We’re a family-of-5 and haven’t used toilet paper for four years – we cut it out to save money & just reuse old rags | The Sun

YOU may consider toilet paper to be an essential purchase, but that isn’t the case for this family, who say they haven’t used it in four years.

Amber Allen says that in order to cut down on spending and in an attempt to live more sustainability, she, and the rest of her family, have actually stopped using toilet paper, instead choosing to use cloth rags that are then washed and reused.

Known on Youtube as The Fairly Local Family, the Allens have been sharing their tips on living a sustainable lifestyle, and have now revealed that they haven’t used toilet paper in over four years.

Amber says that they first began using cloth wipes as they “didn’t have the money for toilet paper anymore” adding that she and her partner were in “so much debt from going to school, college and university” so decided to cut as much as possible from their weekly shop.

She adds that it didn’t make sense to her that she was “literally throwing [her] money down the drain.”

Now the family are debt free, Amber says that they have continued using the cloth wipes, only purchasing toilet paper when they have a guest come to visit who would prefer that to the cloth wipes.

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She says that she first thought of finding a reusable substitute for  wipes when she was using reusable cloth nappies for her baby – adding that she saved even more money buying these second hand.

Amber was still using one-use wipes and realised that she could save even more money if she instead used reusable cloth for this too.

Eventually realising that if it was good enough for her child it was good enough for her too – and her husband also made the switch after seeing how much money they were saving buy not purchasing toilet roll.

Alongside the reusable wipes, the Allens also use a miniature watering can as a bidet substitute, adding that a good quality bidet is too expensive right now, but is something they’re planning on purchasing eventually.

If planning to make the switch to reusable cloth wipes, Amber says you must use a durable fabric – she uses the material from baby swaddling blankets, which are usually made from flannel or a similar material.

Amber also suggests buying fabric second hand to save even more money, adding that you can sometimes find huge amounts of this available on Facebook Marketplace. She also says that she’ll usually buy material that no one else will want, for example finding something that already has a stain on it.

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 When it comes to washing the wipes, Amber says that they will usually soak them in a water-tight bucket, sometimes adding vinegar into this, and after they’ve been soaked she then puts them in the washing machine.

She further says that by the time the cloths are put in the washing machine any marks they may have from wiping have been removed from them, adding: “You shouldn’t be pooping in your washing machine,” or putting items with poop on in before soaking them.

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