Series

The fabulous story... of the paper handkerchief

Ideal companion for wiping out a big grief, having a meal on the go, or dusting © Mouche / RFI

Text by: Bastien Brun

6 mins

This common consolation object has become a symbol of the disposable.

Appearing in the mid-1920s in the United States, the paper handkerchief supplanted its fabric competitor in Western countries.

But the small square of immaculate white, acclaimed for daily hygiene, is disputed for its harmful consequences on the environment.

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It is such a familiar object that we forget its presence in every moment of everyday life.

The perfect companion for blotting up a big heartbreak, grabbing a meal on the go, or dusting, the paper handkerchief slipped into girls' bags and trouser pockets.

Selling

each year in France alone, it “ 

 ”, observes Jean Maillard, former professor of eco-management in high school and author of a scholarly article on the subject

.

And not only to evacuate mucus and other nasal secretions…

Make-up remover cloth

While the handkerchief dates back to Roman antiquity, the paper handkerchief appeared in 1924 in the United States.

Launched by the firm Kimberly-Clark, the

Kleenex uses the cellulose membrane technology that was used in gas mask filters during the First World War.

“ 

 ,” explains Jean Maillard.

The square of white paper became a mass object in the interwar period in the United States.

But it did not find root in French homes until the 1960s. Like the sopalin or the k-way, the term “kleenex” entered everyday language and meant the paper handkerchief.

With him, it is the reign of what we take and which ends, in the best of cases, its race in the trash.

In the science fiction novel

, American author Ray Bradburry compares the plight of the small, disposable piece of paper to that of its human brethren.

Half a century later, " 

 " remains what we forget in the moment for the singer M. " 

 ”, he says, in his song “Bless you”.

wood fibers

Derived from wood, the tissue paper is

.

To produce this pulp, you need cubes of cellulose fiber and recycled paper that are mixed with large quantities of water.

The length of the fibers determines the softness and resistance.

this material, such as chlorine, polluting discharges for the environment, are added.

Dried then, this paste will give large cylinders of a paper of which it is necessary three or four thicknesses to make a handkerchief.

Ultra-soft or ultra-resistant tissues, in boxes or packets, with menthol or eucalyptus, in immaculate white or in colour… Brands have added small innovations to make their mark on the market.

In 1997, the introduction to a symposium entitled "The handkerchief in all its states", which was held at the textile museum of Cholet, regretted that paper handkerchiefs " 

 ”. 

Twenty-five years later, most of the major questions asked by consumers on the Kleenex brand website concern not the use of the product but... the environment.

Deforestation

From 2004, Greenpeace led

 against Kimberly-Clark.

The manufacturer of tissue paper and disposable personal hygiene products (diapers, periodic protection, etc.) is accused by the environmental NGO of participating in the deforestation of the Canadian boreal forest, threatening the indigenous peoples who live there and its fauna .

After five years of fighting in Canada and the United States, including setting up 

 " and a counter-advertising page about this campaign in the

, Kimberly-Clark s is committed to sourcing out of the boreal forests “

 ”, with raw materials that meet the FSC (

) standard.

The manufacturer has also added recycled materials to its products. 

In 2017, a

report pointed to the exploitation of boreal forests in Sweden, Russia and Finland by the Swedish group Essity, which owns the Lotus brand.

Woman blowing her nose at the Hong Kong high-speed train station on Thursday, January 23.

AP - Kin Cheung

Return of the fabric?

The ecological argument is what decided Lucie Cherbonnel to found the

brand in 2019. Based in Orléans, she sells good old fabric handkerchiefs made in France with patterns that "

 ”.

“ 

, she notes.

 »

But the Covid-19 has been there.

Both the World Health Organization and 

have recommended the “ 

” handkerchief to prevent the spread of the virus.

So, Lucie Cherbonnel reviewed her copy;

she pleads for the use of the cloth handkerchief in normal times and the paper handkerchief in the event of flu or coronavirus.

Discussions that would perhaps not have left Serge Gainsbourg so dreamy as that.

When he wrote

for Françoise Hardy, he was only too happy that the Kleenex - of which he always had a box at home - was added to his variations on the word and the rhymes in " 

 ".

► To read also: The fabulous story... 

• pencil

• banknote

• from the tin can

• fork

(1)

Jean Maillard, “The paper handkerchief”, 

, p.

4-7, 1997.

(2) “ 

The handkerchief in all its states”: proceedings of the international colloquium, Cholet, textile museum, 12, 13 and 14 November 1997.

(3) " 

Comment te dire adieu" is the adaptation in French and with yéyé sauce of the song " 

 ", notably sung by Vera Lynn.

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