Recent research presented at the annual American Society for Microbiology meeting has found that tea towels used to try dishes are likely to be covered with bacteria that can increase your risk of food poisoning. The findings were derived from a study that found around 50 per cent of tea towels that were repeatedly used over a month were contaminated with bacteria such as E.Coli.
Scarier still is that one third of those tea towels were found to have Staphylococcus or coliform bacteria, which can cause skin irritations, blood poisoning or meningitus; and stomach cramps or fever, respectively.
How often should a tea towel or dish towel be washed?
Tea towels should be washed daily, and never used for multiple purposes. For example, a tea towel should be dedicated to each drying dishes, wiping your hands, and another for cleaning up.
How should you wash your tea towels?
Ensure your tea towels are washed every day and completely dry out between uses. Wash white tea towels at 40 degrees Celsius or higher in a typical spin cycle, but keep coloured towels to 30 degrees.
Do your tea towels have a smell?
If your dish towel or tea towel has developed smell, pop it into a basic spin cycle load and throw in a cup of white vinegar or baking soda into the water once the machine is full.
When should you replace tea towels?
Once your tea towel starts showing signs of wear such as fading, holes, losing its shape or covered in stains, then it’s time for it to be binned.
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