Saturday 29 December 2012

Drowning in a bath towel

Here is a picture of me holding up a very big towel, I think it is what's called  a bath towel, or maybe even a bath sheet. Anyway, it's far too big for me, I only have a small body and don't need something this size to dry myself with. Oh I know some people would get out of the bath and wrap a big towel around themselves, then lounge about in it for an hour afterwards. There's none of that here, far too flippin cold. It's a case of a good rub down and put my clothes back on before I freeze my tits off.
The towel was given to me, it's a good quality towel bought from Dunelm. The thing is, if you have a very big towel, only the middle bits get used, so therefore you are washing a lot of towel for nothing. It also takes up a lot of room in the washing machine, meaning more loads are needed which will cost more money in electricity, water, and wash powder. Anything which is going to cut down the amount of washing has to be a good idea. 
So this is my idea. Cut the chuffing thing in half. Fold it equally in half and cut it down the middle.
Get two pieces of broad ribbon, fold it in half lengthways and iron flat.
Sew it along the cut edges to prevent fraying. I did two rows of machine stitching on each half, so it won't come adrift in the washing machine.
Now I have two, more practical size towels, which will easily do the job. Good idea eh! If there's anything not quite right in this house, there's always a simple solution. So, if you are running out of smaller towels, don't go out and buy new if you have one of these in your cupboard. Just cut it in half.

It's raining here again in my corner of North Lincolnshire. Hope it's better where you are. Enjoy your weekend. Toodle pip.

28 comments:

  1. I don't possess any large towels like that. I think it is a bath sheet. I do have bath towels but would do what you have done if one came into my possession.

    I know some people who use one towel for their hair, and a bath sheet like that for their body, and then put them in the wash!!! This is every day too. I'm afraid towels have to last until they undergo the sniff/look test in our house. They take a lot of drying.

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  2. I made hand towels out of big sheets many years ago...sewed on some lace edging and voila!
    Jane x

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  3. Well, it is snowing quite hard here in Chicago but that s life on the prairie !! Nice job with the towels - I have some white towels that were a gift and are looking a little dingy whatever I do with them. I m wondering if I could dye them maybe with cool aid - they are good quality and wash up lovely.

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  4. I love big bath sheets, i have a bath towel for my very long hair as anything smaller comes undone and a bath sheet for my body, hair towel goes over the bath for hand drying but i wash my bath sheet, i'm the only woman in the house and altho hubby sometimes uses my towel if he gets in straight after me i don't like the idea of the kids using my towel.The kids regularly end up sgaring a towel for all 3 of them so it evens out i guess.

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  5. You are a tonic. You make me laugh so much. I do have two large bath sheets which are not used so now I can make four which will be used. Keep the blogs coming, they are great.
    May I wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

    Dianne - Hereford

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  6. I only have one Bath sheet that I NEVER use for the same reasons your describe. I may have to give this a go although my sewing skills leave a lot to be desired - no matter how simple it may seem to you!

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  7. I do have 4 bath sheets I keep in a cupboard for when we have a guest staying. Otherwise we use normal sized hand towels for every shower time. Now that I have short hair one hand towel does the hair and the body for me. You are right in saying that bath sheets mean bigger loads for your washing machine. I make my on laundry liquids now and save myself a fortune in comercially produced laundry products.

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  8. I've recently forked out for towels in Matalan sale, they are good quality but I purposefully didn't buy bath sheets, they take too much washing and drying and we've not that big, mostly I have a rub down with a hand towel which does the job just fine

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  9. I continue to get new ideas from your blog! You are wonderful!

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  10. Here's another use for bath sheets. Afghans! They are warm to snuggle under while watching TV or reading a book, that's what my kids did with their beach towels in the winter time.

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  11. That's a good idea! :) I don't have any quite that big. Towels do still take up far more room than their fair share on the airer though!

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  12. I remember a 'frugal hint' from a magazine a few years ago - the lady had a mean landlord who didn't allow much water or heating. She took stand up washes with a flannel, and instead of using a towel, she used a clean flannel to rub down with and then a hand towel to dry off properly. Though I do admit, I like my bath sheets, but like Frugal Queen, they go over the bannister and last a week. However, with no water for the washing machine at the moment until Unitied Utilities mend the leak, they are lasting a lot longer than that! 6 pints of water to wash hair and body - is this a record? Ha Ha! (And I still smell nice!)

