Cleaning your cleaning supplies
August 27, 2022 6:14 PM Subscribe
There's endless advice on the internet on how to keep a home clean. There's significantly less advice on how to keep the supplies used clean and sanitary. Following all the advice that does exist leads to some absurd conclusions. Help me figure out how to strike a balance between cleanliness, environmental friendliness, and sanity.
According to the internet:
- You should clean cleaning cloths within a couple of days of use to prevent mold and gross odors.
- You should keep the cloths used for bathroom, kitchen, and everything else separate.
- You should use bleach when laundering, so you're sanitizing the cloths and not just swishing germs around.
- You should use a microfiber mophead, which picks up dirt far more effectively than cotton. But, bleach can't be used on microfiber (at least, according to the instructions on my mop), so you'll need to launder it separately.
Each piece of advice sounds reasonable on its own, but altogether, that's 6 loads of laundry just for cleaning supplies a week. (1 load for the bathroom immediately after weekly cleaning + 2 loads a week each for kitchen and everything else + one detergent-only load for microfiber supplies.) I am a single person who lives in a 450 sq ft apartment. That's clearly absurd.
Options I've considered so far:
- Going disposable. Swiffer mops, Lysol wipes, paper towels. The most convenient option, and the one I learned from my parents, but also the least environmentally friendly.
- Relaxing my standards. The problem is I'm not sure which standards. Launder everything that isn't used in the bathroom together? Launder everything together, even what's used in the bathroom? Only launder weekly, even if that means letting a damp dishtowel sit around? Switch to cotton mopheads? Scientific evidence on which standards are worth keeping, and which are just paranoia, would be especially appreciated.
- Streamlining my laundry routine. If it really is best to wash all of the above separately, there has to be some way to do it efficiently, otherwise everyone would be spending all their time on laundry. But how exactly?
According to the internet:
- You should clean cleaning cloths within a couple of days of use to prevent mold and gross odors.
- You should keep the cloths used for bathroom, kitchen, and everything else separate.
- You should use bleach when laundering, so you're sanitizing the cloths and not just swishing germs around.
- You should use a microfiber mophead, which picks up dirt far more effectively than cotton. But, bleach can't be used on microfiber (at least, according to the instructions on my mop), so you'll need to launder it separately.
Each piece of advice sounds reasonable on its own, but altogether, that's 6 loads of laundry just for cleaning supplies a week. (1 load for the bathroom immediately after weekly cleaning + 2 loads a week each for kitchen and everything else + one detergent-only load for microfiber supplies.) I am a single person who lives in a 450 sq ft apartment. That's clearly absurd.
Options I've considered so far:
- Going disposable. Swiffer mops, Lysol wipes, paper towels. The most convenient option, and the one I learned from my parents, but also the least environmentally friendly.
- Relaxing my standards. The problem is I'm not sure which standards. Launder everything that isn't used in the bathroom together? Launder everything together, even what's used in the bathroom? Only launder weekly, even if that means letting a damp dishtowel sit around? Switch to cotton mopheads? Scientific evidence on which standards are worth keeping, and which are just paranoia, would be especially appreciated.
- Streamlining my laundry routine. If it really is best to wash all of the above separately, there has to be some way to do it efficiently, otherwise everyone would be spending all their time on laundry. But how exactly?
I think those standards are unreasonable. I have always done my laundry only once a week. The timing is irrespective of cleaning. Bleach or not. I used a sponge mop. I intermix all my cleaning cloths. I am still here and feeling fine, and I am almost 60.
posted by NotLost at 6:26 PM on August 27, 2022 [18 favorites]
posted by NotLost at 6:26 PM on August 27, 2022 [18 favorites]
Honestly, this overzealous internet cleaning stuff drives me insane.
This is what I do:
- 3 microfibre cleaning cloths in different colours. One kitchen, one bathroom, one general. After use they’re soaked in boiling soapy water, wrung out & left to dry.
- mop: microfibre. Mop bathroom last. Change mop water between room as required. Clean mop head by vigorous swilling in a couple of buckets of fresh bleach water. Prop mop outside in sunshine to dry.
