This small woody shrub belonging to the mint family is grown for its fragrant, edible, and medicinal leaves and flowers. Growing hyssop has a host of health benefits and is also useful in maintaining a thriving, pest-free garden. Let’s dig in!
19.07.2024 - 12:11 / bhg.com
The kitchen towel does not get the credit it deserves. From wiping up kitchen experiments gone awry to drying dishes to consistently getting left behind during laundry runs, this humble essential goes through a lot. But what’s the right way to keep it clean and sanitary?
Kitchen towels, by their very nature, come into contact with various food residues, grease, and moisture on a regular basis, creating an ideal environment for bacteria to thrive. They’re also primarily used on dishes and cutlery, increasing the risk of contact with bacteria. Proper cleaning not only ensures hygiene but also extends the kitchen towel’s lifespan and maintains its absorbency.
Boiling has long been touted as a foolproof method to sterilize anything and everything—including towels. The idea is simple: Heat kills bacteria. By immersing towels in boiling water, proponents argue you can eliminate germs effectively without the need for harsh chemicals.
While we don’t recommend boiling clothes to clean them, as the extreme heat can damage the fabric and cause other issues, when it comes to hyper-durable, low-cost kitchen towels, the damage might be an acceptable consequence: If your kitchen towels tend to have a short lifespan before you toss them, recycle them, or repurpose them for other non–food-adjacent needs, having that lifespan shortened by repeated boiling might not be a big deal. That said, if you’re particularly attached to your kitchen towels, collect novelty towels, or otherwise object to the idea of having to replace those towels regularly, you might be better off not boiling them to maintain some longevity.
Fans of the method have it right: Boiling your kitchen towels does kill any bacteria in the fabric. But doing so, without using
This small woody shrub belonging to the mint family is grown for its fragrant, edible, and medicinal leaves and flowers. Growing hyssop has a host of health benefits and is also useful in maintaining a thriving, pest-free garden. Let’s dig in!
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