Most paper towels can go in your compost, but not all of them

Plain, unbleached paper towels break down in a compost pile just like other paper products. They are made from wood fibers and will decompose within a few months to a year, depending on your pile's temperature and moisture. The catch is what is on the paper towel when it goes in—food residue, oils, and chemicals matter far more than the towel itself.

Paper towels used to wipe up grease, cooking oil, or butter should not go in most home compost systems. Those fats coat the fibers and slow decomposition. Paper towels that touched raw meat or fish are also risky because they can introduce pathogens that home compost does not get hot enough to kill. The safest rule: compost only paper towels that wiped up water, plant-based food scraps, or dry surfaces.

Key Takeaways

  • Paper towels used to clean up water or dry food scraps can go into your compost pile without issue.
  • Paper towels soaked in cooking oil, grease, butter, or meat juices should go in the trash instead.
  • Bleached paper towels decompose just as fast as unbleached ones, so the color does not matter.
  • Shred or tear paper towels into smaller pieces so they break down faster and mix better with other materials.
  • If your compost pile smells or attracts pests, remove the paper towels and check what else you added recently.

When paper towels are safe to compost

Paper towels that touched only water, plant matter, or dry food are fine to add. This includes towels used to dry washed vegetables, blot spilled water, wipe down counters, or clean up crumbs. They also work if you used them to pat dry fresh herbs, lettuce, or other produce before storing it. These towels add carbon to your pile and help balance nitrogen-rich materials like grass clippings and food scraps.

Tear or shred the paper towels into pieces before adding them to your pile. Whole towels take longer to break down and can clump together, trapping moisture and creating odor problems. Smaller pieces mix more evenly with your other compost materials and decompose faster. You do not need to do this—whole towels will eventually compost—but shredding speeds up the process by several weeks.

Paper towels to keep out of your compost

Do not compost paper towels that wiped up cooking oil, butter, grease, or any animal fat. These substances coat the paper fibers and create a water-resistant barrier that slows decomposition dramatically. In a home compost pile, they may not fully break down for years, and they can attract pests like rats and raccoons that are drawn to the smell of fat.

Paper towels used to clean up raw meat, poultry, or fish should also stay out. Home compost piles typically reach temperatures between 90 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, which is not hot enough to kill pathogens like salmonella or E. coli. Commercial composting facilities reach 140 to 160 degrees and hold that temperature for weeks, which is why they can safely process meat-contaminated materials. At home, throw these towels in the trash.

Paper towels printed with heavy inks or dyes are technically compostable, but some people prefer to avoid them because the inks take longer to break down. Most modern paper towels use food-safe inks that pose no real risk, but if you want to be cautious, stick to plain white or unbleached towels.

How paper towels fit into your compost balance

Paper towels are a carbon-rich material, meaning they help balance the nitrogen-rich items in your pile like grass clippings, food scraps, and plant trimmings. A healthy compost pile needs roughly three parts carbon to one part nitrogen. If your pile smells like ammonia or looks slimy, you have too much nitrogen and adding shredded paper towels can help restore balance.

Do not rely on paper towels as your main carbon source. Leaves, straw, shredded newspaper, and cardboard are more efficient and easier to work with in larger quantities. Paper towels are best used as a supplement—something you add along with other materials rather than as a primary ingredient.

Troubleshooting problems with paper towels in your pile

If your compost pile starts to smell bad or attracts insects after you add paper towels, the towels themselves are usually not the problem. The smell typically comes from something else in the pile—usually food scraps that are too wet or too densely packed. Remove the paper towels if you want to, but also check what else you added recently and adjust the pile's moisture and aeration.

Paper towels that are not breaking down after several months usually means they are stuck in a dry pocket of your pile or buried under material that is not getting turned. Turn your pile more frequently, add water if it is dry, and make sure you are mixing materials thoroughly. Shredded paper towels break down much faster than whole ones, so if you have been adding whole towels, switch to shredding them going forward.

Alternatives if you want to skip paper towels entirely

If you want to reduce the amount of paper going into your compost, use cloth towels or rags for most cleanup tasks and reserve paper towels for jobs where cloth is impractical. Cloth towels can be washed and reused hundreds of times, and they never go into your compost. This approach also saves money over time since you buy far fewer paper towels.

For tasks where you do use paper towels, composting the safe ones means less trash going to the landfill. Even if you only compost the water-soaked and dry-food towels, you are diverting a small but real amount of material from waste.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I compost paper towels with mold on them?

Yes. Mold is a sign that decomposition is already happening, and it will not cause problems in your compost pile. Mold thrives in the same conditions that help compost break down, so moldy paper towels actually decompose faster than clean ones.

What about paper towels used to clean up spills from the kitchen sink?

If the spill was just water or plant-based food scraps, the towels are safe to compost. If the water contained grease from washing dishes or meat residue, treat them like oil-soaked towels and put them in the trash instead.

Do I need to remove the cardboard tube from the paper towel roll before composting?

The cardboard tube is compostable, but it takes longer to break down than the paper towels themselves. You can add it whole or tear it into pieces. Many people prefer to remove it and compost it separately or recycle it, just to speed up the overall decomposition process.

Will paper towels attract rats or other pests to my compost?

Plain paper towels do not attract pests on their own. The problem comes when they are soaked in grease, oil, or meat residue—those smells draw rodents and raccoons. As long as you keep oily and meat-contaminated towels out of your pile, paper towels will not increase pest activity.

Can I compost paper towels that have bleach or cleaning products on them?

No. Paper towels used to clean with bleach, disinfectant, or other chemicals should go in the trash. These products can kill the microorganisms that drive decomposition and may persist in your finished compost, affecting plants you grow with it.