What’s Great About Flour Sack Towels? 25 Creative Uses for Flour Sack Towels

QUICK LINKS:

• Use Towels for Cooking
• Cute and Functional Apron
• Reusable Grocery Bag
• Sack Towel Curtains
• Hair Towel
• Furniture Covers
• Storage and Seals
• Taking Stains out of Fabric and Carpet
• Cloth Diapers
• Window Cleaning
• Dusting
• Drying Dishes
• Replace Paper Towels
• Tea Towel Jewelry
• Homemade Checker Game
• Flour Sack Towel Pillows
• Ombre Dyed Hand Towels
• Tote Bags
• Ottomans
• Gift Wrap
• Gift Bag Filler
• Sack Towel Children’s Skirt
• Kid’s Chef Hat
• Embroidered Wall Art
• Funky Custom Printed Tea Towels

What Is a Flour Sack Towel?

Flour sack towels have been a staple in homes since the early colonial days. During that era, homemakers would wash, bleach, cut and sew bulk flour sacks to repurpose them for everyday uses.

Today, Cotton Creations has revitalized this long-standing practice of flour sack towel crafts with our full line of flour sack towels! Since our flour sack towels are pre-washed, pre-shrunk, absorbent and eco-friendly, it’s no wonder they have become a popular crafting and household item.

You’re probably wondering, “How do I properly use a tea towel?” The answer is that there is no right or wrong way to use a tea towel. You can use tea towels for almost any purpose.

What Is so Great About Flour Sack Towels? The Unique Benefits and Characteristics of Flour Sack Towels

Flour sack towels are suitable for almost any purpose and can make your daily routine easier. Not every towel can do what sack towels can, so you can depend on these cloths to clean up messes, brighten up your living spaces or make fun gifts for your friends and family.

Unique characteristics of flour sack towels include:

• High absorbency
• Soft material
• Lint-free finish
• Lightweight, mediumweight and heavyweight flexibility
• Durable
• Versatile for DIY projects

What Do People Use Flour Sack Towels For?

You can use flour sack towels for a wide array of uses! While you can get creative with how you use this material in your everyday life, the most common purposes of these towels include:

• Cleaning
• Drying
• Cooking
• Serving
• Decorating

For any hobby or daily routine that makes up your life, you can find a use for flour sack towels in every corner of your interests. From affordable and customizable gift ideas to making cooking and cleaning easier, the benefits of this material will keep expanding to fit your everyday activities and needs. 

Here are 25 creative ideas and crafts projects to use these handy towels around your home.

25 Unique Uses for Flour Sack Towels

Flour sack towels can do even more than what we listed above! Here are some unique and fun uses for flour sack towels that you can use daily or gift to others.

Home and Kitchen

For convenient home and kitchen essentials, you can count on flour sack towels to make decorating, cooking and accessorizing more fun.

1. Use Towels for Cooking

Flour sack towels have many uses in the kitchen because they are lint-free and safe to use around food. You can use them as an alternative for cheesecloth or when you need a cloth strainer for recipes. You can also wrap warm rolls in them to keep them warm. Flour sack towels absorb moisture from bread so they do not get soggy.

2. Cute and Functional Apron

Even if you aren’t great at sewing, this apron is a super easy flour sack towel craft. Simply choose a larger flour sack towel and 1 yard of 3-inch-wide ribbon. Center the ribbon on one of the longer sides of the towel. Sew the ribbon to the towel using a running stitch, and you’ve got yourself a cute apron! To jazz up the apron, you can dye the towel or decorate it with rubber stamps before sewing on the ribbon.

3. Simple Reusable Grocery Bag

Making your own reusable grocery bags is green and smart. You can use a sliced apple dipped in fabric paint to stamp patterns onto a plain sack towel. When the paint dries, fold the sack in half so the shorter ends meet. The print should be on the inside. Sew the sides shut, and leave the short end open to form a sack.

Turn the sack inside out so the print is on the outside. Sew the ends of a wide ribbon onto the opening for a handle or strap. Use a ribbon that is 6 inches long for a handle and a ribbon that is 1 yard long for a strap.

