Many years ago, a fellow mom of many shared with me how to create a travel toothbrush holder from a hand towel. I was so thrilled, I quickly whipped up my very own and have been using it ever since.
It is perfect because you can customize how many toothbrush slots you need, it’s large enough for a large family, and it is washable!
I’ve wanted to share this easy sewing project with all of you, but kept forgetting to take photos. Recently, I decided to go ahead and make a new one that was a little larger to accommodate our growing family. Perfect time to take photos and encourage you to make your own!
I think I had 4 children when I made the green one. As you can see, the new towel I chose is much longer. Now, the green one still fits us (barely), but with a new baby on the way, I thought I might as well upgrade while I had the chance.
Supplies Needed:
-1 hand towel
-1 30″ length of ribbon
-pins
-Sewing machine
Instructions:
1. Fold hand towel about 2/3 of the way up lengthwise and pin in place.
2. Sew along the folded edges to create a long “pocket”.
3. Fold towel in half to find center of long side and put a pin in the center to mark your place. Then, measure 1 1/2″ on either side of that center pin and pin there to mark.
4. Sew a straight line up the pocket from each of these pins to create a 3 inch center pocket to hold your toothpaste and dental floss.
5. Next, based on the size of your toothbrushes, sew more straight lines on either side of the center pocket to accommodate your toothbrushes. I’ve found that 1 1/2 inches is just about right.
6. Now you need to add a ribbon to one of the outside edges as a way to tie your toothbrush holder when it is rolled up. First, cut 30 inches of ribbon. Then, fold the ribbon in half and pin halfway up the back of the towel on the edge that seems most natural to you. (I naturally roll my toothbrush holder from the right to the left, so my ribbon is on the left hand edge.)
7. Sew ribbon in place and test drive your toothbrush holder!
Whenever we travel, we use this toothbrush holder and just throw it in my bag. Because it is a towel, it soaks up any water that may get on it being near the sink. Once home, we just pull all the toothbrushes and toothpaste out and throw it in the washer. I truly think you will love yours as much as I love mine!
Ashleigh Langhein says
Brilliant idea! I’m going to make one for myself from a face cloth (since I’m a family of 1).
Jillian says
It’s so funny that you have this. While on vacation early this year, I thought that keeping everyones toothbrush head in a separate ziploc bag would be a good idea. Turns out it was a slimy gross mess. I knew we couldn’t do that again! This is so perfect!! Thanks!!!
tamela says
Super neat idea, Thanx for sharing and showing the steps to take to make our own. My Mom made all us children slippers out of wash clothes… always a hoot on a freshly waxed wood floor!!!
Allison says
This is a great idea! Love it!
Kelly says
Genius! We’re going out of town this weekend and I’m going to see if I can squeeze in time to whip one up before then. Thanks for the great idea!
Rhoda says
Great idea. I always just keep an extra set of toothbrushes (in their own travel holders) in a zip lock bag for travelling. This would be so much nicer and probably easier to find in the cabinet than the forever missing and getting messed up, scrunched, and torn bag.
Josi says
Just showed this to my 13 year old daughter who loves to sew. She likes the idea of making an individual one from a washcloth as a gift to give to friends.
Also I’m thinking the “washcloth slippers” mentioned above would be brilliant for the kids to all use together as a fun way to mop the floor!! Could get a little wild but they would probably be quick to sign up for the job! 🙂
Nicole DeLeon says
What a great idea! Much better than throwing them all in a big Ziploc bag. Thanks for sharing!
Kayla says
Awesome idea! Plus no one would ever forget their toothbrush because there would be an easy to see empty spot! I have seen these for art brushes and things….but hadn’t thought of something practical! Love it. We take a lot of road trips to see family and it is always interesting to see who actually remembered to bring their toothbrush despite numerous reminders from mom about grabbing it! This will definitely help!!!!
Francine says
Cute idea! I have a few “germa phobes” in my large family and am wondering how you keep the toothbrush heads from touching when it’s rolled?
Thanks!
Carrie*Lynne says
one idea would be maybe put them in upside down ??
I am thinking these would make nice homemade CHRISTmas presents
Amy says
That is brilliant! thank you!
Tracy says
Carrie*Lynne, You beat me to it. 🙂 I absolutely plan to make this and put our toothbrushes upside down in it, too! Thank you for posting this Great Idea, Amy! Our family loves to travel, when we can, and I’ll be using a hand towel, too, as #6 is on the way. I rarely comment, but “stalk” your blog regularly. 🙂 I am praying for you during this pregnancy.
sunshinemary says
This is so clever! I’m going to try this. I love your household tips; I tried one that you posted a while back about using pretty washcloths as cloth napkins.
Maria says
I LOVE this. Am going to make one and suggest to my daugter to try out the sewing machine with this as well :-DDD
Very cute and practical!
Kristin says
Thanks for this! I was packing up for a camping trip and trying to decide how to pack the toothbrushes. Usually I just put them in a ziplock and they get all gross and messy. Then I remembered your tutorial. I have way too many towels, so it was perfect and it only took me about 10 minutes. Thanks so much!
Sarah Dickison says
Having 7 children, I have a difficult time storing our tooth brushes at home. We tried using a huggies wipees box. But it feels unsanitary. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you.
Amy says
We use a mason jar. No, probably not the most sanitary, but they are going to end up sharing germs no matter how “careful” I am. :-/
Sarah Dickison says
Wow ! Thank you for responding so quickly. I’ve not thought of using a mason jar. How do you keep the littles from breaking it on accident ?
Amy says
Hmmm…I don’t know. Maybe because we have toothbrushing partners until the littles are about 6 or so, so their partner gets the toothbrush out. 😉