drying hands?

[julie w]

Hi I was wondering what everyone uses for the children to dry their hands on. My DO said ofsted would prefer us all to use paper towels. I really dont want to do this because even if I kept a bin just for paper towels I just know they would end up down the toilet causing problems, and that's apart from the cost of the towels.(as I know they'd use loads) If I didn't want to use paper towels she said the children should have a towel each which should be changed after every use then washed at 60'. All this seems a little extreme , so I just wondered what everyone else does. Thank you.

[funemnx]

My lo's have a small towel which they've decorated with fabric paint so they know which is theirs (a fun activity). They get washed once a week or more if needed. I also have a basket with paper towels in it just in case

[FussyElmo]

I use kitchen towel

[blue bear]

Flannels that are put in washing machine after every use

[Mrs M]

I have a hand towel for each child which gets washed after each use - but only cos they're all part time. Should I have full time children I don't think I'd wash on 60 degrees every day! However, for older children I have cheap kitchen towel!

[karensmart4]

The children used to have their own towels, but when we ended up with 19 on the books I gave up on that idea........ (We are reg for 9 at a session).

We do use paper towels in the bathroom and in the playroom, they got used a lot when it was all new but now it's just normal to the children and they don't abuse them

karen

[Monkey26]

I have a hand towel dispenser. I never wanted one either but they are good.

More hygenic and the kids don't use too many towels now they are used to it... I have never ever had any towels go down the toilet!!

Oh and i have found the cheapest way to buy them is in bulk-you can buy big boxes (think thats roughly 20 packs) this lasts a good 6-10 months xx

[VINASOL]

I have 6 mindees....they each have their own coloured (to match their plates/cups/cutlery) handtowel and face flannel. This gets washed once a week (sometimes more depending on how much they use it; some mindees go more than others lol)....my Inspector said it was much better this way and surely better for the environment?

[Milli147]

My mindees are colour coded!
They each have a towel in their own colour (same as their box for their stuff, snack box, bottles, cups, diaries etc)
When they were smaller I put their picture on the hook, but now they all know which towel is theirs.
I wash them at 60 along with all the bedding, blankets, muslins etc at the end of the week. Ofsted were very happy with that

[miffy]

I have packs of flannels from Ikea which are used once then go in the wash

Miffy xx

[aunt sally]

We use kitchen roll all the time. This is the same as our local preschool and primary school. Works well here.

[Bernie]

I use a terry towing nappy for each child (new ). They are all hung on individual hooks on the door with a name tag above (depending on whose here on the day).

I love the idea of the lo's decorating them. Off to buy some fabric paint yey!

xx

[sarah707]

We have a big stack of cloth towels - single use and then hot washed

[Mouse]

I have a combination of Ikea flannels (a good size & coloured tags on them) and kitchen roll.

The children chose which they want to use. Paper towels go in the waste paper basket & flannels go in the washing bag (after each use) and get washed every evening. I would add though that all of my mindees are little and in nappies - none use the bathroom alone, so hand washing/drying is done under my direct supervision.

[sbsuffolk]

all my mindees have their own flannels and pegs, this works well for us!

[amanda1309]

Flannels that are put in washing machine after every use

me too.

We have a basket which they go in and I wash whats in it every day

[The Juggler]

I think single use flannels are better than children having individual towels as who can guarantee they actually use or don't in some other way contaminate the other towels.

personally I have one towel which is changed daily. I wash it on a 30 degree wash with all my other washing and no-one has yet got sick in 6 1/2 years. I know more 'precautions' should be taken but to this is my home, I want to help save the environment, and I think children are too sanitized these days. However, if I ran a nursery I would maybe have a different approach as I know these children and families really well if there were 30 or more families I think I'd want to take a few more precautions.

If I had a sick (d&v/conjuctivitis) child I'd give them their own towel for the day and make sure they'd use it.

[handeme]

My mindee is only 1 so had wanshing is done by me, so I know they are done correctly. We use kitchen roll at the moment but I am loving the idea of decorating there own towel.

We currently dont use upstairs, he doesn't sleep there and sleeps in the pram and I dont have a downstairs toilet, would you still take him upstairs to wash his hands?

c x

[sweets]

when i only had 2 mindees they had there own towel that i hung over the bath, (teeny tiny bathroom!) when i started getting more mindees it got a bit ridiculous so we now just all share one towel which is washed regularly.

all my mindees are littlies so are supervised washing their hands anyway so i know they are clean before they use the towel.

anyway children need a few germs! we keep them far too clean nowadays

[jelly15]

I have flannels colour code for each child they have one to wash with and one to dry with and they are changed daily.