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Family

14th Mar 2018

What is the ‘family cloth’ and why is it making people uncomfortable?

Jade Hayden

If you haven’t heard of the ‘family cloth,’ you’re in for a wild ride.

Or not, depending on how grossed out you may become from the prospect of a machine washable cloth that multiple people can use to wipe themselves down after using the bathroom.

Essentially, the family cloth is reusable toilet paper and it’s been dividing opinions for the past week now.

And by ‘dividing opinions’ we mean – most people seem to be of the understanding that although the family cloth might be good for the environment, it’s fairly disgusting and they are absolutely not on board with it at all.

This all started when Buzzfeed ran a piece detailing the lives of two anonymous adults and two anonymous children who all use the cloth together.

The woman said that, to her, using disposable toilet roll was wasteful, so she had opted for some washable strips of cloth instead.

“In my mind, buying and using disposable toilet paper was literally flushing money down the toilet!” she argued.

The woman also wanted to clear up some misconceptions about the family cloth, saying:

“Let’s also set the record straight: Individuals who use family cloth do not only have a single piece of cloth. We have dozens of smallish strips of cloth.”

That’s told us anyway.

So what exactly are the benefits of using a family cloth?

For one, it’s a lot more eco-friendly than flushing paper down the toilet every day. It’s also a lot cheaper.

Still though, despite all these clear benefits, most people seem pretty much disgusted that people are using cloths to wipe themselves after going to the toilet.

They took to social media to express their dismay.

https://twitter.com/evepeyser/status/971914427548291072

So, what d’you think – would you be up for wiping with the family cloth?