Laundering? I don’t launder cleaning supplies. As above, I wash/soak/bleach/wring them out by hand and let them air dry. I live in a Mediterranean climate so everything dries before it goes musty or smelly, as long as it’s hung over a rail.
Disposables (paper towels etc.) are just not environmentally acceptable to me. I don’t use them. I use very little bleach. Mostly hot water, vinegar, disinfectant and dish soap.
You are not eating off the floor. You walk on it. It doesn’t need to be hospital-grade clean, unless you are immunocompromised.
I am in my late 40s and very very rarely get sick, because I wash my hands often and I know about food handling and storage. It is far, far more important to wash & dry your hands thoroughly and regularly, and to use good food handling practices, than to do multiple loads of bleached laundry all week.
posted by Salamander at 6:37 PM on August 27, 2022 [8 favorites]
This is what I do:
- 3 microfibre cleaning cloths in different colours. One kitchen, one bathroom, one general. After use they’re soaked in boiling soapy water, wrung out & left to dry.
- mop: microfibre. Mop bathroom last. Change mop water between room as required. Clean mop head by vigorous swilling in a couple of buckets of fresh bleach water. Prop mop outside in sunshine to dry.
Laundering? I don’t launder cleaning supplies. As above, I wash/soak/bleach/wring them out by hand and let them air dry. I live in a Mediterranean climate so everything dries before it goes musty or smelly, as long as it’s hung over a rail.
Disposables (paper towels etc.) are just not environmentally acceptable to me. I don’t use them. I use very little bleach. Mostly hot water, vinegar, disinfectant and dish soap.
You are not eating off the floor. You walk on it. It doesn’t need to be hospital-grade clean, unless you are immunocompromised.
I am in my late 40s and very very rarely get sick, because I wash my hands often and I know about food handling and storage. It is far, far more important to wash & dry your hands thoroughly and regularly, and to use good food handling practices, than to do multiple loads of bleached laundry all week.
posted by Salamander at 6:37 PM on August 27, 2022 [8 favorites]
With the caveat that anything wet or damp should dry out before being put in the hamper.
posted by NotLost at 6:38 PM on August 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by NotLost at 6:38 PM on August 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
Maybe we need to know if stuff dries quickly where you are, to figure out the simplest approach for you! It is much easier with dry air and access to sunlight than in an apartment with poor airflow.
posted by clew at 6:55 PM on August 27, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by clew at 6:55 PM on August 27, 2022 [3 favorites]
Some of these I do, some I don't.
* I don't clean cleaning cloths within a couple of days of use to prevent mold and gross odors because mold and gross odors are a problem my washing machine solves.
*I do keep the cloths used for the kitchen separate.
*I don't use bleach when laundering because I believe that the washing machine is washing the laundry and not just swishing germs around.
*I do use microfiber mopheads and wash them separately with all my other microfiber stuff because--the Internet seems to have left this out, but it's true--if you launder microfiber with other stuff it gets covered with annoying lint. The microfiber packaging told me this; I ignored it; I learned that I should have followed directions.
So specifically what I do is this:
I wash all the kitchen towels with my cotton reusable cloth coffee filters separately. I have a small laundry load's worth of these and as I use them, I throw them into a laundry basket in an out-of-the-way spot in the kitchen.
For cleaning the house I have cotton cleaning cloths and microfiber cleaning cloths/washable mophead thingies. I have enough of each of these to make a small load of each, and I sort them separately into string bags, one for cotton, one for microfiber. Excellent string bag aeration helps them dry out and not get moldy.
I also have both cotton throw rugs and bathmats and those nubbly ikea bathmats that feel great underfoot and are either microfiber or enough like it that it's basically the same deal. It doesn't leave a lot of lint; that's the main thing.
When I run out of either fiber type cleaning rag, I throw the string bagful of them in the washer on hot and run a small load with double soap, stop it before it starts to spin dry after the rinse cycle, then return to start, toss in bathmat(s)/throwrugs of the same fiber type, switch to a medium or large load, and start her up again. It uses a lot of water, but I am creeped out enough by bathroom rags that I feel better if I wash everything twice. If I lived in a simply enormous house, I would probably buy a whole load's worth of bathroom rags, too, and sort those separately just like the kitchen ones. But I don't, so I'm not doing that. I don't understand how the Internet expects us to have this degree of executive function about rags. Kitchen and fiber content is as far as I can go with separating before I start to disassociate and run out in the road in just a tank top and rain boots waving handfuls of my various rag types in the air.
posted by Don Pepino at 7:32 PM on August 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
* I don't clean cleaning cloths within a couple of days of use to prevent mold and gross odors because mold and gross odors are a problem my washing machine solves.
