Is this all men, or just mine?

[Guest]

Huh. Y'all must have a different type of kitchen cloth than we do over here. We have tea towels, and they are completely different to hand towels, and it would be impossible for even a 4 year old to get them mixed up.

So, for example, here's a towel that is marketed as a "hand towel" in the "bathroom" divison of Kohls.: http://mobile.kohls.com/product/prd-2569682/product.jsp?pfm=bdrecs-TCom-PDP-Grid-160&UUID=5ba49ece-5eed-4ce1-9db0-7e68a966fac2&recommFrom=PDP

 

But this is not much different from a towel marketed as a "kitchen towel" in the same company: http://mobile.kohls.com/product/prd-1219950/food-network-plaid-2-pk-antimicrobial-kitchen-towels.jsp

 

So to me, it doesn't matter. They are very similar towels and they both do what I want them to do fine: dry hands or dishes.

 

There is, though, a different type of kitchen towel like this: http://mobile.kohls.com/product/prd-2207941/sonoma-life-style-this-coffee-is-making-me-awesome-kitchen-towel.jsp

The fabric is different; it's a tight weave and is thin. I personally don't like that kind of towel, though, for any purpose. My grandmother gave me some like that when I got married and I never used them for their intended purpose.

[8circles]

So, for example, here's a towel that is marketed as a "hand towel" in the "bathroom" divison of Kohls.: http://mobile.kohls.com/product/prd-2569682/product.jsp?pfm=bdrecs-TCom-PDP-Grid-160&UUID=5ba49ece-5eed-4ce1-9db0-7e68a966fac2&recommFrom=PDP

 

But this is not much different from a towel marketed as a "kitchen towel" in the same company: http://mobile.kohls.com/product/prd-1219950/food-network-plaid-2-pk-antimicrobial-kitchen-towels.jsp

 

So to me, it doesn't matter. They are very similar towels and they both do what I want them to do fine: dry hands or dishes.

 

There is, though, a different type of kitchen towel like this: http://mobile.kohls.com/product/prd-2207941/sonoma-life-style-this-coffee-is-making-me-awesome-kitchen-towel.jsp

The fabric is different; it's a tight weave and is thin. I personally don't like that kind of towel, though, for any purpose. My grandmother gave me some like that when I got married and I never used them for their intended purpose.

 

I see your point.  They are very similar.

 

IME The thicker bath towels tend to leave a lot of lint on the dishes/glasses so I don't want to use them in the kitchen.  I mostly use the terry kitchen towels like you posted as the kitchen hand towels - even the ones that attach to the oven handle are this type.  I LOVE the thinner kitchen towels & I've even considered using them as bathroom hand towels.  As long as you don't use fabric softener, they are very absorbent.

[heartlikealion]

So, for example, here's a towel that is marketed as a "hand towel" in the "bathroom" divison of Kohls.: http://mobile.kohls.com/product/prd-2569682/product.jsp?pfm=bdrecs-TCom-PDP-Grid-160&UUID=5ba49ece-5eed-4ce1-9db0-7e68a966fac2&recommFrom=PDP

 

But this is not much different from a towel marketed as a "kitchen towel" in the same company: http://mobile.kohls.com/product/prd-1219950/food-network-plaid-2-pk-antimicrobial-kitchen-towels.jsp

 

So to me, it doesn't matter. They are very similar towels and they both do what I want them to do fine: dry hands or dishes.

 

There is, though, a different type of kitchen towel like this: http://mobile.kohls.com/product/prd-2207941/sonoma-life-style-this-coffee-is-making-me-awesome-kitchen-towel.jsp

The fabric is different; it's a tight weave and is thin. I personally don't like that kind of towel, though, for any purpose. My grandmother gave me some like that when I got married and I never used them for their intended purpose.

 

They are different to me lol. I wouldn't say, pick the green one to dry my face. I might grab the top one from a clean pile to dry my face or hair in the bathroom.

 

[maize]

I see your point.  They are very similar.

 

IME The thicker bath towels tend to leave a lot of lint on the dishes/glasses so I don't want to use them in the kitchen.  I mostly use the terry kitchen towels like you posted as the kitchen hand towels - even the ones that attach to the oven handle are this type.  I LOVE the thinner kitchen towels & I've even considered using them as bathroom hand towels.  As long as you don't use fabric softener, they are very absorbent.

