Creative Reuse: A Cotton Ball Alternative

At dinner last night, a friend of ours exclaimed, "I had a green moment today and I just have to tell you." We were intrigued already.

She proceeded to explain that she had a pair of flannel pajama pants that had been through an unfortunate encounter with brown hair dye. The dye was in such a place that she deemed the pants not suitable to take to Goodwill. In an effort to save them from the landfill and fulfill another purpose, what did she do?

Our friend, desperately wanting to rescue the pants for a greater cause, trimmed the soft flannel into three-inch squares. She plans on using them in lieu of cotton balls.

Not only did she save an unwearable clothing item, she also eliminated the need for one disposable product. To top it all off, the squares can be washed and reused, making them perpetually green!

If you've got clothes that are so far gone they can't even be donated, consider cutting them into pieces, whether to replace cotton balls or even to use as shop rags. It's a very simple thing that makes a big difference.

(Image: Flickr member respres, licensed under Creative Commons)

Comments (10)

Hooray for creative reuse!

I'd love for someone to find an alternative to q-tips.

This is a great idea... but what made the pants unwearable?

curious- will these get caught in the washer or dryer anywhere, since they're so small? great idea, tho.

Hmm, I didn't think of this as some "new" idea, I thought a lot of people did this!
Great, though, very useful.

If you tossed them all into one of those mesh lingerie bags, they wouldn't get lost in the wash.

I cut up my t-shirts to use as dust rags once they get super shabby, but I hadn't thought further than that. Thanks for the inspiration!

This reminds me of my grandparents' house, where one of my grandfathers old, worn-out underpants (!) was always used as a rag. I hated that, and dreaded every time I had to wipe the table with it. I was so glad we were more modern at home (never having been through a war/the fifties with 8 children, and thus less reluctant to spend a few cents) and used actual rags, fabricated for that purpose. Thrifty and green is good, but there are limits!

But none-underwear-clothing as cotton balls, yes, I love that idea. I've been longing for a lasting alternative to cotton balls lately, actually. Not just because of the ecological waste, but especially because of the financial one. I go through at least 5 cotton balls/pads a day!

@ hannahvdb, that's so funny! Using old underpants as rags, ha!! It's a great idea to use old clothes for rags, but underpants...not so much... heehee!!

I reused a pair of knickers as a shoe polish rag, but was slightly embarrassed. I ran out of polish halfway through, so raided my housemate's shoe polish bag and found..... a shoe polish covered pair of knickers! It made me happy.

I love old sport socks as washcloths - when turned inside-out, the terry-like fabric is great for scrubbing, and the fact that you can slip them right over your hands makes them ideal for detail dusting - or for washing a slippery baby!