Hey guys....

[bosch2460]

I was just hoping for a little feed back or suggestions, and this may seem a very odd question....

How do you guys wash your dishtowels and cleaning rags? I used to wash them both, in one load by themselves, like every two weeks. However, after sitting that long, they were kind of rank and really hard to get clean again. Not to mention it was a really small load. So, I started washing them with regular towel loads, only to get less than stellar results. I now wash them with the hand towels and wash clothes, and wash the bath towels alone.

Here is the problem for me. I cannot justify washing a teeny tiny load of rags and kitchen towels weekly. But on the other hand, I want them really, really clean. I mean, they are kitchen towels and rags. I wash them pretty agressively....hot washes, long washes, pre wash, etc. The thoughts of washing any type of kitchen or cleaning rags with underwear or socks, is really gross to me, too. I have Miele 1966, and a G.E. Filter Flo. I cannot bleach in the Miele, but can in the FF. With a 140 or 190 degree wash in the Miele, I can get better results compared to a hot wash with bleach in the FF.

My question is to ya'll...how do you wash kitchen towels, how often, etc. With normal laundry, with other towels, alone? I think seeing how others wash is fascinating anyway, but specifically the towels, are what I am questioning.

Oh and a side note, all you guys who are getting your hands on all the Maytag 806's make me jealous!! I want one so badly, but they never show up in my neck of the woods!!

Thanks in advance for any info.

Joel

 

[appnut]

Joel, first of all, I make sure all rags, dish rags, and kitchen towels dry completely before I put them in dirty clothes. (Same with my bath towels) That way they won't become rank from sitting all wet and stuff. Sometimes when I've used up jst about every kitchen textile and needs to be washed, then I'll do a separate load. Usually I wash the above with my whites (undies). It doesn't gross me out. I wash them in a cool prewash with biz and then wash in 155 degree hot water with usual detergent and oxyclean.

 

[whirlaway]

Get a Small Machine

I have one of those old easy table-top machines,a Whirldry it has an inner and outer tub,you can soak old towels or rags in it and it washes a small load really good and you drain it then spin them in the same machine,works pretty good.You see them around on e-bay sometimes. Bobby

 

[xraytech]

I prefer to wash my kitchen towels seperatley. Here we typically go through 2 kitchen towels and 2 tea towels daily. so on wash day there is about enough for a medium load.
I was in hot water and run them through 2 14 min cycles then proceede with the remainder of cycles. I use powdered detergent, just a splash of clorox, and some 20 mule team borax to help with odors.

I am assuming that since you are concerned with the size of your load you must not have the mini-wash for your Filter Flo

 

[bosch2460]

I have the mini-wash for my FF, yeah. I forgot to mention that. I just get better results in the Miele. But holy hell, I never really thought of running a Mini-Quick with just those towels, and I would hesitate if they could really get clean like that. I am kinda a germ-o-phobe. Especially when it comes to kitchen towels. I could probably just run then twice...one cycle with detergent, and rinse, and then repeat with bleach, and rinse. Lord have mercy, my mind sometimes............ Thanks for the suggestions.

Now that I have a new idea, ya'll can still throw in your wash habits, just for s***s and giggles.

 

[ptcruiser51]

Towels are towels

I wash them all together in one load. All my towels are white, kitchen towels sometimes have color trim but are mostly white. Oxydol plus two scoops of STPP and hot water. Always clean. Ditto washcloths. If something is really nasty, like I had to wipe something up on the counter or floor, I usually soak in OxyClean overnight the night before washday. I hardly ever use LCB.

Car rags (old towels) and dustrags I wash once every month or so, and throw in my sneakers. I have a "thing" about dirty sneakers.

Because I'm alone >insert audible sigh< I have just one full load of towels every week. I'd never let them sit longer.

 

[retroguy]

Agree with Charlie....

I do let them dry before I throw them in the hamper with the other towels, but before I do that I wash them by hand in the kitchen sink with a bit of dish washing liquid in very hot water. Then I rinse them in very cold water. Keeps them from getting rank at all, I think.

 

[frigilux]

Joel---I have the opposite issue: I cook a lot, and tend to use a lot of flour sack dish towels, white wash cloths and white bar mops (little terry cloth towels). I wash two large loads of whites each week, most of them comprised of these highly-stained kitchen whites. I wash personal whites together with them. SO....I use several scoops of SA8 or liquid Tide with Bleach Alternative, and a couple of Tide Stain Release pacs (or 2 scoops of TriZyme, another SA8 product).

I usually wash whites in my (non-vintage) Frigidaire toploader for 15 minutes. Then I add 1 cup of liquid chlorine bleach to the dispenser and reset the wash cycle for about 6 minutes. Given the large dose of chemicals, I rinse these loads twice.

