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?

[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]

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.

[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.

[trinity0097]

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

[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?

[CremeEggThief]

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

[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!

[ScumbagCollegeDropout]

YABU.

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

They are for drying.

[imaginethat]

Oh I hate this too! Makes my stomach churn.

[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).

[missmartha]

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

Yuk, yuk and thrice yuk.

[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.

[TheseFoolishThings]

You sound like a proper piece of work OP

[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.