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Hankies or Tissues.

(84 Posts)
kassi Fri 23-Jan-15 19:15:54

DH insists on using hankies rather than tissues. They are revolting and disgusting. Is this just an 'old man thing' ? I hate washing them!

absent Sat 24-Jan-15 23:06:43

There are boxes of tissues scattered strategically around the house. (After all, one of the most revolting sights in the world is a two-year-old with a bad cold.) I also have a drawerful of impractical and so rarely used lace-edged and embroidered hankies. However, I always stuff half a dozen of them into my bag when I am going to a funeral as, somehow, weeping into a handkerchief seems more appropriate than snivelling into a tissue.

ginny Sat 24-Jan-15 22:57:23

I see your point thatbags but babies have no choice. Big people do.

thatbags Sat 24-Jan-15 20:01:28

I wonder how many bucketloads of dirty nappies all the people on this thread have washed over the years?

Nappies. Oh aye, just get on with it. That's life.

Hankies. EEeuuuw! Listen to yourselves! wink

Wheniwasyourage Sat 24-Jan-15 19:27:46

I refuse to wash hankies too, and DH has stopped using them. He gets nose bleeds, which made them even more disgusting and difficult to get clean! If I get a paper napkin in a café or on a train, I stick it in my pocket, as it will just be thrown away, even if I haven't used it, and use it as a paper hankie. Much stronger and often softer than tissues, and using something which would otherwise go to waste. Then used ones go to light the fire, or in summer, I just burn them in the wood-burning stove now and again with other unrecyclable paper.

ginny Sat 24-Jan-15 12:34:42

Those that use hankies should be the ones who wash them. It seems to be mostly men. I'd bet they would soon start using tissues.

annodomini Sat 24-Jan-15 11:59:01

Tissues weren't so easily available when we were young. When Grandpa died, we 'inherited' a vast number of pure silk hankies which were nice and soft for hearty nose-blowing! Mum soaked them in salty water and boiled them which didn't seem to harm the silk.

loopylou Sat 24-Jan-15 11:12:23

Enough to scar you for life Ariadne! Trying not to appear ungrateful was so, so hard sad
Thankfully haven't seen, let alone been given, any for years......no idea what became of all those little boxes..

thatbags Sat 24-Jan-15 10:56:29

else

thatbags Sat 24-Jan-15 10:56:19

You could use that method too, ariadne.

And anyone lse who lives with someone who uses real handkerchiefs.

thatbags Sat 24-Jan-15 10:55:32

kassi, why not ask your DH to put his used hankies in the washing machine? Why should you do it?

Alternatively, you could get one of those washbag things— I expect Lakeland do one or you could use a nappy wash bag, or even an old pillow case—for your DH to deposit his hankies in and then you can just put the whole thing in the washing machine.

My middle name is Practical ;)

Ariadne Sat 24-Jan-15 10:50:08

Handkerchiefs are disgusting things, and I cannot hate touching them. I don't own any, but DH does, unfortunately. I cannot see the point!

loopylou I was telling one of my DGDs, who is 11, and half wanted trendy clothes and half wanted a doll, about boxes of hankies. When I was 11, there wasn't much in the shops at Christmas for this transition age as there is today. I remembered that Christmas, when all I seemed to open were little flat boxes...oh, the disappointment!

kassi Sat 24-Jan-15 10:47:52

Thanks for your comments everyone! I've just put the horrible things in the washing machine.

I think I may have told the tale about DH 'helping' when, many years ago we also used to have a 'hanky saucepan'.

He couldn't find the special saucepan so HE PUT THEM IN A CASSEROLE DISH IN THE OVEN!

aggie Sat 24-Jan-15 10:26:01

don't flush tissues down the loo , they don't disintegrate and will block the system . We were taught in Domestic Science classes to soak handkerchiefs in salty water to break down the snot .... yeaauuuuuuuuk

Agus Sat 24-Jan-15 10:00:38

Snap gillybob DH and I both use hankies but if I have a rotten cold, Aloe Vera tissues and EA 8 hour cream.

Hope you have had your quota of colds now and you feel better soon.

annodomini Sat 24-Jan-15 09:46:23

Tissues. I have a large bag of them ready to put in the bin - not for recycling! There's another lot upstairs too.

gillybob Sat 24-Jan-15 09:34:11

I've had three streaming colds this year already. It may have just been one horribly long cold but there were days in between where I felt fine. The first one started on 27th December and I am on to number three right now. I have bought masses of paper tissues (boxes and packets) and always get those soft ones with Aloe Vera although I still end up with a sore nose. Wonderful 8 hour cream does the job though. There's no way I could have used hankies as I would be washing 50 a day at the minute.

ginny Sat 24-Jan-15 09:14:07

Tissues every time. Snotty hankies yeuk !!

sherish Sat 24-Jan-15 08:07:08

One of the first lessons in Domestic Science at Secondary School was washing hankies. We had to boil them in a pan on the stove then wash them. What a palaver!!! Enough to put you off washing hankies for life.

We do use hankies but mainly tissues especially if we have colds. They are more hygienic.

Lapwing Sat 24-Jan-15 07:20:26

Tissues every time - much more hygienic as long as disposed of properly.

J52 Sat 24-Jan-15 07:09:37

I saw an advert recently about reducing the spread of germs. It advocated using tissues and immediately binning them. A good idea IMO. x

kittylester Sat 24-Jan-15 06:21:46

I think tissues are disgusting, germ ridden things that sit in bins waiting for the unwary! Hankies washed on a hot wash are much more hygienic, imo!

For the DGC, I use baby wipes as they are softer for little noses!

Eloethan Sat 24-Jan-15 00:40:00

My Dad used to use hankies. They were absolutely revolting. My Mum has unfortunately started using them and even though I keep pointing out that she has a whole pile of hankies that I've laundered for her, she keeps using the same one - yuk! If I didn't bring them home to wash, they would never get washed. Horrible, horrible things.

I use tissues - so does my husband.

Marmight Fri 23-Jan-15 23:59:40

Late DH used pink hankies for years; I put them in a hot wash not realising there was a red corduroy skirt already in the machine grin. For some reason, even if he had new white ones, they still came out pink. As time progressed he was won over by Kleenex, which was a great relief to me (and probably to him too). Revolting things hankies, which takes me on to memories of my days at a Convent boarding school where the nuns had washable ST's which hung on the washing lines like a row of tatty bunting. Yuk. We girls used the disposable ones confused Sorry, I digress ......

Nelliemoser Fri 23-Jan-15 23:24:10

"every" time!

Nelliemoser Fri 23-Jan-15 23:22:46

Tissues evry time unless I have one of those totally streaming colds when I resort to toilet roll.
I buy packets of paper tissues for for a silly price at Aldi. (And then discover I have a years supply.)
I try to keep a couple of packs in my car.