Results are excellent. And everything is sanitized.

 

[danemodsandy]

Here's My System:

First, Bob is right - when dishtowels sit wet on a counter or in a hamper, they turn sour and stinky. I've always used a 3-arm chrome rack from Decko in my kitchens; a pic and a link are below. Cheap, and air can get to the towels to dry them and keep odours from happening. I hang towels on the rack whenever they're not in use. The rack is around $5.

Second, it helps to be particular about what you use your towels for. I have separate ones for dishes and hands - the hand towels are terry, the dish ones are twill. I never use dish towels for counter or floor spills - that's what paper towels are for.

Third, I only use towels for one day. Each morning, the previous day's towels come off the rack (they're good and dry from hanging on it all night), and fresh ones go on it.

Fourth, I soak kitchen towels before washing. Warm water, sink, Fels-Naptha on spots, a little Oxydol. An hour or two, anyway. Overnight never hurt anything.

Fifth, I wash 'em with other linens - a hot wash with Oxydol and Oxy-Clean.

Sixth, I iron the dish towels, because you'd be absolutely amazed how much more absorbent they are when you do that.

Works for me.

http://doitbest.com/Towel+bars+and+rings-Decko+Bath-model-38190-doitbest-sku-402004.dib

 

[andrewinorlando]

I cook a lot and have a lot of dirty, disgusting dish towels and dishcloths. Some I even use to wipe up messes that spill on the floor. I don't even like putting them in the regular hamper because of the smell of oil, etc, but I do wash them along with the whites once a week in the Calypso on the Whitest Whites cycle with a Soak added. I use 1/3 cup of either Ariel or Roma, about an 1/8 cup of Biz and a cup of bleach. Get perfect results every time with 125 degree water temps. Some of these towels are upwards of 30 years old (when things were made to last forever) and are still white, if not a wee bit worn.

I don't find I get the same great results with Oxydol, Tide, Gain or Wisk liquids, but I do get similar results with Method liquid, which I can usually get at Big Lots for $3 a bottle.

 

[redcarpetdrew]

all you guys who are getting your hands on all the Maytag 80

Don't hate the washer pimp...
Hate the haulaway pile! LOL!

RCD

 

[hunter]

why not boil them?

Why not boil the towels on top of the stove?

If you don't want to use a cookpot, get a used one from Goodwill, or get a reasonably priced enamelware pot from a discount store.

Boil them for 10 minutes - or whatever folks used to do for linens.

I would think that this would remove most of the oils etc. Then if they weren't clean enough to suit you, they could go into the regular laundry.

 

[panthera]

I confess to being a bit puzzled

One of the most interesting aspects of living with a (straight, by the way) roommate for seven years who was a seriously radical green, was the difference in our perspectives on using paper towels and kitchen towels-rags.

I grew up in a household in which towels in the kitchen were used one day, dishes were never ever dried with towels but air-dried or run through the dishwasher and if a towel was used on the floor, in the sink or for one of the animals, it went straight to the hot water-chlorine bleach-phosphates-separate wash pile, where it aired out until washed.

My roommate would happily use the same cloth to wipe up after the cats had spit a hairball, wipe the table and, after dinner, dry the dishes.

That, for me, was the end. Despite four remaining years of his ultra-green friends labeling me a climate-killing American, etc. we only used paper towels in the kitchen from then on. Period. Nothing.Else.Ever.

When I wash the floor and dry it, I put those rags - which are color coded - immediately in the washing machine. Who cares if I don't quite have a 15.4lb load? Why on earth would I want to have filthy, germ infested ick in my hamper (very small apartment here) for a week or so?

The same goes for handkerchiefs. What sort of insanely disgusting mentality is it to blow filthy, microbe-laden mucus out of your nose onto a cloth then stick it back into your pockets to reuse???!!! Get some tissue paper for pity's sake.

Same with those kitchen sponges and brushes. If I can't run them through the dishwasher every day, out they go. Study after study have shown that your kitchen sink and computer keyboard are more laden with dangerous bacteria then the toilet bowl down at the local public restroom.

Ick.
Just plain ick.

So, here's my advice: Don't use cloths in food preparation areas, use paper towels. Everything you use which comes into food prep. contact should either be disposable or dishwasher safe, including wood. If you use rags or towels to clean, fine, I do, too - but just run them through the washer and be done with it.

Really, it is 2009 and not the dark-ages here.

 

[sudsmaster]

I have a separate hamper for whites: kitchen towels, washcloths, gym socks, tidy whities, etc. Once a week they all go in the Miele 1918 for a 160F wash with STTP boosted Sears Ultra HE. Everything comes out very clean with no worries.

 

[bosch2460]

Thanks for the info, guys.