*I do keep the cloths used for the kitchen separate.
*I don't use bleach when laundering because I believe that the washing machine is washing the laundry and not just swishing germs around.
*I do use microfiber mopheads and wash them separately with all my other microfiber stuff because--the Internet seems to have left this out, but it's true--if you launder microfiber with other stuff it gets covered with annoying lint. The microfiber packaging told me this; I ignored it; I learned that I should have followed directions.
So specifically what I do is this:
I wash all the kitchen towels with my cotton reusable cloth coffee filters separately. I have a small laundry load's worth of these and as I use them, I throw them into a laundry basket in an out-of-the-way spot in the kitchen.
For cleaning the house I have cotton cleaning cloths and microfiber cleaning cloths/washable mophead thingies. I have enough of each of these to make a small load of each, and I sort them separately into string bags, one for cotton, one for microfiber. Excellent string bag aeration helps them dry out and not get moldy.
I also have both cotton throw rugs and bathmats and those nubbly ikea bathmats that feel great underfoot and are either microfiber or enough like it that it's basically the same deal. It doesn't leave a lot of lint; that's the main thing.
When I run out of either fiber type cleaning rag, I throw the string bagful of them in the washer on hot and run a small load with double soap, stop it before it starts to spin dry after the rinse cycle, then return to start, toss in bathmat(s)/throwrugs of the same fiber type, switch to a medium or large load, and start her up again. It uses a lot of water, but I am creeped out enough by bathroom rags that I feel better if I wash everything twice. If I lived in a simply enormous house, I would probably buy a whole load's worth of bathroom rags, too, and sort those separately just like the kitchen ones. But I don't, so I'm not doing that. I don't understand how the Internet expects us to have this degree of executive function about rags. Kitchen and fiber content is as far as I can go with separating before I start to disassociate and run out in the road in just a tank top and rain boots waving handfuls of my various rag types in the air.
posted by Don Pepino at 7:32 PM on August 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
I tend to use disposables or things that can be easily sanitized for surfaces that involve food. That means wipes, towels, and sponges for the countertops and kitchen table, plus fridge handles/switches. Sponges and scrub brushes go in the dishwasher on a sanitize cycle.
Floors and bathrooms and other surfaces get microfiber or cotton cloths that can all be tossed in the wash. I have a big pack of rags that gets wrapped around a flat floor mop and if they get particularly disgusting I can throw them out, but I also have enough that I can use a fresh one many times before I need to run a load of cleaning cloths. For scrubbing brush type implements used on tile and ceramics and all that I leave them to soak in diluted cleaner, rinse and let air dry.
I’m sure none of this would pass muster if I were running a medical facility, hotel, or hosting someone immunocompromised. But I am not doing any of those things, and I also don’t have any small children or household members who eat off the floor or lick the toilet seat.
posted by Mizu at 7:52 PM on August 27, 2022
Floors and bathrooms and other surfaces get microfiber or cotton cloths that can all be tossed in the wash. I have a big pack of rags that gets wrapped around a flat floor mop and if they get particularly disgusting I can throw them out, but I also have enough that I can use a fresh one many times before I need to run a load of cleaning cloths. For scrubbing brush type implements used on tile and ceramics and all that I leave them to soak in diluted cleaner, rinse and let air dry.
I’m sure none of this would pass muster if I were running a medical facility, hotel, or hosting someone immunocompromised. But I am not doing any of those things, and I also don’t have any small children or household members who eat off the floor or lick the toilet seat.
posted by Mizu at 7:52 PM on August 27, 2022
Sponges get used at the kitchen sink, then get shabby and are used for cleaning the bathroom. I use rags from old towels; if they're foul from cleaning up a mess from the dog, they could get washed separately. I use boring cleaning supplies - cleaning liquid - it's detergent-based and hostile to germs; nothing untoward happens if they aren't washed immediately. Washing machines and detergent are quite effective at getting things clean and sanitary. Unless you plan to do surgery, or have a severely ill member of the household, laundry does not require additional sanitizing.
