Stinky kitchen sink dishcloths?

[RumpleMom]

What do you use as a kitchen sink dish cloth?

The cotton dish cloths that I use with dish detergent to wipe the kitchen table and counters are becoming stinky with less than one day's use.

I use a clean cloth every day. They have been washed with my towels in hot water using Tide and dried completely in the clothes dryer. They smell fresh after being laundered.

I am not cleaning up big messes, just a few toast crumbs from breakfast. There are no excessive food particles left on the cloth. It is rinsed and hung over the faucet to dry. Before lunch time, it smells less than fresh and rather stinky.

My bathroom washcloths or any other towels are not stinky.

I use Dawn dish soap which I purchased a long time ago on sale. Can Dawn dish soap go bad?

It is getting expensive to keep replacing the dishcloths, thus my question on the Budget Board.

 

[DisDance]

I think you can put them in the washer with vinegar to get the smell out, you might wanna google that because I do not know the specfics

 

[BigAlsGal]

I'm a paper towel person. For more difficult messes we use the scotch brite scourer. I just can't use a wash rag or dish cloth. I'm weird.

I also bleach every towel that gets thrown in the laundry. That will take care of the smell.

 

[aaarcher86]

I'm a paper towel person. For more difficult messes we use the scotch brite scourer. I just can't use a wash rag or dish cloth. I'm weird.

I'm the same way. I also won't go near a sponge. They creep me out.

 

[pyrxtc]

I think it's whatever they make that type of towel out of because it happens even with new towels.

 

[Happyjen27]

I use the cottons dish rags. They don't get stinky within the day though. I microwave them once a day to kill the germs (microwave them damp so they don't start a fire!). After 2 or 3 days, I get a new one. Before I pop it in the laundry I microwave it again to kill all the germs, otherwise it does not smell clean after laundering.

 

[luvmy3]

I'm a paper towel person. For more difficult messes we use the scotch brite scourer. I just can't use a wash rag or dish cloth. I'm weird.

I also bleach every towel that gets thrown in the laundry. That will take care of the smell.

This is me too so I dont think you are weird at all. In fact, I think those that use dish cloths are the weird ones! (Sorry, OP I mean that all in good fun )

 

[drcmk]

Yes, this is exactly why we use paper towels. I try to minimize the waste by having a soft fabric towel for drying wet hands near the sink. If the towel is only used for drying clean hands, it doesn't get smelly and I wash it every week or two. I buy the higher quality paper towels so I can use just one to wipe all off the counters, table, stove, etc.

 

[mrssmith06]

Kitchen cloths grow bacteria quickly. That stinky smell is mildew. If I use a cloth, I change it every day. But to avoid that I usually just use paper towels and spray cleaner to wipe down the counters and table with.

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

What I regularly do for dish sponges and dish towels that we use to wash dishes and pots and wipe down the counters, etc. is at the end of the day I fill the dish pan a quarter way with hot water and add a few tablespoons of bleach and let the sponge and towel soak in that solution overnight which helps rid of odor causing bacteria. I also have more than one dish towel and switch them up and throw the other in the washer machine regularly. We do use paper towels and Clorox/Lysol wipes to clean up spills/messes in the kitchen and to wipe down counters and tables; but to avoid going through all those in one day with my crew, I use my dish towels and regularly soak them in bleach water and also put them in the washing machine regularly. We usually buy the multipack of dish sponges though and I toss out one and replace it with a new one every couple months because they eventually get worn out.

 

[NotUrsula]

Are you rinsing them in hot water? If so, that is probably contributing greatly to the problem.

After you finish with the dishes, put extra soap on with hot water and scrub it a little to get any food particles loose, then rinse it thoroughly in COLD water, wring it out and hang it up opened to dry; don't fold it.

If you fold and drape a dishtowel over the sink tap or something similar, it won't dry evenly, and bacteria will flourish in the folds. This goes double if the towel is warm when folded.

 

[Lilliputian]

I use dishcloths, but I use lots every day. I never use them for more than one cleaning session, and I never use ones that I used on dishes on the tables and counters. I probably go through 5-8 on an average day.

It's a little bit of an investment up front, but they last practically forever, so your cost over time is practically nothing.

 

[ironpig70]

Plain white dishcloths and bleach. It will kill everything. Germs. Smell.

 

[Gigi22]

My mother used to boil her used dishcloths on top of the stove in water and dish soap. Not sure for how long, but I think it was around 15 min. She drip dried them on the line in the summer and dried them in the dryer in the winter.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

We use paper towels. I use them to wipe everything down and to dry my hands. No dish cloths in my house. They are kind of gross to me.

 

[SandrA9810]

I would try using plain white cotton washcloths. My aunt buys the dishcloths and they never seem to be as clean, maybe it's in the weave? If I buy a multipack of washcloths, the white ones go to the kitchen and the colored ones to the bathroom, and I never had issues with it. I can't stand paper towels. The only ones that hold up are just as expensive as cotton cloths. At least cotton ones you can wash and reuse.

I always do a hot wash, cold rinse, and some oxyclean, bleach, or vinegar to the wash.

 

[TxRabbit]

I like to add Borax to the laundry when I wash my kitchen linens.

 

[kellyjeanie]

We use microfiber (the kind you find in the automotive section) for cleaning spills, and washcloths (the latest batch was cheap from Kohl's) for faces, though often my DH will sometimes use the washcloths for a crumby counter after he's finished wiping faces. Then they go into a hamper I keep in the kitchen especially for towels. We have enough towels that I do a hot, sometimes bleach, load probably 1-2 times a week. If they sit damp in the hamper for too they'll get icky. Occasionally I notice a stinky one and I throw it out, but we've been using my current batch of washcloths for a while. I think they're just cotton. I use Tide. I don't think it's the Dawn. Check to see if your washing machine could use a cleaning, especially if it's a front-loader.

 

[kellyjeanie]

I thought of something else, I stopped using fabric softener on my towels a few years back and haven't really had stink problems since. I know it can affect the absorbency, not sure if it's related to that mildewy smell.

 

[birrrd]

I think it might be your dishsoap! I've had this problem with sponges...every time I use Dawn my sponges get a weird, icky smell if I use Palmolive I don't have the problem at all. Worth a try to just switch out your dishsoap good luck!