Tea towels - how do you wash yours?

[TyneTeas]

Do people wash them separately or stick them in with an ordinary wash?

I always do mine separately, but it means they are hanging around until I have a few to do.

I'm not sure whether everyone segregates things that go on bodies from things that go on things that food goes on or if I am being a bit ridiculous...

@TimeTruthandHearts

I afix them to rocks on the river bed for a day or two, before then bashing them with stones against natural slate. They're then dried draped across my thighs, letting the natural bleaching agent of the sun do it's magic. I'm just fussy about my laundry.

Thank you for this

I have a separate wash basket in the kitchen to catch tea towels, napkins (we only use fabric napkins), kitchen cloths, microfiber dusters and aprons. All washed on the sterilize cycle which I think is 60c+, when it's full so about every two weeks.

Towels, flannels and bedding are washed on a 50c cycle hardly ever

Clothes on 30c.

Period pants on a separate 30c cycle, with an extra rinse.

My understanding is that certain southern and central Asian cultures have cleanliness customs that keep washing types separate, and that in the UK this pops up via influences from traveler and Romani communities because their roots are Indian (iirc). Not sure how true that is but I have read that

60 degrees with towels and flannels once a week.

I find it amazing how much planning must go into things like this. Do you have 17 different laundry baskets for all the types of laundry you do?

It is a washing machine. Its function is to wash. Anything that goes in comes out as clean as everything else. It really doesn't matter what is in there.

Besides, how dirty do tea towels get? They are for drying already clean things.

I wash towels and cleaning cloths together on hot. White stuff and coloured stuff gets separated and washed at 40. Beyond that, I don't care, my clothes smell clean and I get sick about once a year if that, so I assume it's working fine.

I’m another hot wash with the towels person.

"My understanding is that certain southern and central Asian cultures have cleanliness customs that keep washing types separate, and that in the UK this pops up via influences from traveler and Romani communities because their roots are Indian (iirc). Not sure how true that is but I have read that"

Personally I think it comes from the belief that the more chores you make for yourself, the better you are womaning. Some people aren't happy unless they are washing each article separately in its own laundry bag, rinsed 50 times and hand dried by fairy wings.

My husband washed everything in one load for years before we met. He survived (and isn't a scruff by any means).

I wash them with the towels

I’m in my sixties and have spent all my life chucking tea towels randomly in with the rest of my washing because I have had more interesting things to think about. I have survived. When worrying about my sluttishness I console myself with the belief that if a global pandemic comes along my immune system will be in tip-top condition.

My sentiments exactly! As I said I stick them in with the towels, but if I forget they go in with anything else. There seems to be a lot of over-thinking among the MN set.

@HopelessSemantics

"My understanding is that certain southern and central Asian cultures have cleanliness customs that keep washing types separate, and that in the UK this pops up via influences from traveler and Romani communities because their roots are Indian (iirc). Not sure how true that is but I have read that"

Personally I think it comes from the belief that the more chores you make for yourself, the better you are womaning. Some people aren't happy unless they are washing each article separately in its own laundry bag, rinsed 50 times and hand dried by fairy wings.

My husband washed everything in one load for years before we met. He survived (and isn't a scruff by any means).

Yep, I used to wash all together when I lived alone. It doesnt really matter that much, and does save time.

My caveat on that is that was raised in a subtropical climate where bedbugs and other vermin become an issue when hot washes aren't used at least sometimes. I have been crawled on by bedbugs

I now live with DP and he does all the washing, we use his system. I'm in charge of the kitchen wash which I started because I love having ultra crispy, ultra scented kitchen stuff. I also do my period pants because they have special washing instructions and if he fucks them up they are really expensive to replace

Mine go in the nappy wash (60 long wash) at the moment.
Otherwise they go in any wash.

I chuck them into a bucket, when I've got a few I soak them overnight in Vanish. They then get washed with other light stuff.

