boiling teatowels

[ethandron]

do you?
i have a friend in her early 60s who insists on boiling her teatowels in a pan on the hob as she doesn't think they get a good enough wash in the washing maching.
personally i think she's making work for herself, mine go in a 30o wash along with all the other laundry and come out nice and clean.

[daffy654]

I just throw them in with a 60º whites wash.

[marval]

No I don't, I think my washing machine does a good enough job.

[treetops1]

I bet she irons socks as well. I'm all for an easy life. I thought this went out with dolly tubs and blue bags. Lol

[ummmm]

I used to.

[Prudie]

I often do them in the 90 deg wash in the machine. Looking clean doesn't mean germ free. Tea towels boiling on the hob always smell lovely too!

[DTCwordfan]

my mother still does and everything must be ironed.....waste of time in my view....

[tamborine]

She knows best how dirty she is.

[rsvp]

if that 's what she thinks is right then it's right for her - it was always considered right to 'boil' things for absolute cleanliness but modern washing methods seem to discount this. If |I want something 'clean', I boil it.

[maggiebee]

Don't do it myself, but when I was young my mum boiled all the whites - sheets, pillowcases, teatowels etc.

[Barmaid]

No, they just go in a hot wash. But I do put my dish cloths in the dishwasher.

[naomi24]

No, I don't - but a friend of mine when a new bride wanted to do everything perfectly so decided boiling teatowels, as her mother had, was a good idea. Shame she used a plastic bucket! True! :o)

[divegirl]

I remember helping my Nan doing that so that would have been some 36 years ago, she used to stand me on a stove in front of the cooker with a big wooden prod thing to stir them....lovely memories, my Dad used to do it for a while until we got a proper washing machine.
I just bung mine in the machine.

Lisa x

[shaneystar2]

I always boil wash towels,flannels and teatowels in the machine on 90°.
I also iron my teatowels .

[jomifl]

If you want to make sure that your tea towels are sterile then soak them in a thimbleful of bleach per sink of water and leave for 5 mins. They will get less sterile with drying and handling but thats life.

[humbersloop]

DiveGirl, if your Nan stood you on a stove these days, social services would be round like a shot.

[venator]

I did an NVQ in food manufacturing hygiene - £25 online! - for the certificate on the wall, but it made me think about the sources of germs in a kitchen.

Teatowels, pan scrubs and dishcloths are excellent homes for nasties.

We boil dishcloths, hot wash teatowels and don't use pan scrubs.

That's OK for me -I sell small quantities of bread & cakes, so am paranoid.

In real life, you can't avoid every germ that's going, and wouldn't have any resistance if you did, so don't let's worry about it.

Whatever makes you happy...

[daisya]

Can't eradicate germs full stop. But jomifl comes close, bleach will help but boiling used to be the way to go....now the lower wash temps won't stop the germs but at least bleaching will help a little.

[terrywogan]

It depends what I've used the tea towels for: I only used to dry cutlery with one - then it went into the wash. Sometimes I used a tea towel to mop up spills in the kitchen, in which case, they get boiled. I treated myself to a dishwasher for my 65-th so tea towels are only used for moping up.

[Jemisa]

Washing machine job for me too on 90, I use an ironing press so yes they get pressed too. I'm proud when I open my teatowel drawer & see them lined up pressed clean & tidy. (but I'm of the old school) my daughter shoves 'em in the airing cupboard folded or not folded & it doesn't matter really does it.

jem