The dishcloth: you use it to wash the dishes. Post-dishes, you wipe sink/stove/counter/visible food messes left behind with it. Then rinse the dish cloth, ring out excess water, and hang on faucet (or hook etc) to dry. (If you don’t ring it out, or leave it at the bottom of the sink, it doesn’t dry and gets grimy, therefore losing it’s freshness faster and causing more laundry/wasting energy)
The dish towel: you dry the clean dishes with it. upon completion, hang it to dry (If you use it to take messy, uncovered things out of the oven or to wipe a dirty counter with, it is unuseable to dry clean dishes with and it needs to be washed, causing more laundry/wasting energy).
Does anyone else adhere to similar standards of cleanliness? I feel it’s just common sense, when I explain it I come off as incredibly anal… Tell me I’m not alone! —A clean kitchen makes me want to cook for you 🙂
This article appears in Nov 25 – Dec 1, 2010.
You are not alone. I use my cloths once and then launder them. Being employed in 5 star kitchens has instilled higher standards in my home kitchen than average.
I use whatever is laying around the sink to clean dishes after viciously soaking it in dish soap and then toss it back into the sink.. However I usually only use a brillo pad or one of those little brushes to do it. I don’t dry the dishes off i just sit them in the rack for a few hours then put them away.
I agree on the clothes. I won’t touch one left in the sink all gooey and wet.
I’m an air dryer for dishes as well. I usually have the damp dishcloth to wipe the counters, a dry tea towel to wipe the counters dry and a second dry tea towel (or an apron…I’m so 1950’s house wife in my black and red cherry apron) to dry my hands with.
and yes…the dishcloth gets rinsed, wrung and hung. Why does that sound sexual? I must be in a mood today.
rinsed, wrung and hung
sounds like a regular morning for LS.
At first I though this was going to be another period pitch. Thankfully I was wrong.
You’re only a little anal OB.
I have a deal at my place, I wash and God dries ;)-
me too 195
Throw the rag in the laundry once a week (or more often). Bacteria and other crazy critters grow in the damp cloth.
The Finns have a brilliant dish drying system. There is a drying cupboard with racks and an open bottom for drainage above the sink! How very clever of our northern friends. Wash. Rinse. Place dishes in drying cupboard, close the door and Presto…the dishes are done and hygenically drying out of sight. I wants me one of them cupboards.
the finns really like saunas too, and they have interesting fish dishes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN2ZJBh92SM
Great video link pain-sis. ‘Intersesting might not be my choice of adjectives for Finnish fish dishes, but who am I to say? I’m fond of cod gills. Oh, but there’s Finnish Lakka, joy to a Newfoundlander’s taste buds, that elixir of cloudberry (bakeapple) liqueurs. And the Finnish affinity for crushing hard black licorice candies to marinate in ice cold vodka, yummy pulla and weiner nougat. (Oooops, I said pulla and weiner {with a ‘v’} in the same sentence and neither has anything to do with naughtiness!) The Finns have also been known to produce a few decent musicians and athletes. Go Suomi!
i mean “interesting” in that really polite way…an acquired taste, no kidding! they are rugged folk, what with licorice booze and saunas
Hmmm,” licorice booze & sauna’s” Can’t say I’ve tried that. Although I’ve found a nice steam, when you wake up still drunk, from whatever poison you were into last night….it sweats the poison right out of you! Works for all the Irish funerals I’ve attended in my family.
Oh about the topic ~;)
I use jay cloths & paper towel .
Then I toss it away !
How much more hygenic than that can I get ?
steam or sauna and swim…it’s sublime
Wow. I already air-dry, but I want those racks now.
A lot of kitchens have windows over the kitchen sink(s), though, which could make things difficult, but I say put racks off to one or both sides of the sink and just place slanted drip trays underneath them to direct water to the sink.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2620/385985…
Hey thanks soeur de bread! Great link! My Finnish friends think we Canadians like to make unnecessary work for ourselves because we don’t have drying cupboards like they do. I agree.
BTW: Finnish licorice is salty not sweet. It adds a slightly different flavour than ouzo or annisette. Very yummy!
I agree, im a clean kitchen wacko too, i love to bake and cook, and live with two boys, so its a disaster! Nothing burns me more then people sitting dirty dishes or forks on the dry rack… ITS FOR DRYING CLEAN DISHES!