I did not want to hijack Kim's post, but I wanted to give her some of my solutions to things she mentioned.
Dish towels, dish cloths, and napkins that have a grease smell. It is a stale smell, too, a stale grease smell. These are so obnoxious and putrid, I could not stand to use them. As they became unbearably nasty smelling, I would take them out of the drawers, store them in a bag, a put out new ones. The new ones often were bought dirt cheap or from yard sales, unused, still in package or hooked together with the plastic string thing. The bag of stinky things might have been used once and put in the trash if I had not figured out how to make them cleaners and fresher than new.
One day, I was loading the dishwasher and using a freshly laundered dish cloth to wipe up water. Unable to even handle it, I put the dishcloth in the DISHWASHER. Yep. I strung it out down the area for glasses and set a couple of glasses on top of the stinky, clean dishcloth.
The dishcloth caught some food. All the food in the glass or cups was stuck in those. However, I rinsed the food out of dishcloth, glass and cups.
Unbelievably, the dishcloth came out fresher than new smelling. So, I put a couple of dishcloths or towels in the dishwasher every time I used the dishwasher. Palmolive was the brand I used and not the lemon variety. It was some flower scent.
I still have a whole bag of newish towels that still stink to high heaven because I never got around to putting them in the dishwasher. Maybe I will take them all to the laundromat and put Palmolive in their washing machine since they have boiling hot water available. Maybe not.
Maybe I will put on water to boil on the grill outdoors and put the stinky yet freshly laundered dish towels and dishcloths in the pot of boiling water with Palmolive. Our ancestors boiled laundry over a fire. Could work.
I do use Glad Wrap, but it frustrates me and wraps all the wrong way so I use very little to cut down on costs. I use storage dishes with glass lids, or put a saucer over things. I also use fruit jars of all sizes. I use foil when it won't touch the food. When I store an opened block of cheese, rather than fight the glad wrap, I put the whole thing in a Tupperware storage container. Sometimes, I use a Glad ziplock bag and store the cheese in that. I can use the same storage or freezer bag for months.
I don't buy paper towels. I use rags like my cut up knit pants for the yucky cleaning where you do not want rags going into the wash.
Click HERE to read her post and admire her beautiful and well-appointed kitchen.
For stinky laundry - gym socks, mildewed towels - I find that soaking in hot water with baking soda will work. then wash as usual. I've also put things out in the sun to kill the mildew then soaked and washed. Otherwise, I just toss, not worth my time, energy or water.
ReplyDeleteBellen,
DeleteThe way I do it, there is no excess time, energy or water used. Actually, your method uses more of all. I just add these putrid items to the dishwasher that uses that same time, energy and water to wash the dishes. I love putting things in the sun! Thanks!
Why thank you dear, I will try your trick with my napkins.
ReplyDeleteKim,
DeleteI hope it works for you, too.
I wash all of my dishtowels in a white load with bleach.
ReplyDeleteBobbie,
DeleteI tried that. It didn't work. Only the dishwasher and dishwasher Palmolive liquid.
I use glass containers or tins most of the time - I have invested in a good supply of snap-lock containers that can be used for storage in the fridge and for lunches out (I have all different sizes).
ReplyDeleteI do use foil wrap, saran wrap and ziploc bags - but rarely and I do wash foil and ziplocs and reuse them.
I have cut way back on paper towel use - I have a number of white bar towels that I keep strictly for kitchen use (drying salad greens etc.) - and I use rags cut up from old towels or t-shirts for messy clean ups. The white bar towels are stored in a separate container and are washed separately in bleach and hot water. I use J cloths for dish washing and I bleach it a few times during it's useful time and when it's too worn it goes to the rag pile.
My kitchen linens (tea towels, kitchen hand towels, drying mats & oven mitts) are a set in red and a set in turquoise - they are always washed separately in hot water and hung up on a rack to dry.
PS - I don't think it's a good idea to put dish liquid (Palmolive) into a washing machine - it can cause it to overflow with too many suds. I would stick to adding bleach and using hot water to get the smell out.
Margie,
DeleteYou have got a good system worked out. I like the idea of the white bar towels kept separate. I have used a piece of foil for five days, maybe more, and I have not washed it. I put a piece of bread or sandwich on it and lay it on a cookie sheet and use it in the oven. Then, I store it in the oven. It only has a few crumbs each time or cheese that oozed out. Then, I may wrap it around oozy trash. I reuse plastic bags that have only had something like bread or cheese in them without washing. I have some of the snaplock things too, and I love them. When I wash placemats, I dry then over plastic coat hangers. The rest of my kitchen linens go in to wash and on the clothes line if I am lucky, or in the dryer. I did not think dishwashing detergent would foam and form suds. hmmm
Good info. Thanks