 

In some parts of Europe thin non-fuzzy towels are used as bath towels. I like them quite a lot--they're big enough to wrap around you and very absorbent, like a big cotton dish cloth or cloth diaper, but don't take up a ton of closet space to store or suitcase/backpack space when traveling. 

 

ETA not to mention they dry very quickly out in the sun (or in a dryer).

Edited July 22, 2016 by maize

[8circles]

In some parts of Europe thin non-fuzzy towels are used as bath towels. I like them quite a lot--they're big enough to wrap around you and very absorbent, like a big cotton dish cloth or cloth diaper, but don't take up a ton of closet space to store or suitcase/backpack space when traveling. 

 

ETA not to mention they dry very quickly out in the sun (or in a dryer).

 

I have an aunt that has over the years sent me countless European bath towels like this.  They don't absorb anything for me.  Seriously, they're worthless.  I've donated them all.  I don't remember them being so bad when I lived there... maybe it's my detergent?  They're scratchy and stiff.

[ktgrok]

Ah, see, I think some of you have way nicer kitchen towels than I do. I buy most of mine at the dollar store, lol! the one someone posted from Kohls do look more like hand towels for a bathroom. Mine are not that nice. 

[fairfarmhand]

This and my family has difficulty understanding the concept of empty food containers.  Empty waffle boxes, empty beverage containers....they get left where they were.  Not so much DH...but the kids.  It's really weird.  They can't manage it for some reason.  LOL

 

Good grief, yes.

 

Oh dear, we have plenty of popscicles. There's two boxes in teh freezer.

 

 

and then they're both empty.

[KungFuPanda]

Well, now this is fascinating. I just read all the replies in this thread and I am amazed to learn that there is a difference in so many people's minds about what towel is to be used for what. I'm flabbergasted, actually! I kind of have a rep for being the overly detail-oriented one around here, but I make no distinction between the various towels of approximately similar size and construction and what they must be used for.

 

The powder room hand towel is frequently a towel that may very well be hanging on the dishwasher handle in the kitchen. I keep all of them in a kitchen drawer and, as the powder room is nearby, the hand towel in there is often a towel from the kitchen drawer.

Barbarian!

[KungFuPanda]

Where is Ellie when you need her??? She probably went to bed at a respectable hour :-/

[heartlikealion]

Sometimes I wonder if I should just buy beach towels on sale for the kids to use as bath towels. I wonder if they are the same thickness as some of their current bath towels. Some of the designs are not obviously for the beach.

[DawnM]

Sometimes I wonder if I should just buy beach towels on sale for the kids to use as bath towels. I wonder if they are the same thickness as some of their current bath towels. Some of the designs are not obviously for the beach.

 

I have a few I use as bath towels.  I got them at Costco years ago and they have a zebra print on them.  They are my favorite, favorite towels in the whole house!

[Arcadia]

Sometimes I wonder if I should just buy beach towels on sale for the kids to use as bath towels. I wonder if they are the same thickness as some of their current bath towels. Some of the designs are not obviously for the beach.

My kids have Ralph Lauren beach towels because they like teddy bears. Their towels aren't as absorbent as our usual bath towels so we end up bringing both to the pool. The beach towels were nice for lounging by the pool though.

[maize]

I have an aunt that has over the years sent me countless European bath towels like this. They don't absorb anything for me. Seriously, they're worthless. I've donated them all. I don't remember them being so bad when I lived there... maybe it's my detergent? They're scratchy and stiff.

Interesting, the ones I used were plenty absorbent. I imagine there are different materials and quality available; could also be differences in water and detergent.

 

I've noticed that some flat dishtowels available in the US are not very absorbent.

[DawnM]

Interesting, the ones I used were plenty absorbent. I imagine there are different materials and quality available; could also be differences in water and detergent.

 

I've noticed that some flat dishtowels available in the US are not very absorbent.

 

 

Yeah, mine are very absorbent as well.  They are 100% cotton and don't have whatever coating some towels have on them.

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

The biggest offense to me with towels has not happened in a long time. That's when someone gets something like chocolate on their hands and instead of rinsing their fingers, just wipes them on a towel. Come on.

