Kitchen etiquette

[Tonty]

I need help with kitchen towels, kitchen top wiping, and hand wiping.

We have several hand towels, usually 1 or two are in use at a time. The original idea was for hand wiping after washing the dishes etc but they've somehow doubled down into being used to wipe dry the kitchen top which makes them very manky. To counter this i bought some of those special wipes (the blue and white absorbent towels or there's the multicoloured pack of spongy wipes) for the kitchen. Problem is they get thrown in the sink afterwards and over time because of the moisture from the sink build up an awful odour and can become really rank. So we've gone back to the hand towels.

What does everyone else do/ how do you keep your handtowels just for hands and what do you use to wipe down your kitchen top?? pls mention if you use disposables also how often do you replace your hand towels and how often do you replace the kitchen top wipes whatever you use??

We don't have hand towels. We have a cloth next to our sink that we use to wipe the counters down which gets washed with all the other laundry in the washing machine every couple of days and we dry our hands on a tea towel.

You're seriously overcomplicating it.

Just twigged that perhaps tea towels are also known as hand towels. They get hung up after hand drying so they don't smell damp and we change it every couple of days. I do sometimes dry the counter with them.

We used a sponge to wash dishes, let it dry between uses so it doesn't go gross and change it probably weekly.

Nothing ever smells or goes "manky".

I have a hand towel and a tea towel, both hanging up. Changed every couple of days.

I have cleaning cloths, usually cut up old tea towels or flannels, which are used with cleaning products on sink and counter tops. These are washed through and hang up on a line under the sink, so they dry and don't get manky. They get chucked in the wash when I think they need it.

I have a microfibre cloth for wiping down the sink and counter tops after cleaning or after washing up. This is on a rail on the inside of the under sink cupboard door, so it dries and doesn't get manky. It gets washed and hung overnight on the tap every couple of days

I use a sponge for washing up, along with a brush and some steel wool. These dry out on a dish on the window sill. I change it regularly and use soap to clean it in between.

This looks really complicated, now I've written it all out! But it really isn't

We have e cloths for wiping cooker top, worktops and sink. Hang it over the tap to dry and change every other day generally. Wash them once a week.

Have different coloured hand towel and a tea towel that hang on hooks so they don’t start to smell and they also get changed every other day or as necessary.

I see hand towel and tea towel as synonyms of each other but seems people are talking about different things. I'll google both. @WhistleBlower8 your routine sounds exactly the same as what we do. Can i ask how many hand/tea towels do you use a week?

“they've somehow doubled down into being used to wipe dry the kitchen top which makes them very manky.”

So put them to the wash. If I use a tea towel for wiping things down, then it goes straight to the wash even if I’ve only got it out half an hour before. I do have to have strong words with DH about it, who does awful things like putting a used tea towel on the radiator “because it’s damp” - PUT IT TO THE WASH!!! Tea towels are notorious, along with kitchen cloths, for being harbingers of bacteria, so mine go to the wash at the end of every day if not before.

My hand towel is made of towelling - the clue is in the name! My tea towel is linen or a cotton/linen mix. I have some lovely colourful printed ones. The crucial requirement is to be able to dry a glass without smearing. You get "glass cloths" in linen. Imagine drying a glass with a hand towel?

Hand towels in our kitchen are like bathroom towels. They are only to be used for drying hands and are changed daily but I do have more than 7 so if very damp they are changed out.

Tea towels we have lots and we use them to dry stuff whether that is from emptying the dishwasher or drying the worktops. They are swapped out all the time during the day.

We have a lot of microfiber dishcloths that we use for washing things, cleaning work surfaces, wiping the top of a jar if it is messy before putting a lid back on, wiping up spills on the floor and cleaning the sink. We go through lots of these daily as they are used for many things.

When we change any of the kitchen cloths or towels they are put in a large plastic tub (Ikea Sortera) in our utility. They are washed with dettol laundry every week and tumble dried so all bacteria is killed.

@SpotsOfTheDots agree. When we empty the dishwasher it is with a tea towel in one hand to absorb the drips. Also, I buy 100% cotton dishcloths by the dozen to wipe sides etc.

The dishcloth won't get manky if you change it every day or put it in disinfectant in the sink every night and switch it every few days.

Exactly this @sesquipedalian we have two hooks one for the hand towel and one for the tea towel. Took a bit for Dh to get his head round it because his parents put both their towels over the radiator, a radiator which was hardly ever on. If it is damp, swap it out. I do have favourite tea towels too, sad but true. Just so pretty.

Hand towels are different and strictly for drying hands

And tea towels for drying dishes

It's not something I've ever counted but a rough guess would be 3/4, we usually change it every other day or if there's room in the washing machine we'll change it.

Are you letting your cloths/sponges/tea towels dry after use? I've noticed in the winter when ours takes longer to dry they start to smell a lot quicker and usually need changing daily. This time of year you can put them outside in the evening after washing up and they're dry within 30 minutes.

Thanks for all your comments. I think I need more 'tea' towels, which I call hand towels and swap more during the day, it sounds like most of you have loads.

@WhistleBlower8 Drying of tea towels and sponges is a huge bug bear as DH and ds's never squeeze and put them to hang and dry, so they're usually damp.

In an ideal world I'd have a hand towel for drying hands, a tea towel for drying crockery, cutlery and worktops (ie worktops which are clean but wet), dishcloths for wiping surfaces and a brush for washing things up which don't go in the dishwasher.

The reality of my kitchen is somewhat different but maybe one day....

We have a massive drawer of tea towels and reusable dish cloths. Depending on what is happening the are thrown in the wash. Sometimes they get used for a short time then washed or a few days if they haven't had to do much work.

I use microfibre cloths, and just rinse them in soapy water.

I ve never thought of using microfibre cloths for wiping down in the kitchen, I use them mostly for dusting and have quite a few, so thanks for that tip.

Wet/damp kitchen cloth for wiping surfaces. Occasionally dry wipe with a tea towel /hand towel, mostly just leave it air dry. Replace once a week, not a very busy kitchen.

Why would you need to wash a clean damp teatowel? Just let it dry?

Washing-up sponges, cloths, tea towels and handtowels - they all need to be hang to dry in between uses, obviously. They would smell if left wet.

I find sponges don't last that long in our house. So I bought some decent dishcloths and a separate scourer. Dish cloth used for the wet stuff, tea towels to dry.

At the end of the day chuck the dish cloth and tea towel in utility, bleach if required and when enough has accumulated wash on a hot wash in the washing machine alongside the dusters / fabric mop head / bathroom cleaning cloths etc.

Tea towels and hand towels get changed every day. Sometimes we go through more than one tea towel each day if used for wiping the benches. We use microfibre cloths mostly though , which are also swapped each night for a clean one.