I have been thinking about dishcloths a lot lately. Ever since this day last week when the back of my right hand had this terrible smell. No matter how often I washed it, I couldn’t get the smell off. It was quite the mystery.
When I wash my hands during the day at home, I do it by putting some soap on the dishcloth and washing a few dishes. Kills two birds with one stone. (Working from home, and not having a dishwasher, there are always a few dishes.)
Can you guess the end of this story? Yes, it was the dishcloth that kept imparting the bad smell to my hands. I only swap out dishcloths once or twice a week, but that is obviously not enough turnover.
Therefore, I have added another goal to my ever-growing list of knitting goals: knit seven new dishcloths, one for each day of the week (I do laundry every Tuesday). That way I can have a fresh one every day.
Why seven new ones, instead of (7 – N) where N = “the number of dishcloths I already have on hand”? Because I have given away so many dishcloths for so long that all of mine are old and nasty like…
THIS!
I’ll be damned if I know what color that used to be. What color is it now, you might be wondering? “Gross,” that’s what color.
You want a close-up? YEAH YOU DO!
Click for big. I dare you.
I clicked, and it was indeed gross.
Yeah, I hate that over-used-dishcloth smell. Summertime is bad for that, I need to change out the dishcloth every day. Winter, they last 2-3 days.
There are few things worse than dirty-dishcloth funk. (Well, rotting potato funk. And rotting onion funk.)
it’s even worse when you can’t tell where it’s coming from.
Another smell I hate? When I go to the dentist and my face smells like latex gloves for hours afterwards. Not allergic to latex or anything, but the smell really bugs me.
Eww yeah, that’s pretty bad. I always change mine out in the morning. I also alternate running them through a bleach wash or a vinegar wash (along with the regular detergent.) I even run my darker colored ones too. I can’t stand that smell. I am glad you figured out your mystery. 8)
Oh, that smell IS nasty. Some baking soda in the wash might help. I like to use fresh kitchen towels and dishcloths all the time. I love having a big stack of them available. It’s part of the same impulse that makes me have a 6-month supply of toilet paper.
I’ve always kept mine in the freezer. I think I first heard about that as a hint in Dear Abby or Heloise or something years ago, but it certainly works to keep the mildew yuck to a minimum. And they thaw quickly once you put them in the hot soapy water.
(Then again, it confuses the heck out of people who want to help out and do dishes for me and can’t find a single dishcloth, and I point to the refrigerator…)
Oh— I saw this on BoingBoing and thought of you…
http://greenfrieda.blogspot.com/2009/11/terror-in-coop.html
Have your chickens been scared of anything like this?
I love that you write algebra equations for your knitting projects.
[...] less disgusting news, I had a last-minute request for a pair of knit socks for [...]
Teh heh
this reminds me of the close up pictures where they show you what dust mites look like.
7+…Yeah, good plan! I have crocheted so many dishcloths for everyone but only have a couple left of my own. NOW I go and discover the KNIT dishcloth and I don’t have a single one in my own kitchen drawer!!! They are all in the “Christmas Gift” pile. Alas, SOON I will have my own drawer full of dishcloths just for me me me.
As for the funky smell. I had that happening in the bedroom. I had Hubby pull out dressers and move the bed, clean out the closet, etc etc. We couldn’t find the smell. Then I happened to look inside Hubby’s suitcase. There it was – a wet moulding washcloth he had forgotten in there from his work trip three weeks earlier. The cloth did not dry at all and thus had that wonderful aroma to it – and I just chucked it in the garbage bin much to Hubby’s dismay (because, you know, the 50 cents is going to make or break us). I told him if he wanted to save it so bad, he was more than welcome to dig it out and wash it himself – by hand because there was NO WAY that thing was going into my new washing machine!!! He allowed it to be tossed. And now, I make sure his bags are EMPTY before they get stored away (guess we know the luggage is moisture proof – from the inside and out!)
I don’t know if you have a microwave handy…but my mother shared a newly learned ‘clean dishcloth’ secret while I was home for Thanksgiving – after doing the dishes, pop the still damp cloth in the microwave for 30 seconds (1 minute if the dishes were ‘goopy’) and then drape it over the sink/faucet or however you store it.
She had been throwing away dishcloths because the smell wouldn’t go away in the washer after a few weeks of use, until one of her friends shared that tip with her. (Which means she doesn’t get hand knitted ones!) Now they last a week or so of regular use, and come out of the wash unsmelly. It might be a worth a try – I’ve just started implementing the procedure myself yesterday.
[...] six more dishcloths to go before I hit my [...]
It’s the antibacterial dish detergents. They allow something perhaps worse to grow. Before the geniuses came out with this “new and improved” formula, dish cloths only became sour smelling in the summer after a few days use. Now it’s one day max, summer, winter, whenever, and your dish cloth REEKS. If you get the foul odor on your hands, it can take multiple handwashings to get rid of it.
There must be more profit in it because they all have it now, whether they say antibacterial or not. Sometimes you can find the old cheap pink dish soap that doesn’t cause dish cloth stench. If you’re lucky enough to live near a Gordon Food Service, their own professional dish soap is good, under $10 a gallon (great for other cleaning, too). http://gfs.know-where.com/gfs/