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Tissues v handkerchiefs

(59 Posts)
PenJK50 Sat 11-Aug-18 11:33:45

My sons in law both use handkerchiefs for the purpose for which they were intended and anything else they see fit to do such as wipe a child’s nose. I haven’t used a handkerchief for about 40 years as tissues seem so much more hygienic if less eco friendly. I remember my mother boiling hankies in a galvanised bucket on the stove in order to kill the germs. She didn’t approve of tissues until her latter years. When did you last use a hanky for blowing your nose? My husband always has one in his pocket in case he needs to wipe his brow but never blows his nose on it.

PECS Sun 12-Aug-18 09:48:03

No cloth hankies here! DH has a few flamboyant pocket 'kerchiefs just for show! My MiL used to have a special handkerchief pan and boil once a week! They must have lived somewhere with the germs until washed! We use tissues/ toilet roll..if someone has a cold they are thrown into a plastic carrier bag then tipped straight into the outside bin. In winter they might go on the fire.

gillybob Sun 12-Aug-18 09:52:59

Cloth hankies are gross . I remember my mum spitting in one and wiping my face with it when I was a child . Bits of snot stuck to them like glue . Disgusting .

Paper tissues every time .

harrigran Sun 12-Aug-18 10:08:39

Paper tissues, like disposable nappies, are making some manufacturers very wealthy. Advertising convinces us that we can't live without the convenience of disposable items.
DH always uses cotton handkerchiefs and we never had tissues in the house until DC were adults, exceptions being when someone had a heavy cold.
I have a drawer full of fine cotton hankies.

Anniebach Sun 12-Aug-18 10:15:50

Both, wouldn’t go out without a handkerchief .

PECS Sun 12-Aug-18 10:16:51

harrigran maybe try this manufacturer..we do. Use toilet roll for tissues too uk.whogivesacrap.org

goldengirl Sun 12-Aug-18 11:48:25

Tissues for a cold or other emergencies [like lack of loo roll in a public toilets] but otherwise hankies preferred. However with umpteen children around I rarely carry a hanky at the moment.

DoraMarr Sun 12-Aug-18 14:30:00

When I was a little girl in the 50s we took “rags” to school- squares cut from old sheets etc that we used for hankies. We had proper hankies for taking to church and parties and any visiting we did. I can remember spitting on my rag to clean my blackboard. (My children think it’s hilarious: they ask me if I met Charles Dickens.) I remember a little Scots girl joining our class. Her name was Morag and I’m ashamed to say we teased her unmercifully because of her name.

Jalima1108 Sun 12-Aug-18 14:32:00

Any rags in our house were used on my hair to make ringlets!