This post was sponsored by P&G as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central. I received complimentary products to facilitate my review.

If you ask what brands I remember having in my home as a child, they would be Charmin, Bounty, Tide, Bounce, and Cascade and my mom’s own ‘brand’ of kids clothing.  I grew up wearing clothes my mom made for me – she didn’t actually have her own line of clothing in stores. 🙂  She was, and still is, a very budget conscious woman but she never compromised on home care products like paper towels and toilet paper and now that I’m a mother, some 30+ years later, I wouldn’t dream of it either.

REWIND 30+ YEARS

My sister and I played outside on our backyard swing set, the ‘old-fashioned’ metal kind – remember those? – and upon trying to enter the house, my mom presented us with a Bounty paper towel and require that we wipe off wet grass stuck to our legs, ankles and sneakers first.

As a child who grew up in Florida, one of my favorite pastimes was being a roly poly nurse.  That’s a real career as a 10-year-old, didn’t you know?   I wasn’t aware then that roly polies lived in other states as well and it was my assumption that they only existed in my backyard thus it was my responsibility to make sure they didn’t go extinct.  My job was to assess the health of roly polies on our back porch and for those that had something attached to them like a piece of hair or spider web, which would hinder their movement, I gently moved the multi legged bug to the roly poly hospital which was made of a few long lines of Charmin toilet paper for triage and paper towel lined shoe boxes for their after-stay.  I’m sure my mom loved my alternative use for toilet paper.   I gently set the cute little bugs, of which there were dozens at any given time, on the toilet paper then very carefully removed whatever was stuck to the bug so it could move about freely again.

FAST FORWARD 30+ YEARS

Jump ahead 30+ years from my days as a roly poly nurse and you’ll find my home filled with P&G Household Needs products just like my childhood home was all those years ago.  I stock up on Charmin Ultra Soft, Bounty Advanced, Mr. Clean Magic Erasers, Tide Pods, Swiffer Dusters, Febreze Air Effects, Cascade Complete Action Pacs, and more, at Costco once a month.

My daughter’s birthday party was a couple weekends ago and I couldn’t have pulled it off nearly as neatly without my favorite Bounty Advanced paper towels.  Let’s just say the ice cream cake situation became a little messy and the dining room table and kids faces were in desperate need of a wipe down after enjoying the cake.  Bounty Advanced was by my side to rescue me from the mess that is stickiness.

Bounty Advanced paper towels are always a part of our craft time setup routine.  When I was a kid, we covered the table with newspaper before starting a craft.  My kids have grown up using paper towels because I realized they not only provide great coverage but quick access to a wiping cloth as well.

When Madelyn recently painted a piece of art for my dad, she relied on Bounty Advanced paper towels to keep the table and her arms and hands clean of paint.  She also used the paper towels to dab extra paint from the canvas and lightly smudge the paint for a textured effect as you see in the painting above.

RECIPE FOR A NON-DISASTER CRAFT TIME WITH MULTIPLE KIDS

During playdates, Madelyn and her friends like to get crafty.   Not the mess-free kind of craft like needlepoint or crocheting – duh!   They go all out and line the craft table with paint, bowls of water, glue, and glitter.  Then, just as any carefree child does, they paint pictures, shake glitter on the freshly painted works of art, after applying a glob or two of glue.   So, the recipe you ask?

•        Bounty Advanced paper towels
•        Tape

I line the craft table with paper towels, making sure to have enough to go over the edge of the table, then tape the paper towels down in a few spots along the edge.  That’s it.  What a difference this makes during clean up time.  The kids think it’s fun to bundle up the paper towels at the end of craft time and toss them in the garbage.   It’s the little details in P&G’s Bounty Advanced paper towels that make them different from other brands.   Bounty Advanced paper towels are stronger than any other brand of paper towels I’ve tried, ever.

When it comes to toilet paper I can’t imagine using any other toilet paper than Charmin Ultra Soft, the widest toilet paper available from Charmin.   My husband and son especially appreciate the how wide the paper is and I appreciate that the extra fluff which means we use 4 times less toilet paper on average.  The super-soft texture and fluff of the paper is just what’s needed when dealing with ‘that’ area.  My daughter comments about the yucky toilet paper in restaurants and other public restrooms.  What’s the solution to that?  Bring toilet paper in a zipper bag!  They are so used to Charmin’s ultra-soft feel; there’s no going back!

Cascade Complete Action Pacs are a staple in my house.  I can skip the pre-rinsing step before putting dishes in the dishwasher.  My kids *really* appreciate this as they don’t understand why a dish or pot would ever have to be rinsed before putting it in the dishwasher, so they don’t!   Now my kitchen smells clean and fresh every time the dishwasher is run and I know the dishes are going to come out clean and shiny every time!

I am at my Dad’s house in my home state of Florida where my P&G product attachments and loyalty began so many years ago.   As I write this post I am enjoying a delicious macaron served to me on none other than a Bounty Advanced paper towel.

We don’t realize how often we use everyday household products for reasons other than what they’re intended for.  Not things like Cascade which should only be used as directed, but paper towels and Swiffer Dusters are game for creativity in my house!  I left the Swiffer Dusters out last night and found Madelyn ‘dusting’ her LEGO city, AKA pretending the duster was attacking the city, this morning.  Below is a GIF I made from three of the photos I snapped while she was playing with the Swiffer.  She insists she was actually dusting her LEGOs at first.  Whatever it takes, right?

P&G has been a part of my life for at least 35 years, the years I can remember, and will continue to help my family, our dishes, and our clothes, stay clean for years to come.   Being able to stock up on my favorite P&G products in bulk at Costco is fabulous.  My mother and I go to Costco together sometimes and we walk out looking like P&G ambassadors preparing to film a P&G commercial.

When I’m home I probably use a P&G product every couple of hours and chances are, you do to! Besides the obvious, there are creative ways to use some P&G products including making cute flowers out of Bounty Advanced paper towels with food coloring and pipe cleaner.  Gently dampen a paper towel with colored water, lay the paper towel flat, pick the paper towel up by the center of it letting the four corners droop down toward the table, then twist a pipe cleaner around the portion that you picked up, making it the center of your flower.   Let dry.

I’ll end with this photo; one I took last week during a visit with my dad and stepmom in Florida.   The feet in the photo are mine, my daughter’s and my dad’s.  The blanket we’re laying on is one my sister and I used during our childhood in Florida.  This goes to show how we rely on and find comfort in the things we grew up around even if we didn’t appreciate them nearly as much as children, including toilet paper and paper towels.  🙂

Find these and other P&G Household products at Costco!