I do change the dishtowel and cloth after every meal and clean up that is prepared. Up to three times a day. I do let them dry out before putting them in the hamper though. I have 2-3 sectioned (6 total sections) separators that I keep clothes separated in, so it is ready to throw in the machine, and I know when I have a load to wash.

Boiling...my Miele can do that close enough if I wanted it to. I do not like to use paper towels if it can be avoided. I hate the waste. I would rather use something I can wash, and re-use. Just a preference. However, I do regularly use STTP....go figure.

Maybe I am just being too anal about how I was these things. lol.

 

[irishwashguy]

It depends how dirty they are

Although, usually, I wash them separately. Usually on the Sanitize(170 or 190 F) setting w/ a pre wash w Persil, a scoop of 20 mule team Borax, a small scoop of BiZ.I have a Miele W-1213. I like to let them dry out. I always wash the biggest load that I can of them. This way, if there is grease on them, it does not get on anything else.That usually does the trick. If worse comes to worse and they are extra dirty, I will either add a soak in the washer or I will soak it in a bucket and then wash as usual. Brilliant results!

 

[favorit]

Novotronics are self adaptive

Hi Joel,
don't feel guilty to wash very small loads in your Novotronic.
It is really self adaptive to the load size.

Mine drains into the laundry tub, so i can see the amount of water used for each fill.
When the load is 1/4, it uses just 1 or 1 1/2 gallons per fill

Spots on table linen and kitchen towels have always been the nightmare of the average european housewife. Go figure 8 or 9 years ago Miele introduced the W2000 series with default short cycles and "extended" option as US models.
No need to say the next series went back to default extended times and "short" as an option

Every week i usally boilwash all the whites without elastic after a load of bath/kitchen mats dust/cleaning pads . The swimming pool flip flops I usually run with these mats really can't be boilwashed, so this is a 140°F wash.
This way "I catch 2 pigeons with one bean" : sanitize the washer and have clean whites

 

[panthera]

And don't forget,

If you were unfortunate enough to get a Miele with the default short cycles, that the PC-Update can correct that...

 

[favorit]

opps ... i forgot : separate bleaching in the Novotronic

in case you'd need to bleach very few items this could be helpful :

- choose a cotton program
- push sensitive
- start
- turn back the dial on END
- when RINSE led starts flashing turn dial back to cottons
- pour LCB in the main wash compartment.

Someone says LCB breaks washers ... my guess it's a miele hype to point out their household washers don't need LCB. Otherwise why commercial mieles DO have LCB compartements ?

Another matter : just spied the W1966 manual. Can't understand why cotton programmes don't allow slow spin speeds

 

[panthera]

LCB

Is a big problem for those washers which use aluminum alloys in high-load parts, such as the spider in the Electrolux washers sold in the US until (says Electrolux) 2004. The damage is documented and not something anyone questions, even the company admits it.

My late 1970's Miele toploader had aluminum components in the air displacement chamber which corroded under normal use and were ultimately replaced with all plastic, I think aluminum in the very high heat/very caustic environment of our European washers is just a mistake.

On a side note, talked this week to an English friend in Westward Ho!, whose cottage I've had the pleasure of staying at many times. Yup, Margaret said, of course we bleach stuff with chlorine occasionally in the washer. Everybody does, when there's nothing else to be done.

 

[mrboilwash]

I use the non terry type dishcloths for countless cleaning jobs to save on paper towels.
They get used as kitchen hand towels, to dry the dining table after using the sponge, to soak up the remaining puddles on cups in the dishwasher, for polishing the counter top, for stuff like coffee spills and even for my windows.
If one is particularly dirty, I wrap it up with a used towel before it goes into the hamper. Of course it has to be completely dry.
They get always washed together with my towels, white socks and things like that on a weekly 95°C boil wash in the Miele.
Paper towels are preferably only used for greasy stuff in this household.

 

[bosch2460]

favorit and panthera-- I figured out how to hack into my Miele and adjust all of the settings. lol. It now does a longer wash, and I can still use extended if I need to. When I got it, the default cottons 105, was 58 mins. Now that I adjusted it, its like an hour and 17 mins. I also have the cool down programmed in, and the auto load adjustment turned off. Just because I was a small load, does not mean I want a really short wash. I also have it set for the max water level for rinses. That puts the rinse level about 1/3 up the door. When I did the adjustment though, it changed 2 of my programs. Jeans went to Quick wash, and I believe that Dress shirts changed to a Mixed wash, or something like that. My 1966 will let me use a slower spin if needed. If it is less than 700 rpms, it will add an extra rinse. But I can use any of the speeds on a cottons program.

I do prefer not to use bleach in the Miele, just in case. I have the Filter Flo for that, if needed. Besides, I can get better results with a 140 or 190 wash in the Miele, vs. a hot bleach wash in the TL.

