How to Clean Dish Rags

Place the wet dishcloth in the microwave on high for 60 seconds. Be careful when taking the rag out because it will be very hot. Your dishcloth can be used over and over again without having to launder it often because the microwave kills the germs, therefore sterilizing the rag.

When I’m finishing doing dishes, wiping countertops, stove, sink, etc., I put rag in a dish with warm water and Oxiclean. Most of the stains disappear, Oxiclean sterilizes, and the rag smells better. I used to use dish rags only once or at most once a day. Now, I don’t have to throw them in the laundry so often.

I always alternate two cloths or sponges from dishwasher to sink whenever I do a load of dishes (at least once a day). I place the soiled one on the bottom rack by preference . It seems to dry better and the idea of it not dripping soil onto the bottom dishes just makes me feel better.

Between loads I rinse it out with a little bleach or oxyclean . I rarely have that lingering smelly rag scent. And when I do there’s usually a load of dishes to do , or its time to start with a new set of cloths or sponges…

When done washing the dishes, rinse cloth in hot water from the tap, wring out well, then rinse well with cold water, wringing it well again. When your kettle is boiled for any reason, pour the extra boiling water over the cloth. Let it cool and wring it out. The cloth will not smell and will stay quite clean for a long while. Throw it in the washing machine with some bleach if it really needs a good cleaning.

I would like to see a disposalable wipe the size of a bath cloth that dispenses like a baby wipe. Once used it would be thrown in the trash. This would solve the problem of dirt rags hanging around and causing odor and bugs.

After using, soak dirty rags in a solution of bleach and water (overnight, weekly, whatever works), rinse well, and reuse. Change your bucket/pail of bleach solution weekly.