Wash Your Towels.

[mrb627]

Yet another story about washing towels...

Your Kitchen 'Towel' Is Just A Big Piece Of Bacteria

Your Kitchen 'Towel' Is Just A Big Piece Of Bacteria

www.huffingtonpost.com

 

[tomturbomatic]

That's just commons sense, which is, unfortunately, not common. Young people are not taught how to take care of themselves when they leave home. They can't cook, so they eat out and nuke frozen things. They don't know how often to change sheets and towels or how to wash them and they think everything can be cleaned in cold water. This is especially gross when you think about how many people use coin operated communal laundry equipment. Kitchen towels and "rags" (what the hell do they mean by that?) should not be washed with underwear or other items that touch the body. They mention using chlorine bleach, but how many people use enough or even know that color-safe bleach is not the same? I clean my kitchen counters with a spray disinfectant cleaner and wipe them dry with paper towels. I let the towels dry and take them to work for cleaning up.

My brother-in-law said that we could rid the world of idiots quickly if all of the warning labels were removed from everything. I believe him if we are talking about people using sheets and towels that stink.

 

[whirlcool]

We're safe..

We only use our bath towels and facecloths one time, then they are hung to dry before going in the dirty clothes hamper. We always wash them by themselves in hot water.

Kitchen towels last two days before washing. But we almost never hand dry anything. Since everything goes in the dishwasher, they are dried in there. The only things that really ever get handwashed is the cutting/chopping knives we use.

Why do we do this like this? This is the way we both were brought up.

The people I worry about are the oversudsing Mamacita's at the coin op. They throw in all kinds of clothing, underwear included and throw rugs from bathrooms all in the same load in those Wasco XXX loaders and walk away. I wonder what the bacteria count would be on those clothes?

I had a cousin who told her son when he went off to college that he needs to change his bed sheets at least once a week at school. A few months later when he came home for Thanksgiving he brought all his laundry with him. When my cousin opened the duffle bag to do his laundry she said the odor was beyond description.
The bedsheets were in there. She asked him how long they went without washing. His anwer "my entire time at school!" She said she added plenty of bleach to the load!

 

[mrb627]

I wonder what the bacteria count would be ...

in various machines at the Laundromat?

This would be a good segment on 20/20!

Malcolm

 

[jerrod6]

Nice advice but.

What kind of bacteria is this?  There is the bad stuff and there is the good stuff.  So far I am none the worse for using bath towels for one week and using a wash cloth for 3 days. After this I switch them out for new.

 

In the kitchen I use a dish brush for pans,  towels to dry them,paper towels with windex on the counters.

 

I don't think I am going through all of the steps mentioned in the article when my current practice has caused me no harm for my entire life.

 

We are not talking ebola or anything like that.  I just think there is too much hysteria over normal bacteria.  I actually think humans contain more bacteria than human cells and they are necessary especially in the digestive tract.  

 

[firedome]

human beings

are 70%+ bacteria by weight. My degrees are in Biology and BioChemsitry, worked for Baltimore County Dept of Health in Food Facilities Inspection (restaurants, food processing and manufacturing, &c) for 6 years after college and before teaching Bio, and responsible for investigating outbreaks of food borne illnesses. There's way too much paranoia about bacteria, to the point that overuse of antibiotics, in animal feeds, household products, liquid dishwashing soaps, &c have caused major bacterial resistance to most antibiotics, a big problem. Yes, some common sense is required in washing stuff, yes, pathogenic bacteria like Eschericia Coli, Staphloccus Aureus, Clostridium Perfringens, Vibrio Haemolyticus, Shigella, Pseudomonas, Salmonella, and others, require some degree of caution and avoidance, mostly just simple procedures. Restaurants are required to sanitize by corrrect use of dish machines or handwash, rinse and sanitize with chemicals. Simple disinfection of any food prep surfaces with 10% bleach will kill about anything, that's what hosptials do, and use of a little bleach in the washing machine with correct temperatures is easy and effective. The article linked to is a good one, but people do tend to get carried away when thinking negatively about bacteria in general. The latest medical advice is when a baby drops that pacifier on the floor, Mom should pick it up, suck on it, and hand it back. Systemic immunity to bacteria is developed by exposure, not by sanitizing everything in sight, and avoidance of the really bad ones is not all that difficult.

 

[whirlcool]

Kitchen Dish Sponges

Those things can get really nasty and smelly. What we do is at the end of the day we dip ours in a bleach water solution, wring out slightly and put it in the microwave for 45 seconds on high. The sponge starts to sizzle from the moisture in it bubbling. Guaranteed to kill anything lurking in the sponge. You probably should let it sit for about 10 min after nuking it because the sponge will be so hot you wouldn't be able to pick it up.

