I came across this little design studio in Vancouver that is making cute, 100% organic cotton handkerchief. Hank and Cheef can also custom make handkerchiefs for weddings corporate events and promotions.
A Little Bit of History
Kleenex was intended as a facial removal tissue at first. It became a handkerchief substitute later when some employees with allergies at Kleenex started to use the disposable tissues.
Let face it, handkerchief should never be used in our modern societies to blow your nose. What about our other facial little cleanup needs?
In Our Daily Life
We use disposable tissues for things that we could do with a piece of cloth. So maybe for these facial tasks, we could envision a more eco-friendly alternative. People with allergies and parents with young children will find them useful for drying the tears.
I am not ready to do it at this point. Maybe at some point, handkerchiefs will become fashionable as the reusable shopping bags. I cannot predict.
One thing for sure is that if you want to try the experience, Hank and Cheef makes it easy for you. The current collection is split in 7 themes. Each handkerchief on a pack display a different illustration. You can distinguish them all the time. Everything is designed, printed and sewn in Vancouver, BC. The patterns are cute, modern and fun.
What do you think of this product? Do you think the eco-friendly movement will revive the handkerchief?
>>> Sourcing:
Buy online: Organic Cotton Handkerchief at Organically Hatched – price: $39.99 CAD for box of 7
Learn more: Hank and Cheef – navigation is at the bottom of the page
Via: Sustainable Sniffles [Savvymom.ca]
Fanfan
May 8, 2008 at 19:49They are so cute to display as decoration. I won’t use them when a have a cold.
I like very much when you talk about canadian product.
Martina
January 3, 2009 at 02:08This may sound weird, but I would even use those to blow my nose. I was raised using cloth handkerchiefs as a child and am now considering going back to that alternative, as gross as it may sound… And there’s nothing better to make something feel and look better than a cute design 🙂
cathy
April 22, 2009 at 18:41I ordered some of these, and I am TOTALLY going to use them to blow my nose! Why not?
Danielle
November 7, 2009 at 01:20Why not blow your nose? Throw ’em in the wash and they’re good to go. The Green movement won’t get very far if people are so easily swayed by any “ick” factor. Re-use. The word itself is the very epitome of ick acceptability. Don’t want to clean your “icky” toilet, grab a Lysol wipe. Don’t want to touch a smelly dish cloth – dampen a paper towel. Don’t want to touch a snotty rag – grab a kleenex. Let’s face it folks – humans are icky. We can’t help that we create some serious filth. And until the day comes when we wake up and soak our bodies in baths of Purell, we’re going to stay that way. The sooner we acknowledge this, the sooner we can take this important green movement to the next level. Long live the hanky! Otherwise, you can go blow it out your nose.
Mel
March 24, 2010 at 14:19Why exactly should handkerchiefs not be used in our modern society? I personally have no problem using one (if you can carry a pack of Kleenex in your purse, you have space to replace it with three good-sized hankies), and I know many who also have no problem with it.
To properly use a hankie, just blow your nose on different sections until you’ve used all the clean “corners”. Then go for a fresh one! Not gross at all. Gross will be in time when we’ve used up all of our resources and are blowing our noses on our sleeves because we’re out of trees!
Diane
May 17, 2010 at 17:40Thank You! Thank You! Glad I’m not the only one that is jumping onboard with the hankerchief. I’m making my own, but will definitely check out Hank and Cheef…thanks for providing this forum and thanks for the site. When did we become so lazy that we have to grab disposable tissues? And tissues are just a start…look at all the overpackaged products we’ve gotten accustomed to using. I will have a stack in the bathroom and just use them when needed like we use washclothes. We have to get out of the disposable mindframe we’ve gotten into. I’m even embroidering “Reduce Reuse Recycle” on mine just for fun on my organic cotton hankerchiefs. Use recycled T.P. and paper towels also…it’s a start!