We're not throwing in the towel; we've mended it.
My husband came to me with a blue towel he's used for his showers, showing me a large rip in the middle of an even larger threadbare patch. "Can you fix this?" he asked.
I mean, I could fix the hole, but to do so I'd have to add a patch. And given my currently available patching materials, the patch would be pretty ugly . . . on a towel that's frankly pretty old already. I could patch it, I told him, but scrapping the towel and using a new one probably made more sense.
He nodded his head, and put the towel aside.
And then a few days later, he showed me the towel again. Could you fix this? he asked. At this point, I realized the towel was more than an object. I asked him about it. He's been using this towel for 30 years, he told me. My mind boggled . . . but then I thought about how much I love using and reusing the large yellow towels my mom got for me when I graduated from college . . . about 30 years ago. We're a pair of 30-year-veteran-towel users, apparently. Our towels are older than our kids, and we're not getting rid of our kids when they get a bit banged up, so why get rid of the towels?
So patch-and-mend the towels, it is. As promised, the patch is ugly, or at best highly visible. I sacrificed a blue terry-cloth kitchen rag that I'd made many years ago from a discarded bathrobe: I cut off the hems and zig-zag stitched it to my husband's towel. I then flipped the towel over and zig-zag stitched the tear in the towel to the rag.
The time and effort involved was minimal -- I think that patching the towel took maybe 5 minutes. This was definitely faster than buying a new towel (not to mention exponentially cheaper). When I was hesitating, it wasn't because I was reluctant because of time or effort; I was reluctant because of aesthetics.
But aesthetics be hanged. Now my husband has his towel back, with a scar on one side, and a blue diamond on the other. It's not lovely to look at, but it's familiar and comforting. My husband is glad to have his old favorite back in use, and that's worth a lot to both of us.
My husband came to me with a blue towel he's used for his showers, showing me a large rip in the middle of an even larger threadbare patch. "Can you fix this?" he asked.
I mean, I could fix the hole, but to do so I'd have to add a patch. And given my currently available patching materials, the patch would be pretty ugly . . . on a towel that's frankly pretty old already. I could patch it, I told him, but scrapping the towel and using a new one probably made more sense.He nodded his head, and put the towel aside.
And then a few days later, he showed me the towel again. Could you fix this? he asked. At this point, I realized the towel was more than an object. I asked him about it. He's been using this towel for 30 years, he told me. My mind boggled . . . but then I thought about how much I love using and reusing the large yellow towels my mom got for me when I graduated from college . . . about 30 years ago. We're a pair of 30-year-veteran-towel users, apparently. Our towels are older than our kids, and we're not getting rid of our kids when they get a bit banged up, so why get rid of the towels?
So patch-and-mend the towels, it is. As promised, the patch is ugly, or at best highly visible. I sacrificed a blue terry-cloth kitchen rag that I'd made many years ago from a discarded bathrobe: I cut off the hems and zig-zag stitched it to my husband's towel. I then flipped the towel over and zig-zag stitched the tear in the towel to the rag.The time and effort involved was minimal -- I think that patching the towel took maybe 5 minutes. This was definitely faster than buying a new towel (not to mention exponentially cheaper). When I was hesitating, it wasn't because I was reluctant because of time or effort; I was reluctant because of aesthetics.
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| See the scar? Not too bad from this side. |
Nice save! I never thought to patch a towel. I still have a few that I inherited from my grandparents eons ago. I remember these towels from visits when I was a child, so they must be at least 40 years old. I think there's only one left in the rotation, and it's frayed on the sides, but I use it mostly for covering the crock pot or for keeping drafts from coming under the front door in the winter time. But usually, old towels become cat towels - they go in the cat carrier... or if/when I've got a kitty with urinary problems (which happens when they get older) they get used to cover any surface that might get peed on.
ReplyDeleteI use my towel on the crock pot, too! Also on spaghetti pots and rice pots (once the water's been boiled and the grains added, I turn off the heat and wrap the pots in towels). No kitties in this house anymore, though.
DeleteWow! We also have some 30 year old towels, some that have been mended to keep going. My sister wore out all her towels within a dozen years of her marriage because they would use them once and throw them in the laundry. She literally washed/dried them to death. We use ours for a week or longer before washing them. Some of the small matching towels I sewed together a few years ago to make bath rugs, so we're still getting use out of them. Gotta love the old Use it Up, Make it Do frugality!
ReplyDeleteSo maybe this means your sister would be aghast that my towels have lasted this long, because that means I haven't laundered them as frequently as I could have . . .
DeleteGood job, my mom often repair worn spots on knee areas of pants with the same zigzag stitch
ReplyDeleteI line dry everything including towels, line drying is life extension for all forms of fabric
I have a similar method that doesn't work quite as well: I encourage my husband to line-dry everything, but then accept all clothes when they come out of the dryer anyway. (He does dry "delicates", but for some reason doesn't think of towels and jeans as "delicates").
DeleteNice work! I love it. My dad has some towels still that he and my mom received as wedding presents back in 1975, and he definitely has the wedding present shower curtain still hanging up.
ReplyDeleteI thought of you today when I read this article that mentions clothes costs in the 1800s. Seems awfully high compared to your expenditures. https://blogs.ancestry.com/cm/what-was-life-like-200-years-ago/?pp=0&epik=0_HkuE_IWnzV3&o_xid=78114&o_lid=78114&o_sch=External+Paid+Media
Very interesting! In the 1880's, "Shoes ran $2.50 a pair. Clothing expenses for a family of six cost $148 a year, though the record does not indicate the quality of the clothes." This is more than I spend nowadays, close in numbers but DEFINITELY in comparison to salary: "In Massachusetts, a tailor and printer could both expect to earn $6 a week, while a servant might earn only 50 cents a week."
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