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Tuesday Tip | Make some t-shirt rags

If you have some old t-shirts lying around that are really, really no good for wearing or donating, cut them up into rags. 

Just get a sharp pair of scissors, cut out the neck edging and the seams, and cut the remaining fabric into your desired rag size.

I have a big pile of these, and we love them for dusting and cleaning kitchen surfaces like dishwashers and the fridge. 

t shirt rags

I find them to be much less frustrating to use than paper towels, and there’s no waste or cost involved other than the laundering (which is minimal.)

Also, my girls like to use them for washing their faces because hey, if makeup or acne medication gets on them, no one cares! They were ugly rags to begin with.

t shirt rags

And I love that we have something functional made from clothing that was no longer wearable.

(Shirts with holes, shirts with bad stains, shirts that did the annoying become-shorter-and-wider-in-the-wash thing, shirts that no one would buy even if you donated them to Goodwill…all of those are good candidates as long as they’re knit cotton fabric.)

As you can see, I don’t bother folding mine; I just wash them, dry them, and throw them into this box that sits in my linen closet.  Easy, easy!

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Pamela

Sunday 10th of January 2021

Don't forget your girls old cotton panties and pj are great rags too

msgirl

Tuesday 30th of March 2021

omg idk abt panties

Eileen

Monday 4th of February 2019

Just cut up an old t-shirt yesterday - they are the best for cleaning mirrors!

Deidre

Saturday 2nd of February 2019

Thank you so much for this post Kristen - I have been trying to reduce my use of paper towel etc and looking at some very sad t-shirts, and thank you to everyone for your comments; lots of great tips.

Ann

Thursday 31st of January 2019

We use them for baby wipes with our cloth diapers. We just squirt water on over a bowl during changes. So easy and soft.

Rebecca

Thursday 31st of January 2019

In Yiddish it's called a Shmata. We need a shmata to wipe down the table :)

Deidre

Saturday 2nd of February 2019

I have just been sitting here saying "Shmata...Shmata…"I like that, I shall call mine Shmata :)

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