S/O Which is dirtier?

[Tap]

Spin off of the thread re: do you combine kitchen rags/undergarments in the wash.

 

Which do you feel is the dirtiest? If you can't decide, then pick the one that you think is more likely to contaminate the others in the wash.

 

Kitchen towels

Bathroom towels

Cleaning towels (house only not garage or pet)

Undergarments

 

If you really can't decide, you can pick more than one.

Edited May 13, 2010 by Tap, tap, tap

[joannqn]

My cleaning towels/rags get nasty.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I'm wondering why people think their kitchen towels are so dirty. If I touch raw poultry or meat, I wash my hands with soap and hot water before touching my kitchen towels.

[Rosie_0801]

I don't think anything other than cloth nappies are icky.

 

Rosie

[Melissa in Australia]

I don't think anything other than cloth nappies are icky.

 

Rosie

:iagree:

[TravelingChris]

I am like some others here. My kitchen towels aren't bad since we use those to wipe hands after washing or wipe clean dishes. I use paper towels to wipe up potentially hazardous items like dripping blood and then use a cleaner. My items that are really nasty and do get washed separately are our floor cleaning mats for our Shark cleaner.

[Natalieclare]

I'm wondering why people think their kitchen towels are so dirty. If I touch raw poultry or meat, I wash my hands with soap and hot water before touching my kitchen towels.

 

I wash my roasts or chicken breasts, then dry them off with kitchen towels. I keep a bucket on the top of my dryer, a bucket callet "the dishcloth graveyard", where the towels go every night (or sooner if used to dry meat).

 

I primarily use washrags to wash my dishes. Scrubbing off bits of food from the pans and plates and bowls leaves the cloths quite gross. :ack2:

[TammyinTN]

My cleaning towels get dirty.. I was them once a week after our deep clean.

[Carrie12345]

Just to clarify, I voted kitchen towels b/c that includes actual dish-washing rags in my house. Has anybody ever sniffed one of those things after 24 hours? Yowza! I can only imagine what the bacteria count is on those things (even without ever touching raw meat)!

[Natalieclare]

Just to clarify, I voted kitchen towels b/c that includes actual dish-washing rags in my house. Has anybody ever sniffed one of those things after 24 hours? Yowza! I can only imagine what the bacteria count is on those things (even without ever touching raw meat)!

 

 

Ooops! I hope I didn't mess up the poll. I read "Kitchen Towels" and assumed washrags were included in that lot. Just thought I should clarify, too!

[Carrie12345]

Ooops! I hope I didn't mess up the poll. I read "Kitchen Towels" and assumed washrags were included in that lot. Just thought I should clarify, too!

 

That was my assumption until I saw Jean wondering why they'd be so gross, lol.

 

FWIW, my response is exactly WHY we use dish rags instead of sponges. ;)

[choirfarm]

Ok, most people really think that a towel that has been on a counter or washrag ( that gets chained daily here) is more dirty than underwear that has been touching feces. Even if you can't see it, it is still there!!!!!!!!

 

Christine

[Peela]

I don't think anything other than cloth nappies are icky.

 

Rosie

 

Yes, I couldnt think why anyone would think any of those were particularly icky. But certainly I will agree cloth nappies win the day.

[alpidarkomama]

If by "dirtiest" you mean having the most dirt, then definitely cleaning towels. If by "dirtiest" you mean having the most germs, then definitely ktichen towels. (The kitchen is the room in the house with the greatest number of germs.) Things that are really dirty, I wash in hot water with a small amount of bleach. Things that are just normal dirty, get warm or cold water and no bleach.

[Peri]

I don't think anything other than cloth nappies are icky.

 

Rosie

 

Really? So a rag you used to clean up a 'spill' from your boys around the toilet floor isn't icky to you?

[Peri]

Ok, most people really think that a towel that has been on a counter or washrag ( that gets chained daily here) is more dirty than underwear that has been touching feces. Even if you can't see it, it is still there!!!!!!!!

 

Christine

 

We use water to clean ourselves.

[MamaSheep]

Depends on the day. My kitchen is usually pretty clean, and towels are changed out daily, dishcloths (for washing dishes, wiping counters) I usually swap out after each meal, though the supper dishes one hangs around until bedtime to help out with snacks before being retired. They're usually swished good in hot soapy water and rinsed out a bit before they're tossed in the wash, so I don't find them too disgusting. The cleaning rags sometimes get a bit nasty, but whatever ick is on them is usually mixed with disinfectant (from the cleaning) and I generally rinse them out pretty well before tossing them in the laundry too. For some jobs I use paper towels so I can dispose of the yuck without putting it through my laundry machines.

 

So what's really nasty (to me) around here is the underclothing, some of which still comes with "skid marks".

[Jean in Newcastle]

That was my assumption until I saw Jean wondering why they'd be so gross, lol.

 

FWIW, my response is exactly WHY we use dish rags instead of sponges. ;)

 

Hmm. See, I use sponges. Then I microwave them for 1 min. to kill the bacteria before using them on anything else. I do use paper towels for things like drying off a chicken. I guess I'm not as frugal or as green.

[Ellie]

Which do you feel is the dirtiest? If you can't decide, then pick the one that you think is more likely to contaminate the others in the wash.

I can't vote, 'cuz I don't think any of those items will "contaminate" others in the wash. They're all in there with hot water and detergent, after all.

 

Cloth baby diapers--that's different. They get their own wash. :-)

[Ellie]

Just to clarify, I voted kitchen towels b/c that includes actual dish-washing rags in my house. Has anybody ever sniffed one of those things after 24 hours? Yowza! I can only imagine what the bacteria count is on those things (even without ever touching raw meat)!

I put out a clean dishcloth every morning. So mine are never nasty.:D

[Ellie]

I do use paper towels for things like drying off a chicken. I guess I'm not as frugal or as green.

I'm right there with ya. And I don't give a flip about being "green." I'm more worried about cross-contamination.:tongue_smilie:

[bluemongoose]

I voted cleaning towels because they don't just get used in my house. They are used for bedding for new kittens, they have cleaned up stuff involving chickens, they have cleaned up poo and pee accidents off my floors, they have cleaned up puke. They get washed on very hot sanitary cycles!

 

If I could pick multiple choices, my baby's cloth diapers would be next, and then the kitchen rags/towels!

[Laurie4b]

I don't use kitchen towels to wipe up anything nasty--I use paper towels for spilled meat juice, etc.--so my kitchen towels don't come into contact with contaminants.

 

Bathtowels wipe the same areas as undergarments, so they are the same in my book.

[Rosie_0801]

Really? So a rag you used to clean up a 'spill' from your boys around the toilet floor isn't icky to you?

 

I'm not going to go and wipe the kitchen bench with it, but I'm not going to put it on its own cycle on hot, with bleach either. I have small kids, so it would go into the nappy bucket. When we no longer have a nappy bucket, it'll get tossed into the washing machine with whatever else is there. If the detergent and sun don't kill whatever is on there, bad luck. It's not like I'm going to eat the rag.

 

Obviously I'm gross by Hive standards, but I've never died from anything and neither has anyone else around here. I think keeping what appears to be Hive standards around here would give me anxiety issues. I'd end up like that guy in the Weird Al song! There's bacteria in the air we breath, I'm not going to get my knickers in a twist about my laundry and I don't think adding chemicals to my house is going to improve our health.

 

Rosie