The Brilliant Way To Repurpose A Paper Towel Tube For Storage

You might want to start saving your empty paper towel tubes because there is a brilliant way to reuse them so that they don't end up in a landfill, but serve a useful function in your home — keeping linens free of wrinkles. Since they are made of cardboard, the tubes are biodegradable and will eventually break down, but why throw them away when you can repurpose them to keep your linens wrinkle-free?

If you inherited, purchased, or collect vintage tablecloths, you will need to iron them because the material is likely to be one that wrinkles easily. Newer napkins, placemats, table runners, and tablecloths are usually made of blends that are less likely to wrinkle, but you still could encounter wrinkles here and there when you grab them from a drawer or closet. Wrapping them around an empty paper towel tube should minimize that problem. If you're thinking of picking up some cloth napkins at a thrift store before the holidays, wash them, give them a quick press with an iron, if necessary, then roll them around an empty paper towel tube until it's time to set your holiday table.

This paper towel roll hack works best on smaller items, as they're the ideal size for cloth napkins and cloth placemats. The hack also works well with delicate, lacy, vintage doilies, if you happen to have any of those beautiful, often-heirloom items. Wrap your clean, wrinkle-free cloths gently around the outside of the empty paper towel roll, smoothing out any bumps as you go. 

If you have larger items, such as table runners and tablecloths, save your empty wrapping paper tubes, which work perfectly for bigger items. For thinner fabrics, you may be able to wrap two or three cloths together on one roll, but you might risk having a few wrinkles when you unwrap the bundle. Don't wrap the items too tightly, and don't secure them with a rubber band, which would defeat the purpose of keeping the cloths wrinkle-free. When you're finished, stack or store them together in their usual place.