I have a stack of ratty old towels for dog baths, water spills, whatever. I wash them separately if they're really filthy. Lint is a factor, too.
I do use paper towels to clean the exterior and rim of the toilet. I could use a rag, but it's a very small use of paper.
I have a bunch of dish towels for the kitchen and rarely need paper towels. I wash the dish towels with regular laundry.
Swiffer dusters can be hand-washed.
Most of the articles about how you should care for your home are written to sell the products that advertise in that medium. Advertising has created concerns about sanitation that are overkill for homes. Keep counters pretty clean, wash stuff that's dirty. If germs are an issue, and they are, wash your hands, that's far more effective than anything else.
posted by theora55 at 8:19 PM on August 27, 2022 [4 favorites]
I have a stack of ratty old towels for dog baths, water spills, whatever. I wash them separately if they're really filthy. Lint is a factor, too.
I do use paper towels to clean the exterior and rim of the toilet. I could use a rag, but it's a very small use of paper.
I have a bunch of dish towels for the kitchen and rarely need paper towels. I wash the dish towels with regular laundry.
Swiffer dusters can be hand-washed.
Most of the articles about how you should care for your home are written to sell the products that advertise in that medium. Advertising has created concerns about sanitation that are overkill for homes. Keep counters pretty clean, wash stuff that's dirty. If germs are an issue, and they are, wash your hands, that's far more effective than anything else.
posted by theora55 at 8:19 PM on August 27, 2022 [4 favorites]
I have enough rag-rags that if I think one is filthy (feces, rust, heavy grease) I just throw it away. But that’s partly because we’ve lived in one place for a while and the ragbag is full. The savings in laundry might cancel out the benefits of more reuse.
(I do find myself picking out the rags that I think have synthetic fiber in them for this; rottable rags do things in the garden.)
posted by clew at 8:21 PM on August 27, 2022
(I do find myself picking out the rags that I think have synthetic fiber in them for this; rottable rags do things in the garden.)
posted by clew at 8:21 PM on August 27, 2022
You realize this is a huge can if worms, right? Questions like this are right up there with how to manage money and raise kids and wash dishes, in terms of contention. Everyone, and I mean everyone, will have a different way to do it, a different opinion. The nonsense over laundering clothes in bathtubs with washing soda or whatever concoction that was, was what turned me completely off internet cleaning advice. That and silly advice from Real Simple on which very expensive and not-so-simple tips, products and routines simply had to be tried, to achieve perfect cleanliness such as to make the angels weep. TL:DR: take cleaning advice from strangers with a grain of salt. Even here. End rant.
My recommendation is always keep an eye towards economic practices. Buy only white clothes and wipes and mops, bleach-only cleaning materials. Even the mop. Buy big piles of each item if you can, so that they can be saved up and laundered with their own group or type. I find bleach together with borax or Oxyclean, sufficient to de-germ normally soiled items. (Not things like rags from a mechanic's shop, obviously.) You have to decide which materials you are comfortable washing together - I am not picky about this, given how much bleach is involved - but, to reiterate, buy a bunch of everything. It makes things so much easier imho.
posted by Armed Only With Hubris at 9:53 PM on August 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
My recommendation is always keep an eye towards economic practices. Buy only white clothes and wipes and mops, bleach-only cleaning materials. Even the mop. Buy big piles of each item if you can, so that they can be saved up and laundered with their own group or type. I find bleach together with borax or Oxyclean, sufficient to de-germ normally soiled items. (Not things like rags from a mechanic's shop, obviously.) You have to decide which materials you are comfortable washing together - I am not picky about this, given how much bleach is involved - but, to reiterate, buy a bunch of everything. It makes things so much easier imho.
posted by Armed Only With Hubris at 9:53 PM on August 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
I think I must have the lowest standards of anybody posting here, so I'll throw in my routine just to balance it out.
