Athena Creates- Bird-E Towels Review

Paper towels... Ugh... This family of 6 goes through lots of them! Well, went through that is... that was before I found the love (yes love) for Athena Creates Bird-E towels. 

Some of my friends call me a hippy, some have no idea I am even 'Earth conscious' and honestly, I have no idea where on the spectrum I really fall. I'm just aware and if I'm throwing something away, I feel bad, especially when it's something I can reuse. When there is something that I can reuse instead of throw away, I am all over it. Not to mention if it saves me penny's or I get to avoid an isle at the grocery store and get out of there fast even better! Yes, right now I AM the Mom at the grocery store (HEB in San Antonio to be exact so if you see me just smile and nod and move on) with the uber cute blonde hair blue eyed 2 year old that just ran into your butt as he ran as fast as he could away from my cart on a crash course to anywhere far away from me as possible and you look around to find this poor lost childs parents only to see a look of despair from me because I just got done listening to him scream sitting in the cart for all of 2 minutes before I started getting ugly glares from old people. Don't judge!

I'll admit, I was a Viva paper towel lover, those things are awesome... soft, absorbent, so easy to just grab and wipe... so it was gonna take an extra special paper towel substitute to get my family to switch... we were spoiled! We tried un-paper towels made from terry cloth with fancy prints and snaps, just good ole fashioned rags too, but after a week or so we'd snag a roll of Viva and move on. I was determined to find something that would work for us though.

Our new towels had to be: 

~Easy to use (one of my top goals, with as Eco-friendly as I want to be, it means nothing if the rest of the family is not on board). This had to be a seamless as possible for it to really stick.

~They had to be easy to grab (Not shoved in a drawer, not hung where the kids can't reach them, not hard to unsnap or a pain to put away. I can't tell you how many times my kids grabbed one from a snap together roll and the whole thing unraveled on the counter. And I always wondered how the towel in the very end of the roll... allll the way in the center would ever get used so I would literally unroll the whole thing every time I did a wash just to make sure the towels were getting cycled through... silly I know!). 

~They also had to be able to hold up to any grimy, nasty, spill, splash and mess this family could throw at it (with 4 kids ages 15, 11, 6 and 2 a husband that loves to blow his nose and has horrible allergies and a business where I use dye and fragrances we have lots of different messes around here!). 

~Affordable (goes without saying).

~They are thin enough to feel like a 'real' paper towel, but absorbent enough to feel like a rag (did this even exist!?). 

In come Bird-E towel's. I'll admit, I was still very skeptical when we got our first batch and about ready to give up on the quest, but we have now been paper towel free (OK OK except for the few rolls we've gotten for free as part of a grocery store coupon, but it still didn't tempt us to buy more) for over 3 years now! We use them for everything, bacon grease, blowing noses, cleaning, dinner napkins, you name it we grab one! My Dad even came over a few weeks ago and spotted our 'free' real paper towels on the counter and gestured to me 'what the..?'. I just looked him and said 'free'. HA!

Why we love them:

~very absorbent
~thin like a 'real' paper towel
~no fuss having to snap them together, just fold in half, even the little's can fold them!
~hold up to everything this big family throws at them and multiple washes per week
~easy to clean, just toss in the wash
~perfect size, not too big not too small
~it's an unpaper towel, you don't feel like you are carrying around a rag
~ordering a new set (I'll admit after getting my first stash of around 75 I haven't had to buy any for years) is fun.. think fluffy mail but for Mom!

Our towels have a happy little home right on the counter in a special wooden holder made by Mr. Creates that I painted. When they get dirty we either toss them in a laundry basket, or in a special wet bag that hangs right off of our oven (made by Loving Touch Wet Bags.. review coming soon). They've not only held up the test my family has put them through but they've lasted for years now! We've had to throw away a few here and there but it's no biggie, because part of the fun is ordering a new set! Everything comes so neatly packaged, it's a treat! They are made by an awesome work at home Mom with 5 children that sews and makes some amazing tie dye creations and I can't say enough about how sweet she always is too! 

My only concern has always been that Kerri will stop making these awesome towels and my search will start over again! 

Normally this is full.. obviously it's laundry day.

You can find Athena Creates in the following places: 

~Shop- Bird-E towels on Etsy 
~If you live in the Jacksonville, FL area you can find her at the Riverside Arts Market 
 ~Athena Creates Facebook

Athena Creates has graciously offered to giveaway a set of 26 Bird-E towels with your choice of thread color to one of our amazing friends! This giveaway will open on 8/19/2013 and close on 8/23/2013 at noon. 

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