Do you still use a dish cloth in the kitchen?

Ruth n Jersey

Ruth n Jersey

Well-known Member
Location
Northern New Jersey
My daughter is horrified every time she comes for a visit. Right there draped on the edge of the kitchen sink is the dreaded dish cloth.Growing up we called them dish rags. For generations we all had dish rags. I wash the dishes with it,wipe off the kitchen table,wipe out the microwave, toaster. Clean up the counter top and stove top. Wash it out thoroughly and let it dry over night. Through the week I might use a bit of bleach on it and throw it in the wash every week. I never ever use it to clean up after cutting meat,chicken,eggs or anything like that.. A few years back they came out with little disposable ones. I tried them but went back to my good old dish rag. MY daughter thinks it is very unsanitary and in her own home she used tons of paper towels and keeps the Windex people in business. Am I that old fashioned and at risk of dying at any moment because of my dish rag?
 

I use a dish towel in the kitchen to dry dishes, it always hangs on the handle of the oven. To wash dishes I use a Dobie scrubber, or when needed a brush or Brillo pad. To wipe down counter or table (glass covered), I use Windex and paper towels. I think you're just fine with your dish rag Ruth, I just never got into using one myself, I think my mother mostly used regular sponges, but she might have had a dish rag too.
 
Aunt Bea said:
I use a sponge with a scrubber on one side.

I do use ratty old dish towels to clean up kitchen spills. I rinse them in a little hot water with a glug of chlorine bleach in it and hang them on a rack in the kitchen to dry.

I grew up in a house with a rag bag and a button tin so it is normal for me to grab a rag instead of a roll of paper towels.
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Me, too. I still have a rag bag, but not the button tin. The button tin doubled as a thing to play with on rainy days -- matching buttons, pitching them like tiddly winks, etc. There were some very old and very fancy buttons in that tin; I wonder what ever happened to it.

Before any article of clothing was deemed trash, mom would cut off all the buttons and take out zippers and save them to reuse.
 
We use a sponge/scrubber for dishes.
A dish towel for drying dishes.
Then we have a small towel hanging off a hook for wiping/cleaning counters. It gets thrown in the wash and replaced when needed.
 
Scrubber/sponge here too. Metal scrubbers or Brillo pads when needed. I have cut Brillo pads in half rather than let the whole pad rust out, but they do sell little ones now. But most dishes go into the dishwasher which cuts grease better and saves on hot water.

Years ago I used "bar rags" to wash counters, appliances, etc with soap and chlorine bleach. Then I went to paper towels with spray cleaner or Windex. Recently, I went back to bar rags. They are very sturdy, ultra-cheap and shrink to the size of a good sized dish cloth, which is actually a better size. I keep a small bottle of bleach under the sink for the rag and cleaning before the weekly machine wash.
 
I use a dish cloth to wash dishes. I have a drawer in the kitchen with clean dish cloths
and dish towels. My dish cloth gets changed two or three times a week as do the dish towels.
I do not see anything unsanitary about clean washed dish cloths.

I wash my dishes after every meal and do not need scrubbers except maybe for pots and pans.
Most paper towels now are made from recycled materials so I don't how sanitary they are.
They are very good for cleaning some things around the kitchen.
 
I use a dish cloth for everything that you mentioned Ruth, except
for washing dishes, I use a brush for those.

Mike.
 
I have always felt that a sponge was horribly unsanitary. We all use dishcloths and wash them in hot water laundry every week or sooner, if needed. I have been knitting my own recently. Found a washcloth/facecloth pattern that I like and discovered if I use crochet cotton and size 1 needles, it makes a perfect dishcloth - smooth on one side and a little bumpy on the other. I have paper towels on the counter too and use them for certain spills but waste of money to use all the time.

Happy to share the knitting pattern if anyone wants it.
 
Since dishcloths are "washed" in soap (dishwashing liquid) every day you wash the dishes, why do they have to be washed that often, again, with the laundry? I seldom put mine in with the laundry. Guess I'm a slob. ;)
 
I haven't used a dish cloth in decades. I prefer sponges. They're just more comfortable for me to use. I buy Scotch Brite, a good brand that doesn't shred even after being soaked in bleach water overnight. I get them in bulk at Costco They can easily be disinfected in Lysol water or bleach. Also I read that microwaving them for a minute (I do a minute and a half) kills the bacteria. My dishes get washed in my countertop dishwasher anyway.
 
I still use dish clothes. I replace daily with a fresh one. I use to clean surfaces and microwave as well.

On a Sunday I have 7 hanging on the washing line after a hot wash in the washing machine.
 
In my experience sponges don't get in between the tines of a fork nor in corners and in grooves of plasticware lids. Dish cloths are in plentiful supply and I use one per dish-washing event lol. A GD allowed how she didn't know how the wash with a cloth as she always uses sponges. LOL! Give me a break! She couldn't figure it out at age 13. 😂😂😂😂
 
Never a dish cloth/rag. I use a long handled dish brush and/or scrubber sponge for dishes, pots, pans, silverware and glasses and other utensils.

The brush and sponge go into the micro oven every few days.
 
Ruth n Jersey said:
My daughter is horrified every time she comes for a visit. Right there draped on the edge of the kitchen sink is the dreaded dish cloth.Growing up we called them dish rags. For generations we all had dish rags. I wash the dishes with it,wipe off the kitchen table,wipe out the microwave, toaster. Clean up the counter top and stove top. Wash it out thoroughly and let it dry over night. Through the week I might use a bit of bleach on it and throw it in the wash every week. I never ever use it to clean up after cutting meat,chicken,eggs or anything like that.. A few years back they came out with little disposable ones. I tried them but went back to my good old dish rag. MY daughter thinks it is very unsanitary and in her own home she used tons of paper towels and keeps the Windex people in business. Am I that old fashioned and at risk of dying at any moment because of my dish rag?
Click to expand...
Dish-rag or dishcloth user here, too, Ruth!

Have a dishwasher but never use it... have always washed and dried dishes by-hand, and have always used reusable 100% cotton dishcloths and tea towels. Tea towels get draped over the handle on the stove-door, dishcloth gets wrung and draped over the middle of the two sinks when I'm done.
 
I've used a dishrag all my grownup life to wash a few dishes and wipe countertops. Haven't killed anyone yet. I have a dishwasher but I don't run it every day since it's just the 2 of us. I keep a dish towel on my oven door handle to dry odds and ends.
 


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