It dries the dishes, helps to catch hot pots, dries fruits and vegetables, among thousands of other tasks. He thought of the dish towel, right? Because you got it right!
Dishcloth is everything in the kitchen and hardly anyone can prepare a meal without it nearby.
And after so much work there is nothing more fair than offering a refreshing bath for this great friend.
But before that you need to learn how to wash dishcloth and, mainly, find out how to discard dishcloth, after all, nobody deserves to see a dingy cloth.
We help you with several tips here in this post, come and see.
Dishcloth and some essential doubts
Using a dish towel in the kitchen is so commonplace and natural that certain issues may go unnoticed, but it is important to pay attention to them to ensure that you and your dish towel have a lasting relationship.
How many dishcloths do you need?
It depends on how much you use the kitchen. The more meals you prepare, the more cloths you have to have.
But we can establish as an ideal number an average of four to five tea towels for those who do not cook often and between eight and ten tea towels for those who cook every day.
This ensures a good rotation between the cloths and the kitchen always has clean cloths.
And remembering: the cloth you use to dry the dishes should not be the same as cleaning the countertop and the stove, okay? Have different cloths for each of these situations. To make it easier, choose cloths of different colors, so there is no confusion.
When to put the dish towel to wash?
The ideal is to put the dish towel to wash every day at the end of the day. In other words, the dinnerware is over, put the sauce dish towel and replace it with a clean one.
It is important to wash the cloths every day to avoid the accumulation of germs and bacteria, in addition to the bad smell.
When they are washed frequently, you also prevent the stains from becoming difficult to come off, since they will not be so impregnated in the fabric yet.
How to wash dishcloth
Washing the dish towels is simple and, in general, very quick, as long as you do not let the cloths get too dirty.
Here’s how to wash the dish towels at home:
In hand
You can wash the dish towels by hand without any problem. For this, the tip is to lather the cloths well with coconut soap and then put them in a bucket of water.
Leave them there for a few hours to make it easier to remove the stains. After that time, rub them a little more, rinse and put to dry.
In the machine
You can also use the washing machine for your tea towels. In this case, start soaping the cloths with coconut soap and let them soak for a few hours, as in the previous step.
Then, set the machine to low water level. Place the cloths and let the machine finish the job. At the end, just extend on the clothesline and you’re done.
How to Unclean Dishcloth
There are some homemade recipes that help to remove dishcloths, leaving them white again. Check out:
Hot water and lemon
The idea here is very simple and usually works well. First put water to boil in a pan along with a few slices of lemon. Then dip the dish towel and bring it to a boil.
Salt and baking soda
The tip here is similar to the previous one, only instead of using lemon you will need salt and baking soda. Then start by putting boiling water in a pan along with a tablespoon of baking soda and a teaspoon of salt.
Dip the cloth in this mixture and bring to a boil. This tip is also valid for mold stains and mold on the dish towel.
Sanitary water
Bleach is another great resource for removing dishcloth. But the product should only be used on white cloths, without painting, prints or appliqués of any kind, since the bleach fades colored fabrics.
Put water in a bucket and then add half a cup of bleach. Lather the cloth with coconut soap and dip it in the bucket. Soak it for a few hours, then rub, rinse and dry.
Coconut soap and sun
This tip here is well known to older people. It’s the thing about letting “quarar”. But for that it is necessary to have sun.
Start by lathering the cloth with coconut soap, then place it open in a bowl and expose it to the sun for a few hours.
The cloth will lighten and become white again.
How to remove stains from dishcloth
In addition to the grimy appearance, the dish towel can also suffer from stains (of all types and colors). So it is always good to have an arsenal of tips to help you survive all these spots.
Starting with the fat stains, like tomato sauce, for example. In that case try to remove the stain first with detergent and hot water. If the cloth is white, it is worth dripping a few drops of bleach to help with the cleaning.
For wine stains, coffee and grape juice, the ideal is to soak the cloth in a mixture of water, coconut soap and vinegar.
And speaking of vinegar, if your dish towel smells bad, give it a bath of vinegar. That’s right! Soak it in a bucket with water and half a glass of vinegar, in addition to helping with cleaning, vinegar is also great for eliminating odors.
Tips for washing dishcloth
- Never mix tea towels with other clothes or cleaning cloths. Wash them separately to avoid contamination.
- Colored dishcloths should be washed separately from white dishcloths to avoid staining.
- In addition to quarar, the sun is also great for drying dish towels, as it helps to eliminate fungi, bacteria and mites.
- The sooner you wash the dish towels, the easier it is to remove stains. Therefore, the tip is to put the cloth on soak whenever the dinnerware is finished.
- Do not allow dish towels to accumulate in the laundry, especially if they are wet. Mold can attack the fabric and you won’t want to deal with this type of stain, believe me.
- Beware of the excessive use of bleach in dish towels. Although the product helps remove stains, it can also cause the fibers in the fabric to rot. Use only when necessary and in small quantities.
- Hydrogen peroxide volume 10 (that sold in pharmacies) is perfect for removing difficult stains from dish towels. Just drop a few drops of the product directly on the stain, rub a little and let it soak for a few minutes. Then rinse.
Even taking all these precautions, sooner or later, your dishcloth will show signs that it needs to be changed, like a tear here, a hole there, a frayed one there. At that moment, accept the fact, detach yourself and buy a new cloth.