 

[appnut]

I use my towel and wash cloth for bathing/showering at most twice before it's allowed to air dry and then goes in the hamper once it's dried.  Sheets are changed once a week.  My unmentionables are white.  All kitchen towels are basically white background with prints as are my dish clothes.  I also have napkins which are nice looking patterned or light colored wash clothes.  My mom began doing that in the 1970s and I continued the "tradition".  Except for dark colored bath towels, all are washed with Tide He with bleach alternative.  All are washed on Allergen and always an extra rinse.  Allergen removes 95% of bacteria and sanitize 99%.  All kitchen-related textiles are washed with the stain treat/deep clean with steam option.  Unmentionables are washed in a separate load if I use undershirts too.  If undershirts aren't used, the unmentionables and white sox are washed with the kitchen textiles with all the above mentioned options.  Occassionally I will use the sanitize temperature, but allergen's assured 130 degree temperature gets all stains out5.  Kitchen towels and cloths are changed every one or two days, particularly if no cooking is done.  And since I don't rinse my dishes, the sink may not see any type of food soil for a day or two.   Towel and dishcloth are changed every time I scour out the kitchen sink.  When cooking, I may change kitchen towels several times during the day as I'm constantly washing and drying hands and sometimes wiping hands without washing them.  That really prompts towel change.  Counters are wiped down with clean cloth and hot antibactial-soaped "dishwater".  Said cloth is allowed to dry in a separate area and put in pile with kitchen textiles.  I have enough of all of this for about 3 weeks before it's all washed.  And that's still not a full load in the Duet. 

 

[iej]

In our household it's fairly simple. All the towels are white to avoid complications and to make them hot-wash friendly.

Once the hamper's full, it goes straight into the Miele at 90ºC (195ºF) usually with Persil.
In general the towels get used maybe once or twice at most before landing in the hamper.

Tea towels and kitchen clothes all get the same treatment (not in the same wash though).

I just find it keeps control of a lot of things, including mildew issues in the machine. I've never had a smelly machine and I think it's because of the hot towels wash that hits it once in a while.

 

[washerboy]

am I the only little old lady

that still has a septerate towel for dishes, glasses and silverware and a differnt one for hands? I do use the same wash cloth and bath towel several times..but I hang them to dry after each use. On laundry day I wash all my kitchen towels and bath towels together..but I use hot water, detergent and a full cup of bleach. I've always assumed the bleach killed whatever cotties were lurking in the fabric. I wish I could say I'm not a major germaphobic person but my friends and family would take me to task. I'm the person that will wash their hands before getting ice out of the ice maker or starting any type of food prep. Since about the only thing that goes on in my bed these days is sleep I only wash my white sheets once a week and about every third washing I add a cup of bleach. I'm not one to wash dish towels/rags with underwear because I was alway taught one did not mix towels with clothes. I guss now I understand why. 1 cup of bleach is enough to kill cotties..right?

 

[DADoES]

 
Doesn't seem to take much chlorine bleach to be effective.  The linked article advises two teaspoons per gallon for rinsing dishcloths to reuse.  1/4 teaspoon per gallon is the dosage to treat suspect drinking water (wait at least an hour before consuming).

 

[tomturbomatic]

Mark, NO! We were never allowed to use a dish towel for hands or vice versa. I now use paper for hands, but cloth for dishes.

 

[danemodsandy]

Mark:

You are not "the only little old lady" who does those things.

I keep separate kitchen towels for dishes and hands; terry for hands, crash for dishes.

I also wash hands under the circumstances you describe, plus I would add this: When it comes time to put clean dishes away, please wash your hands first!

I never, but never, use antibacterial soaps or cleaning supplies. Plain soap or detergent and water answers any reasonable need. If there is a need to sanitize something (sick person in the house, thrift store find, etc.) then some bleach in the wash water is all that's needed.

What makes me want to take out commitment papers on people is when I'm in a house where the sink has obviously not been scrubbed since installed, grease is crusted onto the entire cooktop of the range, more grease is coating cabinets, counters and walls, dust and food spills are everywhere and dirty, stinky dishes have been soaking for days. In such establishments, there is always a package of antibacterial "sanitizing wipes" on the nasty counter.

Go figya.

 

[imperial70]

Chlorine Bleach

I didn't realize this (just didn't look close enough at the label) but when scented bleaches first came out I started using them. However they are not for disinfecting. I was very embarrassed. :-(

So now I only purchase regular full strength LCB.

 

[danemodsandy]

Roger:

"....human beings are 70% bacteria by weight."

In the case of teen-aged boys, my nose tells me that this figure rises to somewhere around 90%, with the remainder being hormones and attitude.

 

[mrb627]

Nope.

Dish towels and hand towels are 2 different things in this house. Dish towels have NEVER had FS added to the final rinse. Hand towels have occasionally.

All kitchen linens are chlorine bleached, though...

Malcolm

 

[iej]

You're best to use a very small amount of fabric softener with towels.

Too much or the wrong type and they can become water repellant.

I'm a big fan of Ecover Fabric Softener for towels.

I agree though, never use them on tea towels unless you like the flavour of Comfort, Downey, Lenor, Snuggle etc lol

 

[dirtybuck]

Someone was reading my mind on this topic, as I was thinking about asking the people in this forum concerning towels about a week or so ago.

I generally wash my bed linen, towels, hand towels and washcloths together. All of my towels are colored as well as my sheets.

I've been using very warm to hot water. I know it's good to add bleach, but I don't want to ruin my towels or sheets in the process by using too much.

What should the dosage be for these items? Also, wouldn't peroxide do the same thing as bleach in killing germs? Between the two, which would be better? And last but not least, is there something else I can possibly use besides these two?

Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[danemodsandy]

Bill:

I generally use OxiClean for general washing of whites, and BIZ for organic stains, like food stains, grass, blood, etc. Hot water is used, and I pre-soak if needed.

I have the whitest whites you ever saw.

I only use LCB if needed for disinfection purposes, like towels; you're absolutely right that it damages fabrics. One example would be underwear. My underwear used to last about a year with LCB, if that. Now, close to three years is possible with BIZ and OxiClean - and the underwear is whiter.