# Kitchen towels **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 9, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-towels/516914 "2009-11-09T17:05:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-towels/516914/21 "2009-11-09T20:39:34Z")
I have never really understood the practice of drying dishes with a towel - that’s why I have my cute little Simple Human dish rack! But I too am brave (read: lazy) and just have one towel, which is changed out about every week or two, that I use for drying hands. If I use it for wiping down the counter of anything but water, it usually goes into the laundry that day - but if I’m just wiping down a wet counter, it can go back onto the fridge door. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-towels/516914/22 "2009-11-09T21:18:06Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I have never really understood the practice of drying dishes with a towel - that’s why I have my cute little Simple Human dish rack! Because you have a husband who, for some stupid reason, goes apeshit at the idea of a dish drying rack in the kitchen. As far as I’m concerned, that’s why sinks have two sides - one for using as a sink, the other to put the dish drying rack in. He sees it differently, and he’s a better arguer than I am, so I have no dish drying rack. Completely unfair, as I do 90% of the kitchen work in the house. I’m going to have to take another round of that argument. He doesn’t get final say in both the garage AND the kitchen, dammit! ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Goliath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rex\_Goliath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Goliath)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-towels/516914/23 "2009-11-09T21:26:32Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Because you have a husband who, for some stupid reason, goes apeshit at the idea of a dish drying rack in the kitchen. As far as I’m concerned, that’s why sinks have two sides - one for using as a sink, the other to put the dish drying rack in. Your husband is wise and fair. The other side of the sink is a holding corral for the dirty dishes while you clean them individually in the empty side. The whole purpose of doing dishes is to get them out of the way. A drying rack completely misses the point. > [@](#): > > I’m going to have to take another round of that argument. He doesn’t get final say in both the garage AND the kitchen, dammit! Hmmm, I might say he should give in to you (drying racks still suck, though). The garage is sacred, and should not be given up for anything so pedestrian as dishes, especially if you’re doing them. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-towels/516914/24 "2009-11-09T22:20:15Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Because you have a husband who, for some stupid reason, goes apeshit at the idea of a dish drying rack in the kitchen. As far as I’m concerned, that’s why sinks have two sides - one for using as a sink, the other to put the dish drying rack in. > > He sees it differently, and he’s a better arguer than I am, so I have no dish drying rack. Completely unfair, as I do 90% of the kitchen work in the house. > > I’m going to have to take another round of that argument. He doesn’t get final say in both the garage AND the kitchen, dammit! Well, if _you_ do 90% of the kitchen work, _you_ should be the decider in this argument! And you can tell him _I_ said so! That oughta fix it! 😛 Seriously, having to wash dishes by hand is horrible enough without having to _dry_ them afterward! But I know a bunch of people who do, and still manage not to seem oppressed. Funny, that. . .😉 ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-towels/516914/25 "2009-11-09T22:42:39Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > Seriously, having to wash dishes by hand is horrible enough without having to _dry_ them afterward! But I know a bunch of people who do, and still manage not to seem oppressed. Funny, that. . .😉 Part of the reason I let him win is that we really don’t do many dishes by hand. Wine glasses and knives are the real hold outs; neither are dishwasher safe. Everything else is. If it ain’t dishwasher safe, I don’t buy it. Still, there are times where the dishwasher is full, or I have a bunch of big bowls that are only mildly dirty that I’d like to wash by hand to just get them out of the way. A dish rack would be handy for those. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-towels/516914/26 "2009-11-09T22:46:54Z")
> [@Rex\_Goliath](#): > > Your husband is wise and fair. The other side of the sink is a holding corral for the dirty dishes while you clean them individually in the empty side. The whole purpose of doing dishes is to get them out of the way. A drying rack completely misses the point. See, I think you and he think the same way; he wants things tidy. I’m OK with untidiness, but I want things functional. A dish rack full of clean dishes is very functional, but not very tidy. I giggle at him because when the dishwasher is full, he’ll do things like tidy the dirty dishes that are on the counter waiting to go into the dishwasher. I’m like “WTF? Who cares if the dirty dishes are stacked nicely?!?” The answer: he does. I just don’t get it. My kitchen is a workshop; as long as I can find things I don’t care how the place looks. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-towels/516914/27 "2009-11-09T22:54:44Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > See, I think you and he think the same way; he wants things tidy. I’m OK with untidiness, but I want things functional. A dish rack full of clean dishes is very functional, but not very tidy. > > I giggle at him because when the dishwasher is full, he’ll do things like tidy the dirty dishes that are on the counter waiting to go into the dishwasher. I’m like “WTF? Who cares if the dirty dishes are stacked nicely?!?” The answer: he does. I just don’t get it. My kitchen is a workshop; as long as I can find things I don’t care how the place looks. Heh. If he ever came to _my_ house, he’d run out screaming within an hour! ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Goliath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rex\_Goliath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Goliath)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-towels/516914/28 "2009-11-09T23:04:44Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > My kitchen is a workshop; as long as I can find things I don’t care how the place looks. Everyone knows the single most important rule for a workshop after “always use the right tool for the job” is “a place for everything and everything in its place.” Then again, I think the single best feature of a dishwasher is to hide dirty dishes until I’m ready to deal with them. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-towels/516914/29 "2009-11-10T15:23:21Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > As far as I’m concerned, that’s why sinks have two sides - one for using as a sink, the other to put the dish drying rack in. But then you need the third side of the sink for rinsing, no? ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-towels/516914/30 "2009-11-10T15:56:07Z")
