Comments on: Retro Saturday: Kitchen Towels vs Paper Towels

By: deneicer1

deneicer1 — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:33:16 +0000

I know this is an old post…but here’s my two cents to anyone who may end up reading it. I hate washing the kitchen towels with other clothes of any kind. The kitchen towels tend to have a greasy feeling that just doesn’t ever go and can end up with a bit of a smell. I know I wash them well (which means I wash them in hot water, use a bit of de-greaser, use bleach and even Tide washing soap.)

I just can’t stand to wash them with anything else. I usually toss them in the laundry every day and consequently I have a ton of them.

I wash bath towels together and only with bath towels as well. But, then again; I am very picky and wash everything like with like. My husband calls me the Laundry Queen LOL!

By: Beverly

Beverly — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 14:02:25 +0000

I think bath room and toilet cleaning towels should Definetly be washed separate from face towels ,this is nasty and dish towels should also be washed separately.

By: Debbie

Debbie — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:56:43 +0000

I can’t believe that people wash dishtowels with underwear and bath towels! I’ve been keeping house for 32 years and always wash dishtowels separately. I wait until I have enough for a load and use hot water. Thanks goodness with dishwashers dishes aren’t usually dried with those towels.

By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:02:43 +0000

I too am a big cloth user. Unless I missed it, no one mentions using paper towels made from recycled paper. Also, using paper coffee filters is cheaper than paper towels as spatter covers in the microwave (you can buy them recycled too!)

By: Holly Fisher

Holly Fisher — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:50:21 +0000

I’ve really tried to cut back on my paper towel usage. I just wash my kitchen towels in with regular towels on hot water. I save paper towels for wiping up the counter or my hands after handling something like raw chicken.

I use baby washclothes to wipe my daughter’s hands and face after her always messy mealtime.

I also have two dogs and often need to wipe their paws when they come in the house after it has rained or if it’s damp outside. I use an old towel that I can wash instead of paper towels.

By: Heather

Heather — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:36:08 +0000

It takes a lot of water and energy to make paper, then you have the bleaching process, plus the impact of logging to get the trees, all of this adds to the environmental impact of choosing paper over reusable cloth. I’m fairly certain cloth is the lesser of two evils.

By: Anna

Anna — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 22:58:37 +0000

I love my dish towels. I use paper towels for use in the micro and raw food clean ups but that’s about it.

I was them every week or so and replace them each day. (I have a lot.) No need to use bleach, IMO because I use hot water and dry them in a hot dryer. But this begs the question- does all the energy used to heat the water and dryier effect the environment more or less than using paper towels? Anyone know? It just bugs me.

Anna

By: Mary

Mary — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:33:22 +0000

I have a bunch of kitchen towels that I have bought cheaply over the years. I keep one for drying hands on a magnetic bar on the fridge, we use the smaller ones at dinner as napkins, and I use one when I am cooking. It goes into the laundry basket EVERY day.

The clean ones are kept in a drawer in the kitchen. I just throw the dish towels in with the sheets or bath towels when I have a load.

As the towels get older, holey, stained, etc., they go into the rag stash in the laundry room for cleaning up messes on the floor, clean up anything really disgusting, cleaning anything in general, etc. Sometimes I throw them away if they are really nasty, but I don’t feel bad because they have been used for years.

I just finished off the last of an 8-pack of cheapo paper towels that I bought over 1-1/12 years ago. I also have had to hide the paper towels from my hubby.

When I drain bacon I use newspaper with ONE paper towel on top. We use newspaper to clean the windows.

Mary

By: Heather Solos

Heather Solos — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 11:11:43 +0000

Judith, the FDA recommends you wash kitchen towels on hot.

By: Diaper cakes Becca

Diaper cakes Becca — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 07:00:21 +0000

Judith……If you are using a good detergent you should be fine on warm water. I never ues hot water in the wash, either……and am fairly certain (97.5%) that hot water is not needed to wash these items (because the soap will kill bacteria). Just make sure the wash isn’t overloaded so the detergent can do its job!

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On another note….my husband saw this site bookmarked on our computer and, then, saw my post about the paper towels (where i hid them). He thought it was funny but then went and got them from behind the pots. Grrrr. So, tomorrow whilst he is at work I shall have to find another place to hide them.