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  13. I did almost the reverse. At a garage sale I bought 4 homemade bath towels. 2 were adult sized and 2 were kid sized. They had a lovely nautical print to them and had been made from a medium weight cloth. I sewed them together and made a blanket for my husband's bed. Most blankets are too heavy for the New Orleans weather and he likes an extra long blanket to keep his tootsies warm. Leslie from New Orleans

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  14. Hi Ilona, Good idea to split the towel in half. I always give the boys hand towels when they go swimming, they don't need large towels to dry themselves with, and it saves on the washing and crying like you say. Some people use the microfibre type towels, as they absorb more water than your normal cotton towels, and they don't take long to dry. I would, just I"m not keen on the feel of the fabric. Good for travel though and very lightweight. I,m reading your blog daily even though I,m not posting a comment. Got a cold and doing my utmost to get shot of it. Hope everyone else is well. Apologies for any mistakes, posting from a touch screen device. Have a good Hogmanay when it comes around. All the best, Christy.

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  15. Hello Ilona, the new towel looks a better size.
    I hate washing big bath sheets in winter. I hide them at the bottom of the pile of towels.
    Not to bad when you can dry them on the line in summer.
    From House Fairy

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  16. Well done with the bath towels, and cute furry slippers!

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  17. I love the slippers too. I am one of the bath sheet wrappers, curl up with a book until most of the water has evaporated! Just lazy. lol.

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  18. Happy New Year Ilona. Like the slippers.

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  19. A brilliant idea.

    I wondered what on earth the picture was when I saw it pop up on my sidebar!!

    Sue xx

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  20. Love my bath sheets and couldn't imagine using a small towel to dry myself. Too spoilt I think. Have a great new year Ilona, and may 2013 be good to you. Sue

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  21. Elaine near Philly29 December 2012 at 23:40

    When my mother attended homemaking classes in 1940 or so, she was taught to extend the life of sheets by cutting the sheet in half top to bottom, through the worn stuff, then sewing "sides to middle." Recently, I sewed two medium towels together (by hand, too lazy to pull out the machine) to make a larger and, for me, more useful one. I love all of us problem solvers. Happy New Year, Ms. I!

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  22. This is why i enjoy reading your blog; you're always so spot on, and funny to boot, even if you don't mean it! I love this idea! I would never have thought of something like this; the obvious isn't always obvious to me, unfortunately.

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  23. Oh such sacrilege! Life isn't worth living without big beautiful bath sheets :) x

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  24. Thanks for the mini tutorial Ilona- very helpful for me, as I under-use my machine due to finding most instructions too complicated to follow. I can see lots of possibilities for edging with ribbon.
    Happy New Year( a bit early)from austerity gripped Ireland!

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  25. Ingenious! I had never thought of it that way. I do have big towels for my guests, but I still use the small ones for myself :)

    The weather here is scorching HOT! Do you want me to send you some?

    x

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  26. You are quite right Ilona you do have a small body-you are very slim and trim.
    Would you be willing to detail what you eat over a period of say a few days as i would love to get an idea of HOW you stay so slim? (i know you do a lot of walking and i do to, but I'm not as slim as you)
    Great idea for the bath towel by the way-i just use one bath towel per week but know people who use a fresh towel every DAY!
    Very many thanks
    Ruth x

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  27. When we were 'fixed' (ie lived in house) I used to love bath sheets as I could wrap them around myself until I was dry, then when we got the motorhome and started travelling, a very large towel became a real hindrance, so we used slightly smaller ones. I was given a tip by another motorhomer (and it seems to be common knowledge in this community) to use a flannel to dry yourself when you first come out of the shower, then a hand towel to do a final dry. I have to say it really works, especially when the room you are showering in is unheated!! The flannel and hand towel (which is hardly wet) take minimal time to dry and needless to say are only washed when they fail the sniff test!!

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