Dish rack?!? We’re so lazy we never even bothered to buy one. Instead we use a clean towel and set the dishes on that to dry, then toss the towel into the laundry after they’re dried and put away. Hopefully that doesn’ t mean we’re that much filthier. Luckily my husband has no problem with this or I might demand he get the dish rack. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-towels/516914/31 "2009-11-10T16:49:57Z")
Athena, your husband can spend a week with me after his week with norinew…we’ll cure him so that he will even let you have the dish rack on the counter, where God intended it to go. I have no dishwasher, so the right-hand counter is for stacking dishes, right-hand sink for washing, left-hand sink for rinsing and left-hand counter is where the dishrack resides 24/7/365…right underneath the dish cupboard and above the silverware drawer, so that putting away requires almost no steps. And one towel for all uses, though I really like having three going at once…but I don’t restrict what they can be used for. Though once they wipe the floor, they get tossed down the steps for the washer. ---
**Author:** ![FalconFinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@FalconFinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FalconFinder)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-towels/516914/32 "2009-11-10T16:56:59Z")
I use two towels. One for drying hands, the other for drying dishes that I don’t want air-dried. The towel for drying my hands is because it’s so wet after drying my hands, it’s rather pointless to use it for drying dishes. I’d like a dry towel to dry my dishes. I generally only dry glassware or anything that will be spotty if I don’t try them off first. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-towels/516914/33 "2009-11-10T18:10:30Z")
I use paper towels for everything, as sodden kitchen towels creep me out. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-towels/516914/34 "2009-11-11T06:33:40Z")
I don’t have a dishwasher, so I wash the dishes, then let them dry in the rack. When I occasionally dry something (if I need to use it right away), I use the same towel as the one I dry my hands with. Now please don’t ask me about the sponges. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-towels/516914/35 "2009-11-11T06:42:44Z")
I think we’re glossing over an important point in this thread. Twice now people have mentioned how they use their two-sided sinks, and both are _wrong._ One person said they put the dish rack on one side, wash in the other, and the second person said one side is to stack dirty dishes, the other is to clean them in. I’m sorry, but am I the only sane one here? You stack dirty dishes the the RIGHT of the sink on the counter, wash them in the right side of the sink, rinse them in the left side, and the dish rack goes on the counter to the left of the sink. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-towels/516914/36 "2009-11-11T13:45:26Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > I’m sorry, but am I the only sane one here? You stack dirty dishes the the RIGHT of the sink on the counter, wash them in the right side of the sink, rinse them in the left side, and the dish rack goes on the counter to the left of the sink. dish rack goes on the counter to the left of the sink on top of a sloped dish rack drain pan with a lip over the sink edge so no water drains onto the counter. a left handed person might reverse the work flow direction. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-towels/516914/37 "2009-11-11T13:53:13Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > dish rack goes on the counter to the left of the sink on top of a sloped dish rack drain pan with a lip over the sink edge so no water drains onto the counter. > > a left handed person might reverse the work flow direction. if you rinse dirty dishes before you wash, large amounts of food residue use up the detergent, then you might have dirty dishes in the sink and rinse. then stack these on counter or into a dishpan to keep dirty (food contaminated) water off counter. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-towels/516914/38 "2009-11-11T14:14:39Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > I’m sorry, but am I the only sane one here? You stack dirty dishes the the RIGHT of the sink on the counter, wash them in the right side of the sink, rinse them in the left side, and the dish rack goes on the counter to the left of the sink. I guess I’m sane, too. There was another thread some time ago about dish washing methods. Some people _don’t_ fill their sink with soapy water and wash; they let the water run, and they rinse in the same sink as they wash. My wife is one of these irritating people. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-towels/516914/39 "2009-11-11T14:23:07Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > I guess I’m sane, too. There was another thread some time ago about dish washing methods. Some people _don’t_ fill their sink with soapy water and wash; they let the water run, and they rinse in the same sink as they wash. My wife is one of these irritating people. I don’t have a whole lot of dishes to wash at one time as a rule. I run a slow stream of warm water, rinse each plate, put one tiny drop of detergent on it, rub it clean with a sponge, and rinse off under the same stream. It takes just seconds. I can’t BEAR to put my hands in a soapy sink full of soaking dishes - all those food chunks floating around in there gross me out! I use dish towels as needed, and when cooking/washing veg/etc. toss each ‘contaminated’ or dirty one in the corner on the floor so there is no mistake they are used, and then they go to a basket next to the washing machine. Once a week the accumulated dishtowels are washed in hot water with bleach. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-towels/516914.md?page=1)