They don't read that this saves you money by "recycling" ugly fabric into something useful. They read that you would rather destroy some fabric rather than giving it away or making something with it.
I am sure those mop pads are expensive, and paint rags are usually cut up cotton fabric anyways. And those paper paint rags are $10 a box but if you go through a lot of them it tends to add up.

essentially, that's what I do as well.

Our quilt guild holds what we call boutique every so ofter, we take any fabric that we no longer want with a small price attached . We nearly always sell all of it and every one goes home happy with fabric they did not come with. A good way to de-stash.

Thank you for understanding!

We take our unwanted fabrics to quilt class and give it away to each other. Ugly fabric to me just may be beautiful to someone else. We all have different tastes, and all the fabric gets taken home by someone.

There is always an option to make an ugly fabric quilt and donate it for charity, or use it in backing

I chose the option to not use the fabric in any quilting project. After all, it is my fabric. What do you do with your fabric?

its your fabric do what you think is best. mop pads are a great idea.... the water and cleaning soap doesnt care what it attaches it self too..

I think there's a misunderstanding here. From your first post, I thought you couldn't think of anything else to do with fabric you no longer like but trash it, and so people suggested donating it to others who might like it. I have to say, I've passed along a lot of fabric I either never or no longer really liked, and I'm sure there were others who were grateful to receive it.

That said, I don't see that you are trashing your ugly fabric – you are putting it to good use, just in another format than a quilt. I salute you for that! The closest I've come to that is using some scraps to fill a pet bed. I have also, in a fit of cleaning frenzy and frustration, thrown leftovers out, knowing there are people who would love to have them (but knowing I wasn't willing to take the time to offer them up).

I've received lots of donations, some of which was entirely unsuitable even though the donator swore it was all good quilting fabric (beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right?). I've passed along what I could, and I've tossed stuff that I thought was suspect (smelled bad, etc.). If I could put fabric to good use for painting or mopping, I'd do it. If I thought I could make someone happy with it without putting myself out, I'd do that.

It's all good!

tanyal, I don't think anyone means to seem as if they are attacking or criticizing you. Just that as quilters, we all cringe at the thought of good, if ugly, cotton going into other uses than quilting. Especially those of us on limited budgets, as you are.
Myself, I agree that one must do what is best for themselves.
However, lol, when it comes to cotton suitable for quilting, I'd like to make an offer to yourself, and anyone else who needs/uses it for other uses.
I have lots of 100% cotton tshirt scraps, many good sized pieces left from making tshirt quilts. These would make awesome paint rags as well as mop cloths. I will be happy to trade tshirt cotton for quilting cotton, however ugly, with anyone who wants. LOL