I have a big pile of white cotton cloths, and I use them for almost everything. (Exceptions are: the toilet -- I use a little bit of toilet paper for that, since it's right there; and the tub -- I keep a green scrubbie sponge in there, easy to give a quick scrub while I'm already in the shower).
* Clean cloths are used as potholders and as napkins.
* After that, they get used to clean kitchen counters.
* If I spill on the floor, I grab the current kitchen one, which then goes into the "dirty" basket after. Hanging over the side of the basket is enough to let them dry without getting grody in my climate.
* I'll grab a clean one for other surfaces / walls as needed.
Maybe I should bleach 'em, but I just throw 'em in with the rest of my not-very-fussy laundry if I remember to empty that basket. So far as I know, it hasn't caused me any problems ... my socks walk on the exact same floor that the cloths are being used to clean, so why treat them any differently?
posted by Metasyntactic at 1:56 AM on August 28, 2022 [6 favorites]
I have a big pile of white cotton cloths, and I use them for almost everything. (Exceptions are: the toilet -- I use a little bit of toilet paper for that, since it's right there; and the tub -- I keep a green scrubbie sponge in there, easy to give a quick scrub while I'm already in the shower).
* Clean cloths are used as potholders and as napkins.
* After that, they get used to clean kitchen counters.
* If I spill on the floor, I grab the current kitchen one, which then goes into the "dirty" basket after. Hanging over the side of the basket is enough to let them dry without getting grody in my climate.
* I'll grab a clean one for other surfaces / walls as needed.
Maybe I should bleach 'em, but I just throw 'em in with the rest of my not-very-fussy laundry if I remember to empty that basket. So far as I know, it hasn't caused me any problems ... my socks walk on the exact same floor that the cloths are being used to clean, so why treat them any differently?
posted by Metasyntactic at 1:56 AM on August 28, 2022 [6 favorites]
I can almost hear the environment sobbing as I read this thread full of bleach, sterilisng and disposable cleaning supplies.
I've never used bleach on any laundry, cleaning supplies included, and am still here and alive to tell the tale. I stick my fabric, reusable cleaning cloths in the machine on 30C whenever I've got enough of them to make up a load, with regular laundry soap. If they're especially gross I'll go hotter. They come out fine.
My mop head just gets a rinse through when it's done - the floor only needs to be clean enough for my feet to walk on, and to look nice.
Killing All The Germs is not the great thing we've been led to believe (your microbiome needs them! Living in increasingly sterile environments is not helping us). Getting stuff clean enough to go again is what washing machines are for. The makers of antibacterial supplies do a great job of alarming people into buying their chemicals by convincing us that our homes for some reason need to be sterile. They really don't.
posted by penguin pie at 4:32 AM on August 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
I've never used bleach on any laundry, cleaning supplies included, and am still here and alive to tell the tale. I stick my fabric, reusable cleaning cloths in the machine on 30C whenever I've got enough of them to make up a load, with regular laundry soap. If they're especially gross I'll go hotter. They come out fine.
My mop head just gets a rinse through when it's done - the floor only needs to be clean enough for my feet to walk on, and to look nice.
Killing All The Germs is not the great thing we've been led to believe (your microbiome needs them! Living in increasingly sterile environments is not helping us). Getting stuff clean enough to go again is what washing machines are for. The makers of antibacterial supplies do a great job of alarming people into buying their chemicals by convincing us that our homes for some reason need to be sterile. They really don't.
posted by penguin pie at 4:32 AM on August 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
The makers of antibacterial supplies do a great job of alarming people into buying their chemicals by convincing us that our homes for some reason need to be sterile. They really don't.
Exactly. Even as someone who's packed to the gills with immunosuppressants for the long term, I don't think it's entirely necessary to have every surface set to hospital grade. Like, I am an absolute stickler for anything that goes anything near food or food prep. And my bathroom sparkles like a diamond. But the floors are... well they're floors. My woolly little dog walks on them. If you stay on top of the floors cleaning wise, clean up spills, don't drop anything sticky or crumbly, they're okay. (Like Salamander says above, frequent handwashing is the most important thing for avoiding illness.)
