# What's With All This Disposable Stuff? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 19, 2003, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-this-disposable-stuff/202639 "2003-09-19T17:34:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-this-disposable-stuff/202639/21 "2003-09-22T12:14:31Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by TeaElle \* \*\*The trend began with paper towels and paper napkins. \*\* Didn’t it really begin with toilet paper ? ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-this-disposable-stuff/202639/22 "2003-09-22T15:55:06Z")
**Lissa** - Why would the top-secret coating on Procter & Gamble’s Swifter products (mitts, wipes, mops) leave less or even effectively different residue than pledge? What happened to beeswax and orange and lemon oil? Note to everyone who expects to be considered part of civil society: Do not use water on wood!!! **picunuse** - I am not interested in reusable toliet paper. Perhaps I’m just part of the plastic society… ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-this-disposable-stuff/202639/23 "2003-09-22T16:34:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by World Eater \* > \*\*My favorite is _disposable cell phones._ > > My eyes simply cannot roll enough for that one. \*\* I agree here. I also say the same thing for self-destructing DVDs. Before you know it, we’ll have disposable computers. Actually, for the rate at which technology advances, many computers are virtually disposable these days. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-this-disposable-stuff/202639/24 "2003-09-22T19:12:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by j.c. \* > **Lissa - Why would the top-secret coating on Procter & Gamble’s Swifter products (mitts, wipes, mops) leave less or even effectively different residue than pledge?** It’s not a chemical coating, as I understand. The cloths are electro-statically charged, trapping the dust. My curator spent quite a while examining the cloths before he approved their use, making sure that there was no chemicals in them. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-this-disposable-stuff/202639/25 "2003-09-23T01:45:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TeaElle \* > **Some of us – consumers of [overwrapped, completely unrecyclable](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=212439) products, consumers of disposable products (like those mentioned in the OP) which take the place of readily available, completely practical and easily utilized reusable products, consumers of disposable baby products, consumers of disposable female sanitary products** I’m a guy and am therefore not familiar with such things, but are there reusable female sanitary products? Or is this TMI? ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-this-disposable-stuff/202639/26 "2003-09-23T07:22:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SMTWTFS \* > **I’m a guy and am therefore not familiar with such things, but are there reusable female sanitary products?** Yep. The simplest to explain are washable cloth sanitary pads - they work just like the disposable kind, except they snap or Velcro in place, and when they’re dirty you toss them in the laundry instead of the trash. (I used to wash mine with totnak’s cloth diapers. Now he’s newly potty trained… guess I’ll have to do them with the linens?) Lots of different brands available, and some women sew their own. Then there’s the Keeper, which is a small rubber cup worn internally like a tampon. It catches the menstrual fluid; the wearer removes it, rinses it out, and reinserts it. I understand some women also reuse the Instead cup, which is supposed to be a disposable equivalent to the Keeper but which apparently is sturdy enough for a few uses. How’s that for too much information? As for dusting, I have a microfiber cloth. It catches the dust without any additives, even water. When it gets dirty, I rinse it out in the sink and hang it to dry. If that doesn’t do the trick, it gets a go-round in the washing machine. So far it’s not showing a bit of wear; I expect it will last me for years, if not quite as long as the discarded kid’s undershirts my mom uses for dusting have lasted for her! I’m her youngest “kid”, I’m 34, and she’s still using my size 4T undershirts dust her furniture! :eek: Mind you, she has to spray something on it to make it work - she uses Endust - so I still prefer my method. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-this-disposable-stuff/202639/27 "2003-09-23T14:47:14Z")
I cut up old t-shirts and sheets for all my cleaning rags. They’re reusuable, and if I use one for something excruciatingly filthy, I can throw it out knowing that it’s been re-used lots of times. ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-this-disposable-stuff/202639/28 "2003-09-23T15:41:10Z")
Tissues - and maybe TMI, but bear with me. I am a lifetime allergy sufferer. Hay fever, dust, mold, cats, you name it. So I used to go through a lot of Kleenex and it always upset me to do so. Now I use T-shirts from the laundry pile - they wash out clean, there’s always one around, and they don’t tear and leak. ANd they’re always big enough for your best effort at snot-expulsion. Most importantly, though: you know when you blow your nose a lot, it gets rubbed raw, and sore, and dry? This _doesn’t happen_ if you don’t use paper products ! My nose skin is soft as a baby’s arse even at the worst of my sneezing. O joy, O bliss ! ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-this-disposable-stuff/202639/29 "2003-09-23T21:46:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lissla Lissar \* > \*\*I cut up old t-shirts and sheets for all my cleaning rags. They’re reusuable, and if I use one for something excruciatingly filthy, I can throw it out knowing that it’s been re-used lots of times. \*\* We do the same thing at the museum. All of the employees bring in their old t-shits towels, sheets and sweaters, ensuring we always have a good supply of cleaning rags which won’t scratch delicate items. They’re also good for wrapping artifacts for temporary storage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-this-disposable-stuff/202639.md?page=1)