4. Sack Towel Curtains

Sack towels are already hemmed, so creating beautiful and durable curtains for your home only takes one step — sew a 2-inch pocket hem along one of the sides to thread a curtain rod through. If plain white isn’t your thing, add pops of color with fabric paint, embroidery or an ombre dye.

5. Use It for a Hair Towel

Flour sack towels make excellent hair towels because they dry quickly and are less likely to cause frizz. After your shower, wrap your wet hair in a flour sack towel and squeeze your hair. The smooth fabric will leave your hair static-free and less frizzy than a terrycloth towel.

6. Furniture Covers

Protect your sofas and armchairs from dust, pet hair and everyday messes with flour sack towels. You can place them on the armrests or the back of couches for extra protection or even sew a few pieces together to create a full furniture cover.

7. Storage and Seals

If you’re a big fan of leftovers, flour sack towels are great for placing over pots, pans and dishes to keep your food covered until you’re ready to eat again.

You can dampen the towel with a little water before wrapping the top of a dish up to properly seal the food for a few hours or days. Wash your towel afterward and repeat!

Cleaning

People often ask: “Are Flour Sack Towels Good for Cleaning”? Yes. Flour sack towels are suitable for cleaning any area of your home with ease. Check out these cleaning uses with flour sack towels.

8. Taking Stains out of Fabric and Carpet

Taking stains out of carpets works great with flour sacks because they are undyed, absorbent and lint-free. Spray the stain with a 3:1 water-vinegar solution. Place the dry flour sack towel onto the stain and place a warm iron over it until the flour sack absorbs the stain.

9. Cloth Diapers

Sack towels make great cloth diapers because they are so absorbent and soft. Plus, they have no dyes or chemicals that may irritate a baby’s delicate skin. Check out this step-by-step guide on folding cloth diapers.

10. Window Cleaning

The absorbent, lint-free material of sack towels makes cleaning your windows quick and easy. You can enjoy a streak-free shine on your windows, glass doors and windshields!

11. Dusting

Sack towels do not leave any lint behind when you clean surfaces around the home. Their material also makes them great for collecting dust and soot. Just swipe over a dusty area with your towel, wash, and repeat.

12. Drying Dishes and Utensils

You can make washing dishes easier with the help of sack towels. Dry your dishes, silverware and pans with these absorbent and lint-free towels. 

13. Replace Paper Towels With Sack Towels

When you need to wipe away messes, you can use sack towels to clean up stains, spills and everyday messes without wasting paper towels. Flour sacks are reusable, so you can quickly wash the material and use it again when you need it most.

Crafts

If you love DIY projects, look at these creative flour sack towel crafts.

14. Tea Towel Jewelry

If you have a vintage printed tea towel and want to make something one-of-a-kind without a sewing kit, this project is for you. Purchase some clear glass cabochons — these look like marbles cut in half — E-6000 glue and white school glue. You will also need a bail plate, which is a flat piece of metal with a loop on one end. You can generally find these items at your local craft store.

First, find an interesting area of the towel that you would like to use. Lay the cabochon on top of the area and trace around the shape. Cut out along the tracing. Glue the fabric circle to the flat side of the cabochon using white glue so the print is against the cabochon. Next, glue the flat side of the cabochon to the bail plate using the E-6000 glue. String a ribbon or chain through the loop in the bail plate, and you have a stylish necklace!

15. Homemade Checker Game

This craft makes a great game you can enjoy with friends. Make your own checkerboard with a flour sack towel. Start by laying the towel down on a printed, flat surface. Cut a potato into a cube around 2 inches on each side. Using fabric paint or ink, print a checkerboard pattern onto the towel with the potato cube. There should be 32 white squares and 32 black squares — or whatever colors you want to use.

For game pieces, use 12 cabochons — see the craft idea above for a description of what these are — of one color and 12 cabochons of another color. Store your homemade game in the flour sack using string or ribbon to tie the ends together with the pieces inside.

16. Custom Flour Sack Towel Pillows

In only 30 minutes, you can turn plain or decorated flour sack towels into custom pillows for a chair or couch. Fold the towel in half so the print is on the inside of the fold. Sew two of the sides together to create a pocket. Turn the pocket inside out and fill the pocket with stuffing. Sew the open edges of the pocket together, and voila — you have a custom pillow.