You mentioned going disposable as one of your options, and that's an approach I use in a hybrid sort of sense. I don't really relish the idea of having a pile dirty rags or mops in my home for any significant period of time, mostly for medical reasons, but admittedly for personal and convenience reasons too. So I use paper towels and swiffers for light daily cleaning, and then bring out the cotton towels (I have a dwindling pile of cut up old bathtowels) for deeper scrubs.
I think of the paper towels as part of my ecological budget. Back when I was using cotton cloths for strictly everything and cleaning with, like, bespoke organic white vinegar and essential oils, I was also flying internationally for work, buying piles of fast fashion, eating takeout from squeaky little containers on the daily. I was making more of a carbon footprint back then stomping around in puddles of jet fuel than I've ever made as a homebody paper-towel devotee who dresses like a penitent, cooks vegetarian, and hasn't flown in years.
So: Paper towels and swiffers, I use cheerfully and toss out. Dishcloths and dishtowels (and my daily hand towel and washcloth) all get spread out to dry immediately after use and thrown into the hamper for my weekly towel/sheets wash, hot water, no bleach. I sometimes use a sponge mop, and that gets rinsed and dried for reuse, stored in the mudroom. Deep cleaning supplies (these are the scrubby sponges, those chopped up reused/recycled towels etc.) are for periodic deep scrubs and I just toss those after the scrub event because they're usually stained and worn to shreds by then, though I might wash and reuse the salvageable ones. I use a scrubby brush for the shower and I live in an arid environment, so I just rinse the shower after and let it air dry.
posted by mochapickle at 6:14 AM on August 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Exactly. Even as someone who's packed to the gills with immunosuppressants for the long term, I don't think it's entirely necessary to have every surface set to hospital grade. Like, I am an absolute stickler for anything that goes anything near food or food prep. And my bathroom sparkles like a diamond. But the floors are... well they're floors. My woolly little dog walks on them. If you stay on top of the floors cleaning wise, clean up spills, don't drop anything sticky or crumbly, they're okay. (Like Salamander says above, frequent handwashing is the most important thing for avoiding illness.)
You mentioned going disposable as one of your options, and that's an approach I use in a hybrid sort of sense. I don't really relish the idea of having a pile dirty rags or mops in my home for any significant period of time, mostly for medical reasons, but admittedly for personal and convenience reasons too. So I use paper towels and swiffers for light daily cleaning, and then bring out the cotton towels (I have a dwindling pile of cut up old bathtowels) for deeper scrubs.
I think of the paper towels as part of my ecological budget. Back when I was using cotton cloths for strictly everything and cleaning with, like, bespoke organic white vinegar and essential oils, I was also flying internationally for work, buying piles of fast fashion, eating takeout from squeaky little containers on the daily. I was making more of a carbon footprint back then stomping around in puddles of jet fuel than I've ever made as a homebody paper-towel devotee who dresses like a penitent, cooks vegetarian, and hasn't flown in years.
So: Paper towels and swiffers, I use cheerfully and toss out. Dishcloths and dishtowels (and my daily hand towel and washcloth) all get spread out to dry immediately after use and thrown into the hamper for my weekly towel/sheets wash, hot water, no bleach. I sometimes use a sponge mop, and that gets rinsed and dried for reuse, stored in the mudroom. Deep cleaning supplies (these are the scrubby sponges, those chopped up reused/recycled towels etc.) are for periodic deep scrubs and I just toss those after the scrub event because they're usually stained and worn to shreds by then, though I might wash and reuse the salvageable ones. I use a scrubby brush for the shower and I live in an arid environment, so I just rinse the shower after and let it air dry.
posted by mochapickle at 6:14 AM on August 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Any damp fabric will go musty and be a breeding ground for nasties as long as it stays damp. If you allow it to dry you can wash it a month later without problems.
When I had a cleaner she‘d just drape all cloths and the mop cover over the bucket she‘d used to clean the floors before she left, minimising overlapping. By the time I‘d get home at night stuff was largely dry. I‘d then just chuck it all into the washing machine at a convenient to me time, with normal detergent, let it air dry with my normal laundry and put it away for her to use again next time. When I was away on a trip I‘d just come home to completely dry cleaning materials. She had a couple of sponges she used, she just rinsed those out and placed them somewhere to air dry and replaced them when they became unusable. Nothing ever got musty or nasty, nothing ever got bleached or otherwise sanitised.
