AIBU to not want people drying their hands on the tea towel?

[HoveringKestrel]

Hi everybody, long time reader first time poster :)

I wanted to ask this question for a while because it's been flipping over in my mind. My hflat mate, and others, dry their hands in the kitchen, when there is a perfectly good, FLUFFIER towel right next to it!

I even move the tea towel further from the sink so its nearer to the dishwasher, but thats only swapping them around in order so hardly a gigantic shift....but I haven't said anything yet.

Am I being ridiculous that tea towels are NOT for hands?

[LovedayMerryweather]

I don't know if anyone's said this but the solution is to have a hand towel out, then every time you wash up get a clean tea-towel out to use. This used to bother me a lot but I have gradually eased up, especially after getting a dishwasher which means less washing up anyway.

[TheseFoolishThings]

You sound like a proper piece of work OP

[AshokanFarewell]

Hmm I can see both sides. My mum has separate towels so I assumed that was the done thing, but when I moved into uni halls I only had space to hang one towel so I got some terry tea towels which I used as both. My parents use thin cotton tea towels so they wouldn't be that great as a hand towel, or at least would only last a couple of uses before being soaked.

[missmartha]

I have seen my father wipe his mouth with a tea towel.

Yuk, yuk and thrice yuk.

[WitchOfEndor]

When I moved in with DH he used my tea towel and hand towel interchangeably, so we got a dishwasher and he uses the tea towel as a hand towel ( like at his DMs).

[imaginethat]

Oh I hate this too! Makes my stomach churn.

[ScumbagCollegeDropout]

YABU.

A towel's a towel, no matter the word before it.

They are for drying.

[CouthySaysEatChoccyEggs]

Nope, YANBU. My Ex comes round to see the DC's and does this. Drives me batshit.

I solved it by buying more tea towels in a different colour and telling him that they were for him to dry his hands on.

Problem mostly solved now!

[CremeEggThief]

YANBU. It's a disgusting habit. I can't touch other peoples' tea towels at all for this reason. Yuk, yuk, yuk!

[IvanaCake]

I'm with you op. Misuse of tea towels and hand towels is annoying. Even more annoying is Dh's habit of wiping his dirty hands on the hand towel without washing them first (don't even get me started, my rant would fill the internet.)

As for the idea that tea towels shouldn't be used to dry dishes, surely that's what they're for? take clean tea towel from drawer, dry clean dishes, put tea towel in wash. What's wrong with that?

[trinity0097]

I have one tea towel type towel in the kitchen used almost exclusively for hands as we have a dishwasher!

[princessnumber2]

I have a separate hand towel in the kitchen and don't like people drying their hands on the tea towel. Funnily enough if the towel has gone in the wash or disappeared, it is fine for me to dry my hands on the tea towel (because I am vair clean and hygienic). Other people are not allowed as they can't be trusted to have washed their hands properly.

My 'd'h on the other hand dries the floor with the tea towel when I'm not looking.

[SelfconfessedSpoonyFucker]

Eh, actually sometimes I wipe my hands on a towel, not just dry my hands on one. I would then put it straight in the bucket after using it though.

[HollyBerryBush]

By the logic that you dry your hands on a towel, that implies the hands are wet and have been washed. So exactly why is it unhygenic to dry hands on a tea towel?

If we are being pernikety about it, surely if you dry dishes on a tea towel, if you don't wash your hands before picking up the tea towel, then you are transfering germs to it anyway.

I don't think anyone ever died from drying their hands on a tea towel.

In this house we must use 5 a day, assorted purposes, all back and forth out of the wash. I certainly wouldnt be fannying about with a different hand towel.

I have to say, tea towels on dishes is minging. Dishes should air dry if you aren't using a dishwasher.

[SelfconfessedSpoonyFucker]

I would prefer they would and then I change the towel frequently because of it. I think that is way more hygienic. Damp dishtowels sitting around getting grubbier and grubbier only being used to dry up. Ew. Use it to dry up, dry your hands on it, wipe up the splash around the sink then finally spritz cleaner on slop dropped down cupboards by clumsy me kids and then into bucket to be washed and a new one out again so they are all rotated fairly quickly.

[Pobblewhohasnotoes]

We use tea towels to dry hands, plates etc dry on the dish rack.

[DonDrapersAltrEgoBigglesDraper]

YABU, tea towels get rotated every day, so how dirty can they possibly be?

Especially since most dishes air dry...

[Summerblaze]

We have a dishwasher so don't really dry pots on a tea towel so they are only used for hand drying.

However, I don't understand this issue. Clean pots or clean hands, whats the difference.

[Trill]

YAB a bit U, yes

It's better for plates etc to air dry anyway - just leave them on the rack and they will dry by magic (or leave the dishwasher for a little bit after it finishes)

[MousyMouse]

same thing here.

solution: leave only fluffy hand towel out for use.

[RollerCola]

In the Grand Scheme of Life it's not really very important, no-one ever died from wiping their hands on the wrong type of towel. However it is obviously something that irritates you op which is fine, plenty of things irritate lots of people.

After reading the replies though, hopefully you can see why your housemates aren't taking your hints and using the different towels - they just don't see why it matters. It's not that they're massively unhygienic, you may think they are but it really isn't that big a deal.

[bedmonster]

I only have one set of teatowels. Well, I have a pile of about 15 in my cupboard but only have one out. They are never ever used for drying any pots or pans. They are used as an oven glove or for drying hands. I chuck about 2 in the wash every day so are pretty clean. Any drying up of glasses is done with kitchen paper anyway, tea towels (the cotton ones rather than the fluffy type) make things smeary. Yuk.
In short, YAB a bit daft! (in a nice way!)

[OhHullitsOnlyMeYoni]

I meant to add, they don't get as dirty and so aren't washed quite as often.

[OhHullitsOnlyMeYoni]

I think the thing is that tea/dish towels don't tend to get dirty as often as a hand towel would. Any germs from hands not properly cleaned would multiply with the water and then get smeared all over clean plates.
Actually most dish sponges/clothes are meant to be a haven for breeding germs anyway, so maybe it is a moot point.

[EmmaBemma]

I don't use tea towels for drying plates and cutlery etc - air drying is more hygienic (and less effort!) but they do get used for general other kitchen use, including drying of hands. I have two on the go at one time and they go in the wash every couple of days.