17. Ombre Dyed Hand Towel

Ombre is a big decorating trend right now, so why not decorate your own flour sack towel design with an ombre dip dye? All you need to do is add one packet of dye to one cup of salt and four cups of hot water in your kitchen sink. Mix and add a tablespoon of liquid dish soap and two gallons of hot tap water. Dip one-third of the towel into the dye for 10 minutes. 

After the 10 minutes is up, lower the second third of the towel into the dye, and let it sit for five minutes. Finally, lower the whole towel into the dye and let it soak for one or two minutes. Wring out the towel and rinse it with cold water, making sure to hold the lightest colored end under the water so the dye will flow towards the dark area. Wring out the towel and rinse it the same way using warm water. When the water runs clear, wash and dry the towel as usual.

18. Tote Bags

With a few flour sack towels at your disposal, you can create durable tote bags with embroidered designs and pockets. Sew two sack towels together along the bottom and sides to create the bag, and sew another twirled towel to each side to make the handle. You can even use a smaller towel square as a pocket to embroider small designs for added style.

19. Ottomans

Spice up your living spaces with a cute ottoman made from flour sack towels. You can create a repurposed milk crate ottoman with a plyboard on each side. Glue or staple an old cushion to the top of the milk crate and plyboard, and then cover everything with your sack towels. This craft is comfortable and stylish to fit your living room, office space or decorative corner.

Gifts

If you enjoy making creative presents, look at these fun gift ideas with flour sack towels.

20. Gift Wrap

With flour sack towels, you can skip gift wrapping paper. If you have a birthday party coming up, use sack towels to wrap the present. All you need to do is place the gift in the middle of the material and fold the towel over the item like you would with wrapping paper. Tie it all together with a ribbon to complete the present!

21. Gift Bag Filler

If your gifts fit better in a bag, you can use the soft material of flour sack towels as an alternative to tissue paper. Reusable sack towels are thin enough to fit into a gift bag and durable enough to protect any delicate presents. After opening the present, your recipient can use the towel for crafting, cleaning or various other reasons around their home.

22. Sack Towel Children’s Skirt

This adorable skirt will fit children ages 3 to 5. Paint or dye a 28-inch by 29-inch sack towel to your liking. Then, fold one of the long edges over 1 inch and sew it down to create a pocket. Sew the two short edges together and thread a ribbon through the pocket to make a drawstring for the skirt.

23. Kid’s Chef Hat

If your kid is an aspiring chef, you can make them their own chef hat! Using elastic thread, run a running stitch around the edges of a 29-inch by 36-inch sack towel. Pull the thread tight so the fabric gathers. Keep gathering the thread until the hole in the hat will fit on your child’s head. Tie the ends of the thread together. Sew a band of decorative elastic ribbon around the hat’s opening to finish it. Your child can decorate the hat with fabric markers for extra flair.

24. Embroidered Wall Art

This wall art is country cute with a twist. Flour sack towels are easily customizable and don’t unravel, making them an excellent canvas for cross stitch, paint or embroidery. Paint or iron on a printed picture and text to your flour sack towel. With your sewing machine, embroider around the words to make the print look like it is popping off the cloth. Then, center your towel on an art canvas slightly smaller than your towel. Wrap the towel around the canvas and staple the edges of the towel to the back of the canvas’ wood frame using a staple gun.

25. Funky Custom Printed Tea Towels

Want unique tea towels that make a statement? No problem! Cut a cabbage in half, dip the cut side into fabric paint and press it down on the towel over and over. The vegetable will make swirly prints on your sack towels. Black paint on white towels will give you a chic inkblot look.

Get Crafting With Flour Sack Towels Today!

You can start using flour sack towels around your home with a wide selection of customizable options from Cotton Creations! Create beautiful designs and print phrases on your towels that match your home’s aesthetic with a click of a button.

With our affordable wholesale pricing, you can buy bulk flour sack towels for all your cleaning, crafting and gift-giving needs.

Explore our flour sack towel options today to find the perfect style for you.

PHOTO SOURCES:

• Shannon Sorensen Designs
• She Likes Purple
• So you think you’re crafty blog
• Country Living