To be annoyed when people dry their hands on the tea towel

[clapback]

Is it just me does this bother anyone else?

They're for drying dishes not for drying hands!

YANBU = Dishes only
YABU = Dishes, hands, who cares?

My mum has teo separate towels but she leaves them there for weeks. I change the towels in the kitchen daily but I don't prescribe what they are used for.

I once saw my grandmother (a farmer) grab a tea towel off the hook and dry the dog's paws with it. Then she hung it back on the hook. Obviously as soon as she wasn't looking I quietly dropped it in the bin, but I very much doubt it was the first time she'd done it. I wish I could be more like that, because she was 95 when she died, but Jesus - the thought of it!

I don't have a towel in the kitchen, that's what the t-towel is for

We have a hand towel on the radiator in the kitchen and tea towels for dishes and picking up hot things.

A tea towel is traditionally for dishes. Americans call them dish towels for a reason. Some of the thicker ones are difficult to distinguish from hand towels though.

we had separate towels in the kitchen growing up but we didn't have a dishwasher, now we have a dishwasher the kitchen towel isn't used for dishes, just for drying hands/surfaces or lifting hot things.

If you're drying your hands, surely you've washed them, so they're clean?

I know it was a typo, but it made me laugh. I had a vision of you frying your plates.

Dishes that can't go in the dishwasher are washed and left to drip dry.

Tea towels are used for lifting hot things, I hate oven gloves too clunky.

Hand towels for drying hands.

The dog gets his own towel for paws 😂

Towels changed at least twice a week, I cook a lot.

So, if you've used a tea towel to dry something you would then put that towel down and pick up a different hand towel to dry your hands rather than just use the same towel which is literally in your hand?

Surely if you're using a tea towel to dry an item, your hands get dried at the same time, if not completely, but some of the hand water will go on the tea towel.
What is the concern with using the same towel?

Needless to say I do not have different towels. I don't have a dishwasher. I mostly leave things to dry in the rack, but if I need something I'll dry it.
The same towel get used for general kitchen use.

That said, by some MNer's standards we are in the gutter with our towel usage; we don't have separate towels for showers and use them multiple times. We are clean, wash frequently, have no health conditions or skin complaints and generally pretty robust.

We rarely use ours for drying dishes and don't have a dishwasher. If dishes are washed in hot enough water they dry very quickly on the dish rack anyway, without need of a tea towel.

I have two hooks, one is for a proper hand towel for hand drying, the other for tea towels which are used for everything else. We have 4 times the amount of tea towels to hand towels. No one uses a tea towel to dry their hands as the hand towel is right next to it.

Assuming you wash your hands properly, does it matter. Anyway my dishes dry in the dishwasher

I buy the guest sized towels in John Lewis for this, so there is always one in the kitchen for drying hands.

We have a lot of muddy hands from gardening/playing in the garden that get washed in the kitchen sink, so the towel gets more use than the tea towels as almost everything gets put through the dishwasher.

Where in the kitchen do people put all of these towels?

I've always used a tea towel to dry my hands and washing up if necessary
Usually leave it in rack to dry though
Don't see a problem as hands are washed anyway

We have a hand towel and a teatowel but tbh if I need to I will grab the latter if it's nearest and I just quickly need to dry my hands.They have usually just been in warm soapy water anyway so can't see it's a big deal.Plus I change the tea towel at least daily.

Agree with this

Tea towel for dishes and hand towel for hands

No matter where you live, it’s important to keep kitchen towels clean and safe from harmful bacteria. Think twice before you dry your hands with a kitchen towel and never dry dishes with a used one

www.statefoodsafety.com/Resources/Resources/what-s-hiding-in-your-hand-towel

Link to the study:

www.researchgate.net/publication/288439550_Bacterial_occurrence_in_kitchen_hand_towels

Anytime I enter the kitchen I am met with around 17 discarded tea towels in various states. I end up having to put them all in the wash as I have no idea if they have been used for dishes, spills, pets, hands, snots etc.. Everyone just seems to take a new one from the drawer, use it for something and then leave it on the counter. Just put 8 in the washing machine there now and it's only lunchtime so they have appeared since after dinner last night.

Tea towels in my house are purely for drying hands, carrying hot plates or bowls through to the other room, and mopping up spills. I've never dried crockery with a tea towel.

By the measure of some Mumsnetters it's an absolute miracle I'm still alive... 😂

I was just thinking that all of us on here who use tea towels to dry our hands are still here to tell the tale so it can’t be all that bad!

For what it’s worth I don’t think it’s likely to cause much harm, assuming you aren’t immunocompromised. I just find it disgusting. In the same way I find someone not washing their hands disgusting, or drying plates with a used bath towel.

YANBU - we have tea towels (for dishes) and hand towels for hands. Never the twain shall meet.

It’s pointless asking on MN though because it turns out that most people are utter mingers when it comes to laundry and washing up. Especially dog owners. They have an attitude of ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’

I prefer boil washed and minimal bacteria to remove all doubt!