忘掉那些花哨的清洁布吧，试试用破布来清洁

忘掉那些花哨的清洁布吧，试试用破布来清洁

Over the course of my adult life so far, I've spent far too much money on specialized cleaning cloths. I have gone to cleaning parties hosted at friends' houses where packages of fancy microfiber cloths are sold for what I'd prefer to spend on a pair of very nice shoes. I have struggled to understand which color is meant for which room, which dusting mitt goes on a specific surface, and what cleaning products I can and cannot use with the various cloths – details I suddenly care about because of all the money I've spent.

到目前为止，在我的成年生活中，我花了太多的钱在专门的清洁布上。我参加过朋友家里举办的清洁派对，在派对上，一包包精美的超纤维布料被出售，而我更愿意花这些钱买一双非常漂亮的鞋子。我挣扎着去理解哪个房间应该用什么颜色，在特定的表面上应该用什么除尘手套，以及我可以和各种各样的衣服一起使用什么清洁产品——这些细节我突然关心起来，因为我花了那么多钱。

A basket of cotton rags.@peekies via Twenty20

Because I swore off paper towels nearly a decade ago, I felt obligated to splurge on these cloths in an effort to keep my house clean, but recently I've discovered that they're really unnecessary. There is a much simpler and cheaper solution for dealing with every single mess created by a busy young family, and that is the untrendy, old-fashioned rag stash.

因为我在十年前就不使用纸巾了，所以我觉得有义务在这些布上花钱来保持我的房子干净，但最近我发现它们真的是不必要的。有一种更简单、更便宜的方法来处理一个忙碌的年轻家庭造成的每一处混乱，那就是不时髦、过时的收破烂的地方。

That's right. All you need is a heap of clean absorbent cotton rags, made from old bath towels, hand towels, or tea towels cut into halves, quarters, or eighths, and you'll be able to clean anything. You'll never notice the lack of a microfiber cloth or a roll of paper towel because the rags do it all. They may look tattered, but they get the job done. I keep some in the kitchen and some in the bathrooms. I use them to wipe spills off the kitchen floor, to clean sinks, to wipe down the toilet, to dust surfaces and eliminate fingerprints. I grab those rags to deal with everything from sticky hands to upset stomachs to muddy footprints to pet messes.

这是正确的。你所需要的是一堆干净的吸水棉，用旧的浴巾、手巾或茶巾切成两半、四分之一或八分之一制成，这样你就可以清洁任何东西了。你永远不会注意到没有超纤维布或一卷纸巾，因为抹布可以解决所有问题。他们可能看起来很破旧，但他们能完成任务。我在厨房里放了一些，在浴室里放了一些。我用它们来擦厨房地板上的污物，清洁水槽，擦马桶，除尘表面，消除指纹。我拿着这些破布来处理所有的事情，从黏黏的手到不舒服的肚子，从泥泞的脚印到宠物弄脏的东西。

I tend not to use spray-on cleaners, but prefer to fill the sink with hot water and Dr. Bronner's liquid castile soap to do my house-cleaning. Then I swish the rag around, squeeze it out, and wipe everywhere. Depending on what I've cleaned up, the rags get tossed into the dirty laundry basket before getting added to the washing machine. I always hang them out to dry, usually in the sun to help disinfect them further, then they're returned to the under-regions of the sink for another round of use.

我倾向于不使用喷雾清洁剂，但更喜欢用热水和Bronner博士的castile液体肥皂装满水槽来打扫房间。然后我把抹布甩来甩去，把它挤出来，到处擦。取决于我清理的是什么，这些破布在被放入洗衣机之前会被扔进脏衣服筐里。我总是把它们挂在外面晾干，通常是在阳光下进行进一步的消毒，然后再把它们放回水槽底部进行另一轮的使用。

I prefer the rags because I can use soap with them (it always felt weird using water-only microfiber cloths) and because they're easy to handle, at least compared to some of the large, unwieldy cloths I purchased. Knowing they're not made of synthetic material also alleviates any concerns over microplastic particles being released into the water when laundered. And because they're made from discarded towels, I essentially have an unlimited supply.

我更喜欢这种抹布，因为我可以用肥皂擦(用纯水的超纤维抹布总是感觉怪怪的)，因为它们很容易处理，至少和我买的一些笨重的大抹布相比是这样。知道它们不是由合成材料制成也可以减轻人们对洗涤时微塑料颗粒进入水中的担忧。因为它们是用废弃的毛巾做成的，所以我的毛巾数量是无限的。

Trent Hamm of The Simple Dollar has a similar technique to mine, using cotton cloths to replace paper towels and stashing the dirty ones in a basket under the kitchen sink until there are enough to justify a load of laundry. He recommends buying decent cloths in bulk: "This system really depends on having good absorbent cloths to use. I just find that cotton washcloths and shop cloths tend to work the best for most tasks that I would use paper towels for." For me, old towels (and sometimes flannel sheets) do the job just as well, but if the point is to get away from single-use disposables, anything you get and keep for a long time will do.

Simple Dollar的特伦特•哈姆和我有类似的技巧，用棉布代替纸巾，把脏的放在厨房水槽下的篮子里，直到有足够的东西可以洗一堆衣服为止。他建议大量购买合适的衣服:“这个方法真的取决于有好的吸水布来使用。我只是发现，棉质毛巾和购物用的毛巾对大多数我用纸巾做的事情都是最有效的。”对我来说，旧毛巾(有时还有法兰绒床单)也能起到同样的作用，但如果重点是要远离一次性使用的一次性用品，任何你得到并长期保存的东西都可以。

Give it a try. You'll quickly discover that needing fancy cleaning cloths and paper towels is a myth.

试一试。你很快就会发现，你不再需要昂贵的清洁布和纸巾。