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Friday Favorite: Floursack Towels

May 4th, 2012

Up until last year I always used normal terry kitchen towels. When we stopped at Seed Savers Heritage Farm last August I purchased a few of their vegetable flour sack towels. When I got home and started using them I quickly fell in love and all my other kitchen towels started collected dust in the drawer.

So what do I love about them? their large size, how quickly they absorb water, how quickly they dry and with these how beautiful they are! They are available at Seed Savers Exchange if you’re interested.


I’m going to have to purchase a few more of these this summer because I occasionally run out. My other kitchen towels will be demoted to rag towels when that happens.

Do you have a preference when it comes to towels that you use in the kitchen?

13 Comments to “Friday Favorite: Floursack Towels”
  1. daisy on May 4, 2012 at 5:39 am

    I didn’t even know they carried these. They look quite generous, but it doesn’t give a lot of information on the site. Do you know about how large they are?

    Reply to daisy's comment

  2. Sue from Ky. on May 4, 2012 at 6:57 am

    Love the towels. I use my older towels as filler in my hot pads,etc. I can’t bear to discard them,or let Pop use them for grease rags,no matter how ratty they get.

    Reply to Sue from Ky.'s comment

  3. K.B. on May 4, 2012 at 9:08 am

    Those are great! I generally use linen tea towels – love them. I especially love how they get better with age, and they last forever!

    Reply to K.B.'s comment

  4. Annette @ CoMo Homestead on May 4, 2012 at 9:57 am

    Thanks for this suggestion! I’ve never thought to use flour sack towels for normal kitchen use. I definitely want to try it out.

    Reply to Annette @ CoMo Homestead's comment

  5. Songbirdtiff on May 4, 2012 at 9:58 am

    Flour sack towels are my favorite, too. My granny used them so I grew up using them for drying dishes, wiping my hands while I cook. Nothing absorbs better and my favorite thing about them is that they do not leave lint when you are drying dishes. I’ll have to check out the ones at Seed Savers Exchange.

    Reply to Songbirdtiff's comment

  6. Mary S. on May 4, 2012 at 10:11 am

    I’ve been using the flour sack towels for years — the best! Since ours are plain white, they can be bleached, too.

    Reply to Mary S.'s comment

  7. June Coady on May 4, 2012 at 10:12 am

    I fell heir to a couple drawers full of these delightful old fashioned towels my mother had “saved” for over 50 years. They bring back childhood memories of seeing these fly on the back yard clothes lines, using these same towels as aprons, window washing clothes, covers for an old stoneware bowl of rising bread dough and, of course, drying dishes. I love them but do use them carefully, not wanting to run out. Thanks to you I now have another source.

    Reply to June Coady's comment

  8. Teresa on May 4, 2012 at 12:13 pm

    I’ve been using baby diapers, like the unfolded old-school variety. Use the prefolds for dusting and windows, but the unfolded work great as towels and they’re huge. Also have cut them into smaller squares and serged along the edges, those sit in a basket on our counter and we use them as our “paper towels” or emergency napkins when the rest of the cloth napkins are still in the wash.

    Reply to Teresa's comment

  9. Alyse on May 4, 2012 at 12:45 pm

    My mom and I use these towels to cover up bread as it rises.

    Reply to Alyse's comment

  10. judym on May 4, 2012 at 4:35 pm

    My grandmother & aunts used feed and flour sacks for everything – they were readily available since my uncle owned a dairy farm. Once washed, they were soft enough for clothes, upholstery, etc. – oh yeah, towels! My husband’s grandmother passed down dish towels to her grandsons for a wedding present. They had simple embroidery on them and lasted forever. Just bought some to make towels and napkins. Hoping to embroider them. I spotted the towels from Seed Savers a while back and hope to order some soon.

    Reply to judym's comment

  11. Miranda on May 8, 2012 at 11:35 am

    Oooh, those look great. I generally hate my kitchen towels, because they’re never absorbant enough.

    Reply to Miranda's comment

  12. jules on May 8, 2012 at 4:14 pm

    I got some towels like this, only plain white, from my MIL. I sent them back to her to cut up in 1/4s and use them as our paper towels around the kitchen. I love them. Also use them for coverings for bread, tea, etc. They are great. I use linen towels for drying dishes. I got some from my Nanny and also buy them at estate sales. I got a huge stack of old calendar towels at one sale. I think I’m set for life with those.

    Reply to jules's comment

  13. Chris on May 8, 2012 at 10:26 pm

    Lovely images of freshly laundered washing. :)

    Reply to Chris's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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