Not Only For Cleaning: 5 Overlooked Ways To Use Paper Towels At Home

Paper towels are a staple in many households, serving as important tools for cleaning and wiping down surfaces. Their versatile nature, however, makes them useful for far more than just maintaining a clean house. Whether you're wanting to ditch traditional paper towels for zero-waste options and have a few rolls leftover or are just curious about the best alternate uses for them, paper towels can serve you in a variety of household contexts, from the kitchen to the garden.

Paper towels can solve all sorts of everyday problems you might run into. Their ability to absorb moisture makes them superstars in the kitchen if you're hoping to extend the life of your precious produce like lettuce and berries. They can also help keep you caffeinated when you discover no coffee filters in your pantry on Monday morning. If you want to infuse a musty drawer or closet with some freshness, you can use an essential oil-scented paper towel to make a space smell better. Likewise, gardeners can get a head start on their seeds with the help of a few damp paper towels. For a highly functional purpose, you might even consider using paper towels as packing or padding for fragile items before your next move.

No one likes to cut into a wilted bunch of herbs or a shriveled up bell pepper; while the refrigerator does a lot to extend the life of your produce, you might still be noticing that your produce isn't lasting as long as you'd like it to. Rather than restocking your fridge with fresh ingredients every 3 days, you can grab a few paper towels to help your produce stay fresher longer. 

Loosely wrap your leafy greens in paper towels before placing them in a plastic or paper bag, sliding them into the crisper drawers of your fridge. Use a paper towel to line your berry containers to soak up extra moisture and keep them from going soggy too fast. Placing a paper towel in the produce drawers of your fridge also helps to absorb extra moisture that the fruits and veggies will give off — it will help the bottom of the drawer stay cleaner for longer, too.

If you're a gardener and want to get a head start on planting, starting your seeds indoors instead of buying plants or waiting for seeds to sprout directly in your garden beds is a great idea. Paper towels are an excellent medium for germinating your seeds and can easily be done by anyone. You only need a couple of moist paper towels and a container.

Put a few paper towels in the bottom of a plastic food storage container (old take-out containers work, too), then pour water over them until they are thoroughly moist. Scatter the seeds you're sprouting over the surface of the paper towel, then close three of the four corners of your plastic container or leave the top slightly ajar if it's not square. Place it in a warm and dark location, which will allow the seeds to sprout over the next few weeks. Once the roots have burst out of the seed, you'll be able to plant them in soil.

If you forgot to grab coffee filters, and your morning brew is a necessity, using a paper towel as a makeshift coffee filter is a wonderful way to keep your routine running smoothly. For cone filter coffee makers, rip off a length of two paper towels, then fold them into a triangle configuration. Using your coffee maker's brewing basket, measure the depth, then cut the top of the paper towel filter so that it fits nicely inside the basket. Open up the outer layer of the paper towel cone, then slide it into the brewing basket, filling with coffee and brewing as you usually would. 

You can also use the same approach if you are brewing loose-leaf tea and don't have the necessary gear to filter out the tea leaves. Remember to be gentle and cautious when removing the paper towel from your coffee maker. The perforations can make it structurally much weaker than a traditional coffee filter.

Whether you're moving or packing up fragile decorations, padding can be the difference between shattered and chipped ceramics and perfectly preserved family heirlooms. While packing peanuts and bubble wrap might be the gold standard for protecting fragile items, they are also expensive and take up a lot of space. Paper towels offer a moderate amount of protection and padding for belongings that are being packed up for a fraction of the price of bubble wrap, and there's no need to go to a specialty store to buy them. 

You can wrap a paper towel around your Christmas ornaments — particularly glass bulbs or orb-shaped ornaments — before placing them in cardboard boxes; save them year after year to cut down on waste. Likewise, if you're packing up your dinner plates for long-term storage or a move, putting a paper towel between each plate or bowl will help prevent shifting, sliding, accidental breakage, and will dampen the sound of dishes clattering against one another.

Whether it is a stinky pair of shoes, a musty drawer, or a chest filled with blankets that you rarely use, paper towels have the ability to make the space smell fresher. In order to improve the aroma, grab a paper towel and fold it down a few times; you'll next grab an essential oil bottle of your preferred scent — award for freshest-smelling essential oil often goes to peppermint, lemon, or lavender. Drip a generous number of drops of the selected oil onto the paper towel, then place the aroma-infused paper towel in any number of spots. 

This hack can also be put to use in old purses or backpacks that you don't use regularly and might become stale-smelling over time, or in a bag of winter clothes that are in summer storage. You should notice that the space smells much fresher the following day, but you can easily repeat it as many times as is needed.