"Vox Humana" wrote in
:


That's sort of the point I was making. The germs on the floor
probably aren't the ones that we have to worry about. It's the germs
on food like raw poultry. A kitchen towel that is use to clean up
counters and wipe hands after food preparation is much more likely to
spread serious pathogens than a towel that touched the floor. I still
maintain that the longer a towel remains in the kitchen, the higher
the likelihood that it will become a vector for disease. I would
simply get a clean towel to dry dishes or clean up a mess and then put
it in the laundry. Finding ways to prolong the use of a towel is just
asking for trouble in my opinion. It probably won't land you in the
hospital, but who need unnecessary bouts of diarrhea and malaise that
are associated with food born illnesses?


Yes, we are pretty much on the same page. I use two towels in my
kitchen. One (terry) is for my hands, the other (lint-free) is for
drying dishes, glassware, and cookware. Since it is only used on things
that have been washed, I am not so worried about it carrying bad germs.
Also, both towels hang on a rod, and are NEVER placed on the counter.
(Can you tell that I am single and the only cook in my kitchen?) For
wiping up I have a big sponge used for sopping up big liquid spills and
use paper towels for everything else. For dish washing I have a separate
scrubby sponge used only for that purpose. I replace it every month, but
still think that it is the one place in my kitchen where "bad" germs may
be an issue. However I can't sanction using a new one every day (too
much cost) and I won't switch over to a brush due to cleaning preference.
(I just like using a sponge with a scrubby side in conjunction with a
good squirt of dish detergent as required.) On the other hand, I do not
obsess over the sterility of my counter or wooden cutting board (no meat
touches it, for that I have polypropelene that can be bleached and/or
washed in hot water) or even things that fall and land briefly on the
floor. Also, I tend to let washed things air dry rather than drying by
hand. The germs in the air are rather benign; also I recall reading that
air drying is a cleaner way of drying than towelling off.

The good news is that white (bleachable!) towels for hand-drying and
dish/glassware drying are pretty inexpensive. You can buy a bunch for a
few dollars, and clean the heck out of them as part of your laundry
routine. They may not be decorator items, but they are a perfect
addition to a practical kitchen - low cost and plenty effective.

Debbie

Debbie
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