Unpaper Towels: Easy DIY Tutorial

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Check out this easy tutorial for “unpaper” towels that roll up and velcro together like a roll of paper towels. Unpaper towels are an eco-friendly and stylish way to reduce your waste. Want to know more? Follow my tips below to reduce your plastic use and the use of single use products.
 
Learn how to make these simple unpaper towel tutorial
This post was updated 10/9/2018

DIY Unpaper Towels are a great way to be stylish and eco-friendly at the same time! It all started when my friend Sarah posted something on Facebook that she wanted someone to get unpaper towels from a seller on Etsy for a wedding present. They were over $50, plus shipping! I told her I would make them for her instead, and thankfully, she loved the idea. 

Aren’t these a great way to be more eco-friendly? We are constantly trying to find ways to reduce trash and lower our carbon footprint (like cloth diapering, making our own cleaners, ditching plastic, and making homemade products). Plus, I’m super cheap and hate buying paper towels. They are so expensive, and you literally buy them just to throw them away. Geesh. It’s like throwing money in the trash. 

There are so many ways to be more eco-conscious these days, and one of the first and easiest things to do is to reduce your consumption of single-use products and reduce plastic. Single-use products are things (ahem, like paper towels) that you would use one time and then throw them away. They contribute to unnecessary and excess trash, which is never a good thing. Of course, sometimes we don’t have another option other than to use single use products. Back in the day, like when I originally wrote this post, I was a huge stickler. I used to think there was never an appropriate time for a single-use product.

Then I had kids and had to learn some grace. It’s good to be aware of problems with our environment and the unsustainable amount of trash we create. But, we each individually can only do so much, and sometimes we fall back on having to use single-use products. Like when we redid our kitchen and had to rely on a lot of paper plates and microwaveable meals. It killed me a little inside, but I gave myself grace. We’re all doing the best we can with what we have, right?

Anyway, these Unpaper Towels are a great way to ditch the paper towels and be a little more eco-friendly. 

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How To Reduce Plastic Use And Single Use Products.

  • Choose glass or metal straws instead of plastic ones.
  • Use reusable containers to bring your lunch to work. These glass containers are awesome! 
  • Instead of paper napkins, try cloth napkins. 
  • Bring a reusable glass or metal water bottle instead of buying plastic ones. 
  • Keep a set of silverware in your car if you have to go out to eat.
  • Use beeswax wraps instead of plastic wrap.

Unpaper Towel Materials

  • Terry cloth – about 1/2 yard
  • Cotton or flannel fabric – about 1/2 yard
  • Matching thread
  • Velcro

Unpaper Towels Tutorial

Step 1: Cut terry cloth and cotton or flannel fabric into 10 equal squares that are 10 by 10 of both fabrics. Make sure they are very even!
Cutting fabric for unpaper towels
 
Step 2: Pin right sides together and sew like a pillow leaving about a 3″ gap to turn right side out. Sometimes, I like to cut off extra fabric on the corners.
*To make this easier and skip a step, you could pin wrong sides together and surge the whole thing and then follow the remaining steps.
 
Sewing unpaper towels
 
Step 3: Turn right side out and then iron flat.
 
Ironing unpaper towels flat
 
Step 4: Top stitch around the edges about 1/4” from the seam. Then through the middle of the unpaper towel, sew a wiggly line from one corner to the adjacent corner. This ensures when you wash it that they fabric in the middle doesn’t come apart, which is very annoying.
 
Sewing line down the bidding of the unpaper towel
 
Step 5: Cut velcro into squares and sew on velcro. I sewed the soft velcro on the terry cloth side and the rougher velcro on the cotton side. Sew two of each on each side. If you have a snap applicator (like this one)  it would be a lot easier to use snaps instead of velcro!
 
Sewing velcro on unpaper towels
Sew two of the same velcro on two corner and the opposite velcro on the other side on the other corners without velcro. Sounds kind of confusing, but hopefully the picture above helps.
 
sewing velcro on unpaper towels
 
Unpaper Towels
 
Step 6: Put the velcro together and roll up like a paper towel roll. Every time you need unpaper towels, just “tear” one off. Use it and wash.

Aren’t these unpaper towels really adorable and fun? I wish I got to keep them! This is a great weekend project and so eco-friendly! What do you do to reduce trash?

Need more eco-friendly ideas… check these out!

 

110 Comments

  2. These are awesome. I was using wash cloths just for the kitchen, but they always got put back into the bathroom..now there will be no confusion! Pinned it too:)

    Reply

  3. We already use wash cloths, now I think I’ll try cutting some cotton fabric to match their shape and sew a set. I don’t have a sewing machine, but hand sewing is relaxing when there’s no time limit and doesn’t use electricity!

    Reply

  9. I’m hoping to make these as Christmas gifts for my sisters but I am trying to decide between the snaps and the velcro. Could you tell me about washing them up? Here are my thoughts:

    I think velcro would be the easier fastener to “tear” off of the roll but I find that anything with velcro has a tendency to get “stuck” on things (even itself) in the washer/dryer and eventually the velcro fills up with lint, making it less sticky.

    And then I think that maybe the “snaps” might end up being more of a hassle to put together as well as “tear” off…

    What a wonderful project! Thanks for any feedback 🙂

    Reply

    2. I think if you just start with the habit of using a cloth, then when you’re done with it velcro it’s opposite ends together and toss it in the laundry it would get clean and not snag anything while being washed and dried.

  10. I really need to get somebody to make a roll of these for me! Great tutorial and a really beautiful roll of unpaper towels! The only thing that would make it better would be if you had used snaps instead of velcro. But I’m biased, lol!

    Judy @ KAMsnaps.com

    Reply

  12. Thank you so much for this tutorial. My granddaughter and I made these this past week and we just love them. We used material from some old towels and a pretty but old cotton shower curtain that had been in my linen closet for years. She learned how to sew and this was a great and simple project for her to start with. I am going to have to post it on my rarely used blog. 🙂

    Reply

  16. have you tried washing these? I have seen these done with snap buttons. The velcro would be much easier but I wonder if it would snag the terrycloth in the wash? Just curious if you have tried them.

    Reply

    1. Hey Amy I haven’t had a problem with them yet. Although I could see possibly having one in the future (after many washes)! I wish I could do snaps but I don’t have a snap machine or whatever it is you need to put snaps on :). Sorry it took awhile to respond back I’ve been on vacation!

    3. You totally could! I think I was afraid to use them for some reason who knows! I bet they would be easier than sewing on the velcro! Thanks for the idea Jennifer

  20. This is such a great idea! And they look so pretty. Unpaper towels is a fun name too, I need to make some just so I can say it 😉 I would love if you shared this {and anything else you’d like to share} at my Throwback Thursday party. Hope to see you there! 🙂

    Reply

    1. I would love to share it! Since I just saw this I will post it to next weeks party! Thanks for coming by!

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