include natural bamboo or a mix of both.
If you would like to learn more about which fabric makes the best UNpaper towels then I’d encourage you to read my article “Best Material for Unpaper Towels“
Products Featured in this Article
UNpaper Towels from Tabitha Eve
These affordable reusable unpaper towels are ideal for replacing your normal kitchen roll. 100% biodegradable cotton in a waffle design, the towels are strong, absorbent and scrubby as well as being plastic free and easy to wash.
MioEco 10 Pack Reusable Paper Towels
A zero waste alternative to a regular paper towel that can last for years! Unlike other paper towels the MioEco biodegradable paper towels absorb spillages and mess far easier…. And the best bit? You can simply wash them out and use them again and again!