 

Thiiiiiiiisssssss!!!! This is so disgusting to me and is my big pet peeve in the kitchen. I bought nice new kitchen towels at Costco, and within a couple of weeks they were all stained up because DH uses them to wipe everything in the kitchen. It is so gross to grab the day's kitchen towel to dry my clean hands and find a bunch of crusty ick hidden all over it. And it turns out, avocado stains towels pretty badly, especially when you don't tell your wife you wiped up the mess you made from dinner with the kitchen towel (instead of, say, the damp, soapy sponge that was right there) and it sat overnight and got nice and dried out and set in. We have sponges, knitted dish cloths, washcloths...all right in the kitchen. The girls started to follow his lead on that but I'm working on retraining them, because ew!

 

Well, now this is fascinating. I just read all the replies in this thread and I am amazed to learn that there is a difference in so many people's minds about what towel is to be used for what. I'm flabbergasted, actually! I kind of have a rep for being the overly detail-oriented one around here, but I make no distinction between the various towels of approximately similar size and construction and what they must be used for.

 

The powder room hand towel is frequently a towel that may very well be hanging on the dishwasher handle in the kitchen. I keep all of them in a kitchen drawer and, as the powder room is nearby, the hand towel in there is often a towel from the kitchen drawer.

 

My thing is that I don't love the idea that a towel that spends time in the bathroom will potentially be used to dry my dishes or wipe areas where we eat. I know that theoretically, they're clean, but the idea still grosses me out. Not completely rational, but there you go.

 

I'm with you on the tea towel material vs. terry though. I've never found any tea towels I've ever had to be satisfactorily absorbent. I do have two towels that aren't terry but that are thick and soft and very absorbent, but I have no idea where they came from and have never seen them anywhere else! They're my favorites, actually, and I'll be sad when they go :lol:

Edited July 22, 2016 by ILiveInFlipFlops

[heartlikealion]

I'm not a big fan of tea towels, but I'm not the one that bought them. They're here, so I use them. Really I think they look like they are strictly intended to go over a bread basket either while it's rising or when you want to serve it lol.

 

Oh, I am not even talking about towel differences...but when men throw a t-shirt on a puddle of lemonade because it was handy and it absorbs liquid...well then...

 

This happened like a week ago here. They figured, eh, so what, the shirt is going in the laundry. :glare:

 

 

[fairfarmhand]

Thiiiiiiiisssssss!!!! This is so disgusting to me and is my big pet peeve in the kitchen. I bought nice new kitchen towels at Costco, and within a couple of weeks they were all stained up because DH uses them to wipe everything in the kitchen. It is so gross to grab the day's kitchen towel to dry my clean hands and find a bunch of crusty ick hidden all over it. And it turns out, avocado stains towels pretty badly, especially when you don't tell your wife you wiped up the mess you made from dinner with the kitchen towel (instead of, say, the damp, soapy sponge that was right there) and it sat overnight and got nice and dried out and set in. We have sponges, knitted dish cloths, washcloths...all right in the kitchen. The girls started to follow his lead on that but I'm working on retraining them, because ew!

 

 

My thing is that I don't love the idea that a towel that spends time in the bathroom will potentially be used to dry my dishes or wipe areas where we eat. I know that theoretically, they're clean, but the idea still grosses me out. Not completely rational, but there you go.

 

I'm with you on the tea towel material vs. terry though. I've never found any tea towels I've ever had to be satisfactorily absorbent. I do have two towels that aren't terry but that are thick and soft and very absorbent, but I have no idea where they came from and have never seen them anywhere else! They're my favorites, actually, and I'll be sad when they go :lol:

Tractor supply has the MOST amazing kitchen towels. They aren't terry cloth, but they're not the thin bar mop towels either. They DON'T STAIN!

 

I love them. I bought them at half price after July 4 last year. They were gingham and striped patterns in red white and blue. I'd bought one set for me and one set for gifts, but when I fell in love with them I kept them all.

 

They're NOT cheap though. but they've held up marvelously. Really, I am very hard on towels with all the canning and cooking I do but these still look just as lovely as when I got them.

 

 

 

On the bath towel front, my brother brought me a Peshtemal from Turkey (big woven turkish towel) It's huge, quite absorbent, soft, and it dries so quickly. Something important in our southern humidity.  I want to get some for the whole family because I'm tired of load after load of heavy towels and my dryer takes forever to get them dry.

[Forget-Me-Not]

I have a friend with several kids who loves peshtemals. Apparently they make great beach towels too because sand just shakes off of them.

 

My kitchen/bathroom hand towels get used mostly interchangeably and changed very frequently. We also use way more paper towels than we should.