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You are here: Home / Promoting Healthful Living / Alternatives to Facial Tissues

Alternatives to Facial Tissues

July 15, 2019 By Shannon This post may contain affiliate links and this site uses cookies. Click here for details.

I feel like my family usually gets a break from runny noses during the summer months, but this hasn’t happened this year. One or more of my kids has had a runny nose since December. Some of these runny noses have been from colds, but many have been from allergies. Regardless of the cause, we’ve been going through ridiculous quantities of facial tissues.

Handkerchiefs are an affordable, gentle alternative to tissues. When used sensibly, they can effectively prevent the spread of germs.

This is problematic for several reasons. One is cost. Facial tissues, especially the soft ones that don’t make my kids’ noses sore, aren’t cheap. The second reason is this issue of sore noses. If used often enough, even soft tissues leave my kids noses red and sore. The third reason is concern about the environmental impact of using so many tissues. Tissues, of course, come from trees. Vast swaths of forests are destroyed each year to gain wood pulp to make them (source) and a lot of energy is consumed to manufacture and transport them.

In order to address these issues, I’ve been considering alternatives to facial tissues.

Facial tissue alternatives

There are really only two alternatives to facial tissues: Other paper products and cloth products. Just like facial tissues, other paper products (e.g., toilet tissue, paper towels) are pricy, leave my kids’ noses sore, and aren’t very green. Cloth products, such as handkerchiefs, are reusable (which cuts down on their expense and environmental impact) and are gentle on noses, but I’ve shied away from these because I’ve been concerned about the spread of germs.

Given the volume of snot I wipe off of my kids’ faces each week, I decided to give handkerchiefs and other cloth products of second look.

Cost

Plain white cotton handkerchiefs are pretty affordable. I’ve found them for around $0.80 per handkerchief. Other cloths that can be used as handkerchiefs are priced similarly. For example, bandanas cost about $1.00 each and cloth baby wipes cost about $0.70 each. If you have old cotton or flannel shirts around the house, you can cut these and use them as hankies. This won’t cost you anything!

It certainly is cheaper to buy a single box of tissues than a set of handkerchiefs, but you’ll soon have to replace the box of tissues while you can wash and reuse the handkerchiefs indefinitely.

Softness

Cotton and flannel are much gentler on the nose than paper tissues, even those that contain lotion. Moreover, as long as you don’t use fabric softener, the cotton and flannel won’t contain chemicals that have the potential to irritate the skin. Tissues that contain lotion, on the other hand, may irritate the skin of the face because they contain various ingredients (e.g., oils, alcohols, emollients) that are supposed to keep the skin soft.

Environmental impact

According to one source, it takes three times the amount of energy to produce tissues than cotton handkerchiefs. Once produced, cotton handkerchiefs can be reused for years while tissues are tossed out after a single use.

It seems to me that handkerchiefs are greener than tissues. However, it is important to keep in mind that not all fabrics have the same environmental impact. For example, conventionally grown cotton isn’t particularly friendly to the environment because of the pesticides used to grow it. Thus, fabrics like organic cotton or bamboo may be better options. One especially green option is making handkerchiefs from old cotton or flannel clothes.

Effectiveness at stopping the spread of germs

Many people have concerns about handkerchiefs spreading germs. I shared these concerns until I gave some thought to the various ways one can use handkerchiefs. If you continue to use a single hankie all day then, yes, you will be spreading germs around. The germs will get on your hands and in your pocket (or wherever you store the handkerchief). However, if you use a hankie and then set is aside in a small bag or container to await washing, then you won’t be spreading any more germs than you do when using tissues. Travel wet bags (small, washable bags made of waterproof cloth that zip closed) or waterproof cosmetic bags are great options for this.

