What do you do with?

[peppermint66]

I am pretty good about coming up with storage and organization solutions but this is one thing I can't ever seem to get a handle on. It is a small thing, really. What do you do with dirty dishcloths and dishtowels, hand towels from your kitchen? I tend to stockpile them on the drainboard til I get a small load and wash them all together once a week. Doesn't look pretty and at times doesn't smell good either! UGH! Give me some ideas here, marvelous people! Just as an aside, wash them seperately because i do not use fabric softener in the kitchen load. makes towels less absorbent and worry about residue on dish cloths.

[scribbliz]

hey peppermint, I actually wash them with my bathroom towels...I was taught not to use fabric softener on them either, for the same reason. (Now I don't use fabric softener on anything because my hands can't stand it!)

something else you could try, would be to get a small metal garbage can with a lid, and put it under your sink. Toss your dirty ones in there, they are out of sight that way, and the lid should help keep the smell down. I would recommend if you do this that when you empty it for your once a week wash, wash out your bin as well, and maybe bleach it on occasion to kill off bacteria/cut any smell left behind.

[joyinvirginia]

I have one of those mesh hampers next to the washer, and I toss stuff like this in there. I make sure to let the dishcloth dry first, they keeps it from smelling. Alternative, you could use a small bucket or a plastic dish pan

Hi peppermint, I live in a hot, humid climate and even with ac damp towels--even the thin cotton kind I use in the kitchen-- tend to mildew and not smell good. So I keep a mesh pop-up bin in the laundry area and hang them over the edge until they dry and then stick them in the bin. I usually wash them with the bath towels once a week and add some color safe bleach--I don't use fabric softener. My thinking is if it's going to mildew, keep it out in the air and let light get to it until you can wash it. Seems to work okay.

[casper]

I hang mine near my washer till they are dry then put them in my laundry basket till I have enough items to wash in hot water to make a load.

I only use fabric softener on blankets (mine and the cats) to help keep down static electricity because cats really hate getting shocked/zapped.

[cricket]

My laundry room is right off the kitchen. I have a plastic basket on a shelf above the washer that I use as a hamper for dish cloths, dish towels, and cleaning rags. I empty the basket into the washer with a towel load about once a week.

You could put a basket under the sink for your "kitchen hamper" if your laundry area isn't conveniently close. Be better than making a pile on the counter, but you'd have to remember to wash them, out of sight out of mind. If you don't have room to hide a basket, you could thrift a decorative canister of some kind to sit out on the counter to collect them in right in the spot you let them pile up in now.

[Blackswan]

In the group home that I lived in we had two clothes baskets out in the garage. One held clean rags that we would grab along with cleaning supplies in the garage cupboard and there was a basket for dirty rags right next to it where we would toss the dirty rags while we were putting our cleaning supplies away.

You may want to hang one rag at a time on the counter to let it dry and then throw it into a clothes basket in preparation for washing. The clothes basket could be in the laundry room or somewhere hidden in the kitchen. I like the idea of the covered trash can.

[ClutterBlind]

That stinky smell is mildew from towels being wadded or piled up while damp. I let mine air dry before tossing them into the laundry.

Even so, once they get too smelly, I toss them. I have found they are only a dollar at the dollar store. So dish towels have become a semi-disposable item for me.

[charis]

I have much the same process as Clutterblind.

We put a hatrack/coatrack/whatever in our laundry room--just a bar with a row of hooks on it. Wet dishcloths get hung up there until they are either dry or going into a load. Keeps them from mildewing

Also like clutterblind I find them to be a semi-disposable item

[def6]

Hey Pepper,
I use the sponges with a scrubbie side in place of a dishcloth and then I put it in the dishwasher. They come out really clean. Then I squeeze all of the water out of them and put them in the kitchen windowsill to dry. They are only used on dishes and counters.
If I used dish towels , I would have to put them in the dirty clothes area until I washed whites or towels. Too tempting to just pick up a used one from the kitchen sink. When I have a spill on the floor or a dirty job, I use an old cut up towel for rags. I wash these too when I wash the whites...unless any oil or grease is on them- then I just throw away.

[CaringFriend]

Definitely let them dry before you put them anywhere else. I use a clean dish cloth and hand towel every day. In my previous home I had hubby install racks/rods on which to hang them when not in use. These were located in the stairway beside the kitchen - handy, yet out of the way. In my current home the only solution I could come up with was magnetic bars/rods to place on the side of the fridge. The rods are narrow and were made to hang curtains in those narrow windows beside the front door. So, when not in use, my towel & cloth are air drying.

The next morning I toss them in their own little container where the rest of the laundry is stored and get out a new set. I have enough of both for 10 days' use - enough to make a smallish load in the washer. Wash, dry, fold, and put away to start over again.

Important thing is to keep them hanging when not in use. They should not smell unless they are thrown together damp for a period of time. I once visited the home of a friend for the first time. As she was showing me around, everything was clean, clutter-free, and homey. When we got to her kitchen, I detected a sour smell in an otherwise clean, orderly kitchen. I suspect it was the dishcloth which was draped over the faucet. It was now gray and drab in color from who knows how many days of use and stuck out like a sore thumb in a home where everything was colorful and clean.

[Di]

I wash towels atvleast every other day. I toss the dish cloths and towels into a pile on the laundry room floor and then into the washer with the towels. If they don't come clean, I toss them in the trash and pick up a few more from Dollar Tree.

[maggie]

I just leave them piled up in the sink under the dirty dishes and then throw them in with the towels when I do a load (every 2 or 3 days). This is not, I point out, a very good solution.

[Di]

Mine actually works fairly well. They dry on the floor... and they do get washed frequently... in fact yesterday EVERYTHING in the house that was dirty got washed, hung, or dried. Today I need to put away one basket of laundry and move all the now dry hanging clothes to the closets. I love it when everything is clean -- unfortunately it doesn't last long because the people who live here all refuse to become nudists.... go figure.

[rededen]

Here we go again, cultural clashes
Is a dishcloth something you wash dishes with and a dishtowel something you dry them with?
Tea towels dry our dishes. I use these small spongey type things that after a while (about a week) I throw out.