Thanks again guys...I rarely post here, and I never expected to get this many responses!

 

[panthera]

Stefan,

You approach it like most folks do here in Germany.
I long ago decided, as long as I have cats and dogs and ultra-grünen Roommates who think 'clean' is a cold-water wash of 7Kilos on Kurzwäsche with 1 Teelöf. Ecover, I will use paper towels.

To each his own, I just got tired of seeing the clothes used to wipe up the cat's furballs used to dry the dishes...

 

[hunter]

here, here Panthera.

Here, here.

I am certainly a person who believes in efficient use of resources (when I bought my house I replaced the old furnace with a 95% efficient, the water heater with a tankless, replaced the 60s vintage windows, etc.). I also avoid buying anything that has been processed more than minimally in food, shopping at thrift stores, etc. I've done this all my life.

BUT...I like paper towels. I like clothes washed in hot water.
My step daughter, who is 'green' does exactly what you describe - wiping up cat...mess....then washing the dishes with the rag.

No thanks.

(I'll stack my life style up against most of the uber-greens. I am NOT green - I just believe in being efficient)

 

[panthera]

Hey Hunter,

My mother collects egg shells to enrich the soil, made my dad bleed the deer over a bucket so the blood wouldn't be lost (and isn't it ironic that I, the vegetarian, 'got' to help dress the game, 'cause my brother, the pure carnivore couldn't stomach it...).
Waste not, want not. Fix it up or do without. When I was a kid, there were ZERO bookstores in Fort Collins and we had to go to Denver or Cheyenne once a month to stock up on stuff the local store didn't carry and wouldn't order. We learned to husband our resources.

But that didn't mean we had to be fools. Paper towels and disposable tissues are true weapons in the fight against preventable disease. Our generation is spoiled. We think there's an antibiotic against everything. This was never true and is becoming less and less so with every passing year.

Hmm, your daughter and my old roommate would have gotten along great A match made in heaven, no? To be fair, he's also an outstanding cook, which is a hoot, since he has to Ph.Ds in Lebensmittelchemie (food chemistry).

 

[rll70sman]

Joel, it looks like you've got a good thread going here . We all have our reasons for the way we do things and I'm amazed at the variety of responses.

I guess I'm sort of in-between on how dish towels and rags are laundered. They're typically washed once a week with my regular laundry, depending on color. However, if they get stained or turn sour, they're pretreated with Shout or liquid Tide and tossed in the hamper and clean ones are brought out. Whites are washed in hot and colors are washed in cool or cold water with either Tide Original Scent liquid and Arm & Hammer washing soda, or powdered Oxydol. Mrs. Stewart's Bluing is added to the rinse water for whites and vinegar is used when rinsing colored clothes.

I, like most of those here, have separate towels in the kitchen--one is a dish towel and the other is a hand towel. In fact, it drives me up the wall when I see other people using the same towel for drying hands and dishes or draping the dish towel over their shoulder while doing other kitchen tasks. If only they realized how many germs get transferred to dishes after that towel has sat on their shoulder, rubbing against their neck or brushing through their hair. Yuck! Just hang the dish towel back up if you're not going to use it right away!

 

[danemodsandy]

I Don't Think...

...That being "green" (well, greener) means giving up cleanliness or healthy practises. I believe in judicious use of what's needed to get the job done, but not in wastefulness. If you have sheets and towels to be done, by all means use the hot water and detergent and bleach necessary to get them truly clean. But make sure you're running a full load, measure those chemicals carefully so as not to use too much, and don't forget to turn the temp selector back to "Warm" or "Cold" when you're through. There are many things - from ovens to dishwashers to water faucets - that can be used less or used more efficiently, instead of giving them up.

I am also not a fan of running out to buy "green" appliances if older ones are still working properly or can be repaired to do so. Appliances, like cars, are very energy-intensive to produce, often using more energy in their manufacturing processes than they will during their working lifetimes. That means it might actually be far greener to make sure one's old dishwasher is full for each load, than to buy a new one that uses somewhat fewer resources per cycle run. I feel that the EnergyStar label has become the antithesis of what it was intended to be; consumers now buy such products to salve their consciences (which takes only money), rather than making any real change in how they live (which requires thought, patience and work).

I have a friend who uses his big oven to bake one potato for his supper. I've mentioned toaster ovens and microwaves to him, only to hear that he doesn't care for a microwaved potato, and doesn't want his countertops "cluttered up" with a toaster oven. The fact that his stove is a newer one that supposedly saves energy doesn't count for much with such a usage pattern, if you ask me.

Don't get me started on people who demand an SUV or a big crossover for the sole purpose of a solo commute to work - a job that could be equally well done with a Civic. If you need such a vehicle, fine. But if more people thought about their actual needs instead of fashion, we'd all be better off, IMHO.