As I was walking with a friend the other day she commented on how it drives her mad that her husband and children use teatowels for more than just drying dishes.
Getting hot food out of the microwave, drying hands, wiping up spills etc.... were all things that annoyed her.
In her mind a tea towel is for drying dishes only.
It made me think as we use tea towels in our house for all of the things she complained about and yes they do get stained and grimey.

What about you? Is a tea towel a versatile kitchen towel or used only for drying dishes?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2017 02:24AM by helen.

versatile and just change often.

I watched a cooking programme for children once and the chef told the children to always have a tea towel over their shoulder, they would be working with hot dishes and saucepans and the tea towel would help avoid burnt fingers and hands as well as being used for anything where you need to grab a cloth quickly.

Same as Plates here, mostly dishes but versatile, change often.

I use them for many kitchen tasks and tend to have one over my shoulder any time I'm in the kitchen. I never use them for raw meat clean up though and always use a clean one to dry dishes. I use probably 4-6 per day.

My mind is the same as your friend Helen. I have a tea towel for drying dishes and a hand towel for drying hands, hot oven items etc. and yes if I see someone use a tea towel for something other than drying dishes in my heart I want to change the tea towel!
Regards,
Dawn.

Exactly Dawn this is how I use these items.

Totally agree with Marylew, Dawn & Helen's friend - tea towels are for drying dishes only. I have a hand towel for drying hands, a double-ended pot mitt for getting hot things out of the oven/microwave. I use a dish cloth for wiping down benches (I use a dish brush for washing the dishes that don't go in the dishwasher, so the cloth never goes into the sink). Spills on the bench are cleaned up with paper towel and if they are on the floor then the cloth/bucket/mop from the laundry is employed.

All the cloths/towels go into a bucket of pre-wash soaker/degreaser every night after dinner and every two or three days I run them through a 60deg. hot wash and put them on the line to dry.

I'm sure no-one has ever died from cross-contamination resulting from using the same towel for different functions but I know that I do exactly as my mother did and I have never really thought about doing anything differently.

Regards,

Barbara Anne



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2017 09:06AM by Barbara Anne.

Used for all sorts of stuff! But I wash them every couple of days

I do what Heather does except for the soaking bit. However, I also iron my tea towels to kill the last remaining germ.

I have a double-ended pot mitt for hot dishes plus a terry tea towel for hand drying and a linen one for drying dishes and looking pretty (I collect linen ones when I travel).

Tea towel for drying dishes only, hand towel for drying hands only, oven cloths for hot dishes.

I cannot understand how a tea towel could be used to dry clean dishes if it has been used for other general purposes in the kitchen.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/2017 07:33AM by J1.

In most cases, definitely in mine, if a tea towel is used for other purposes then a clean tea towel is used for the actual drying of the dishes.

I rarely dry hand-washed 'dishes' (read also pots, pans, etc). Living alone, I have no objection to leaving hand-washed items to dry in the drying rack covered by a clean tea towel. To me, it's a waste of my time and energy to dry them, unless I desperately need the space, which is rare. Most of my dishes go in the dishwasher, which of course dries them. I do change my tea-towel once a day and it's no problem to drop them straight into a bucket of hot Sard every third or fourth day and they come out sparkly clean after being popped in the washing machine for rinsing and spinning before line-drying in the sun and wind.

Chris I admire you for ironing your tea towels. Mine get 'ironed' as they come off the clothesline - literally I fold and give them a pat and put them in a tea-towel pile as I take them off the line and then put the pile into the h.w.c. I have never thought of ironing them to kill the final germs and your comment has made me stop and think!
Regards,
Dawn.