Given handkerchiefs are thicker than tissues, I think there is the potential you may actually spread fewer germs. This is because, unlike a tissue, a handkerchief will not tear down the middle while you are blowing your nose, nor will it tear when wet. Another important thing to consider is handwashing. You really should wash your hands (or use hand sanitizer) each time you blow your nose (or wipe a kids’ nose). Even if you use tissues, some germs get on the hands. Thus, neither option really stops the spread of germs unless it is accompanied by hand hygiene.

When it comes to washing handkerchiefs, it is very easy to get them free of germs. We’ve cloth diapered; let me assure you that gross hankies are a cinch compared with dirty diapers! If you’ve only used a hankie for tears or sneezing when you don’t have a cold or flu, then special washing isn’t really necessary. After all, do you do anything special to wash a shirt if you’ve sneezed into your elbow? However, if the hankies are covered in snot or have been used for sneezes or coughs by someone with a cold or flu, you can get rid of the germs by washing them in hot water with an additive-free detergent and adding a disinfectant such as Grapefruit Seed Extract or vinegar to the rinse cycle or tea tree oil (with low Cineole and high Terpinen-4-ol numbers) to the wash cycle.

Final thoughts

We haven’t stopped using tissues completely, but we have cut back on our use of them in favor of using cloth wipes. We’ve been saving money by not purchasing as many tissues and I think my kids, especially my 9-month-old, appreciate the gentleness of the cloth.

Do you use handkerchiefs? Why or why not?

Related posts:

Shared at the following:

Farm Fresh Tuesdays, Busy Monday, Over the Moon, and Tuesdays with a Twist.

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Filed Under: Promoting Healthful Living Tagged With: frugal living, green living, health and safety




Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. AnneMarie Miller says

    July 15, 2019 at 5:19 am

    The thought of using a handkerchief always grossed me out, since I only knew of people using one for the whole day-and I just didn’t like the idea of having a snot-covered cloth sitting around in my purse or pocket. While I use toilet paper for convenience many times (we all have allergies, so we keep a couple of TP rolls in different parts of the house and car), I’ve been trying to use cloth wipes more and more. (I already use cloth wipes instead of TP when going to the bathroom, so I have a stash sitting there anyway) Your post is encouraging; I really want to move more towards the cloth and less on the toilet paper when it comes to a runny nose!

    • Shannon says

      July 16, 2019 at 5:30 am

      We have cloth wipes around, too, because of cloth diapering, so it just made sense to use them. It’s really nice not to need to purchase tissues every time I grocery shop!

  2. Laurie says

    July 15, 2019 at 6:26 am

    Well this is certainly an interesting perspective!
    We have a short water supply, so our decisions have to reflect that. I find that I currently opt for more single use products than normal.

    Personally, I think I’d prefer the flannel wipes for everyday issues. However, if a cold or flu came along, I’d still prefer throwaway, since I can quickly get them out of my house and not have them sitting around possibly reinfecting before I can get them washed.

    Overall, we do seem to use a lot of paper products, and I appreciate you addressing how we can cut back.

    Blessings,
    Laurie

    • Shannon says

      July 16, 2019 at 5:34 am

      Water supply is definitely something you would need to consider. Even for folks who have access to plenty of water, it is important to use only the amount needed when washing them (otherwise it wouldn’t really be green to use them!).
      I’ve read of a number of folks who use hankies when they have allergy symptoms, but stick with tissues for colds. This approach will still mean you use fewer tissues overall, so it can help some in cutting back on use of paper products.

    • Jerome says

      July 16, 2021 at 2:25 pm

      I used to think this as well, until someone pointed out the extraordinary amount of water that is used in the paper milling process. The amount used to wash a hanky, even over its entire lifespan, is less, especially when it’s just thrown in with other clothes that would be washed anyway! I had a huge “aha!” moment when this was shared with me, and it made me feel much better about being able to choose an environmentally friendly option that was good for forests AND water use!

  3. Marilyn Lesniak says

    July 26, 2019 at 4:26 pm

    Thank you for sharing at #OverTheMoon. Pinned and shared.

    • Shannon says

      July 28, 2019 at 4:40 am

      Thanks, Marilyn!

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