WFMW: Dirty Dishcloths
I've been waiting for today's Works-for-Me-Wednesday Backwards Day so I can ask: what do you do with your dirty dishcloths until laundry day? I’ve found that I can’t just throw them into the hamper with everything else, or they make everything stink. So, I’ve been keeping them in a little plastic basket under the sink until I’m ready to wash them, but even so, they often get moldy and gross and I have to use a ton of bleach to get them to smell fresh again. So tell me, what works for you?
Make sure to visit Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer for other Works-for-Me-Wednesday ideas, and feel free to post your own "advice-needed" question on your blog for Backwards Day!
13 comments:
I hang my dirty dishclothes up to dry first (usually on the back of a chair in the kitchen while I sleep) and then I have a separate MESH laundry bag where they go until I get around to washing them. I found this keeps them contained and they can air out a bit as well. I hang the mesh bag on the shelf by my washing machine so I know where it is and then also remember to throw them in the washer when I do the rest of the towels.
that's a great question...i throw them in a bag that hangs in my laundry room. there's normally nothing else in the bag so it doesn't stink anything else up. when i do finally wash them, i use hot water so i don't have a problem with the smelling gross issue. mine are white and i often bleach them too-love the smell of bleach!!
I know some people lay them out flat and stick them in the dishwasher on the top shelf! I've done this...it works!
I normally end up with a pile on my washer, but one thing I do before I throw them in with the other whites is soak them in vinegar/bleach water. It takes that funky smell away and keeps them from making the other clothes smell while they are in the washer.
I let them air dry overnight and the next morning i toss them in whatever laundry I happen to be doing. I don't separate my clothes and have always just washed everything together. Works well for me.
For me, the answer is to rinse them out well and then dry them before putting them in the clothes hamper. I spread them over the faucet overnight and they are usually dry by the next morning. If they're dry, they won't get moldy or smell.
My WFMW question is "Produce, E. Coli, Bacteria, and You." I'd love some input!
I don't have a laundry room, just a laundry closet. I just toss dirty towels and dishcloths on top of the dryer until I have enough to make a load. Sometimes they get a little smelly, but some baking soda in a hot-water wash always takes care of that. I ALWAYS wash towels in hot water.
This is a great question! I think you've gotten a bunch of excellent solutions. I typically sprinkle a bit of baking soda in the bottom on the washer, let the dishcloth or towel dry out overnight, and toss it into the washer to wait. On laundry day, the first load I always do is one with the dishcloths. I just add a bit of white vinegar to the load with my laundry detergent to take care of any lingering odor. I've never had any problems with the contents of the washer smelling before the time comes to do laundry, which I think is due to adding the baking soda and allowing the dishclothes to dry out throughly before throwing them in. Additionally, I don't have to see, smell, or touch the dirty dishcloths again until they are clean and ready to be folded, which really works for me!
I have a mesh pop up hamper in my laundry room next to the dryer that I put dirty kitchen towels, bibs, wash rags, burp cloths... in and I wash twice a week. It's nice that my kids know where to put the towels and will climb down from their seats at the table and run for the black hamper!
Aha! Finally ... something I can answer with authority! My mom taught me this, and she still does this to this very day...
I keep a small bottle of bleach under my kitchen sink. I will prepare a glass bowl with a splash of bleach, a squirt of dishwashing liquid (dawn), and hot water... I'll swish it around to mix it up, dump my dishcloth into it and let it soak while I wipe everything down with 409 and a paper towel (stove, counters, dinner table, etc.)
Then, I'll just rinse it, wring it, and drape it over the sing to dry. Then you can either re-use it the next day or toss it into the dirty clothes once it's dry.
But, BLEACH and DAWN work for me BIG TIME!
I have a basket on top of my dryer for incidental dirty things, and I usually wash it every other day or so, and if its starting to need to be washed, I'll grab stuff out of other hampers around the house to throw in for a full load. So I do 2 loads midweek, and then the rest of the laundry on laundry day.
If I don't have enough to wash, and I have something particularly smelly, I sometimes run a "soak" on my washer, which keeps the smell down.
Ooh, I hate a funky smelling dishcloth! Everynight I put the day's dishrag and dishtowel over the oven handle to dry. The next morning I toss them in the washer and wash it with whatever is being washed. A little oxy powder in the wash makes that funky smell disappear. And, if that doesn't work... I throw the dishcloth away!
I got one of those wire towel racks made for dish towles and installed it on the cabinet door under the kitchen sink. The wet clothes go there to dry and then are tossed into a plastic cube that's sitting under the sink until wash day.
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