Many years ago I sat in someone's kitchen and watched her baby's terry nappies going round in the machine with her DH's Work jeans. The image has shaped my washing habits ever since.

I have lots of tea towels. They are used for drying dishes, wiping up toddler mucky fingers and various spills and husband often uses them to wipe things on tables so they get mucky. Adopt the approach that restaurants have of use them for everything- so get through quite a few a day.

Keep a bag in the kitchen that tea towels and microfibres cloths go in and wash those separately.

Things that come out of the machine don’t come out clean (certainly not after a 30* wash).

If that was the case, there wouldn’t be special advise for laundry for sick people and in hospitals etc.

I don’t mix clothes that touch your body- incl bedding and towels and tea towels. At least I try not to - sometimes things do get mixed up for expediency or it’s a small load.

Trying to manage decent size loads and keeping things separate to not mess up fabrics and for cleanliness is a bit of a pain.

But I once was really really really annoyed when my mil washed 4 tea towels in a separate load with a pair of boxer shorts. I thought it was the height of pointlessness (tiny load!!!) and gross (I don’t care how well you clean, underwear has fecal bacteria on it) with something that I use to dry washed vegetables etc. But mentioning that to friends made me realise that most people have the ‘bung it all in’ approach to washing.

Don’t forget the monthly ‘wash machine at hottest temp empty or nearly empty’ cycle for machine maintenance. Especially important if you wash (as I did for a long time) nappies or reusable sanitary items.

I have a bin in the kitchen to store the dirties. It has a lot of holes so it gets plenty of air circulation. When I have enough for a full load in the washer, I do kitchen laundry on the sanitary cycle.

Yes but my washing doesn't need to be "sanitised", I am washing for a family, not a hospital.

How do people cope with life being so terrified of germs?

I do mine on a 90 degree wash, on their own.
Many years ago, when my children were little, I used an ancient top loader with mangle attached. The boil wash really boiled, great for nappies and tea towels. The mangle was fun. I dare say the setup would be considered horrifically dangerous now.

@Ditheringdooley I don't live in a hospital though.

What do you think is going to happen if a pair of boxer shorts touches a tea towel?

@Ditheringdooley - we don't bother with the monthly wash cycle at 4000 degrees but put that machine out on the pavement and just buy a new one. I don't understand why everybody doesn't do this.

Your washing machine doesn't really need to kill bacteria, it just needs to jiggle them all off whatever is washing and then rinse them away down the drain. They're still gone.

Washed with the dishclothes once a week, so seven teatowels and seven dishclothes on a 75 cycle.

I had a young baby when I started this approach, and it doesn’t complicate my life to do this much (I work full time and otherwise try to limit amount of time on housework!) and I feel better that my tea towels have not been hanging out with anyone’s undercrackers.

Monthly high temp wash is recommended by washing machine manufacturers and people who sell nappies. Hard to remember to do to be honest but since doing it my machine never smells funky and sometimes it did before - probably not keeping the seal at the front dry!

With towels.

Or DH's clothes

With towels at 60 degrees.

@HopelessSemantics - not suggesting anyone needs to. My point is just that 30* wash doesn’t kill everything as most have stated.

For most people, most times, it isn’t an issue. If you have someone immuno compromised at home it may be though. And there is difference between saying this is clean, but not sanitised (but I don’t care) and this is sanitised.

For those who use tumble dryers it’s also less impt as I think that does kill a lot of stuff- because I’m tight and eco friendly I either dry stuff outside or inside on dryers.

I don't think anyone said anything about 30 degree washes killing anything. They just said that they wash things at that temperature.

@isabellerossignol I’m not sure- I think some people probably do think that.

Regardless, the OP asked what people do and I explained what I do and why. Not suggesting anyone else needs to follow it. I think if you only own less than a dozen tea towels its not worth it- I’ve got loads so that never need to use a damp one (which does spread germs) and get through several a day,

Separately at either 60c or a boil wash