To me, the key to cleaning materials is that it should be stuff you’re comfortable using. It also helps to remembering that you consider your body clean enough after applying soap and warm water. And in general, that also works for most cleaning. Some products and specialist cleaners are helpful to deal with lime scale, with different greases or to help things shine and by all means use them to make the job easier. But in essence, a cleaning agent, water and a material to spread these around, create friction to help remove dirt and pick it up is all that’s needed. Unless you let these cloths sit in a wet pile for days at a time nothing is going to fester.
Washing up brushes can go in the dish washer. The key to non gross sponges is to rinse them, press the water out of them and let them dry between use. The key to non gross dish cloths is to let them dry between use or at least start to dry, to have many and wash them regularly, only throwing them in the laundry basket when dry. The key to non gross tea towels is to have many smallish ones and wash them frequently, letting them dry before they go in the laundry basket. In addition, don‘t use tea towels to clean up spills, use the dish cloth or occasionally paper towels, depending on what the mess is. Towels are for drying cleanish things.
posted by koahiatamadl at 8:46 AM on August 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
When I had a cleaner she‘d just drape all cloths and the mop cover over the bucket she‘d used to clean the floors before she left, minimising overlapping. By the time I‘d get home at night stuff was largely dry. I‘d then just chuck it all into the washing machine at a convenient to me time, with normal detergent, let it air dry with my normal laundry and put it away for her to use again next time. When I was away on a trip I‘d just come home to completely dry cleaning materials. She had a couple of sponges she used, she just rinsed those out and placed them somewhere to air dry and replaced them when they became unusable. Nothing ever got musty or nasty, nothing ever got bleached or otherwise sanitised.
To me, the key to cleaning materials is that it should be stuff you’re comfortable using. It also helps to remembering that you consider your body clean enough after applying soap and warm water. And in general, that also works for most cleaning. Some products and specialist cleaners are helpful to deal with lime scale, with different greases or to help things shine and by all means use them to make the job easier. But in essence, a cleaning agent, water and a material to spread these around, create friction to help remove dirt and pick it up is all that’s needed. Unless you let these cloths sit in a wet pile for days at a time nothing is going to fester.
Washing up brushes can go in the dish washer. The key to non gross sponges is to rinse them, press the water out of them and let them dry between use. The key to non gross dish cloths is to let them dry between use or at least start to dry, to have many and wash them regularly, only throwing them in the laundry basket when dry. The key to non gross tea towels is to have many smallish ones and wash them frequently, letting them dry before they go in the laundry basket. In addition, don‘t use tea towels to clean up spills, use the dish cloth or occasionally paper towels, depending on what the mess is. Towels are for drying cleanish things.
posted by koahiatamadl at 8:46 AM on August 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
I use 12 x 16" white cotton bar mops for all non-sponge cleaning and drying in the kitchen, including wiping stuff up from the floor. I try to spread them out to dry before putting them in their bin/hamper. The bar mops often touch food and tend to sit around several days before being laundered, so I do bleach them. (You don't need a lot of bleach to get rid of stains, germs, and light mildew.) For convenience, I often throw my microfiber cloths into the same laundry load, and the microfiber still looks fine and cleans well. If I were using them to polish my car I'd baby them, but you don't have to. I do dampen a mop head before using it, because it's initially less absorbent when washed with bleach and dried on high heat.
A very wet sponge can be zapped in the microwave for a few minutes. In between times, I rinse very well after using and let dry with most of the surface area exposed to air.
I don't actually think it's dangerous to bleach-wash bathroom-cleaning cloths with all the rest; I'm just too squeamish to do that myself.
posted by wryly at 11:05 AM on August 28, 2022
A very wet sponge can be zapped in the microwave for a few minutes. In between times, I rinse very well after using and let dry with most of the surface area exposed to air.
I don't actually think it's dangerous to bleach-wash bathroom-cleaning cloths with all the rest; I'm just too squeamish to do that myself.
posted by wryly at 11:05 AM on August 28, 2022
I don't care about sterilizing my cleaning supplies. My house is not a sterile environment. I never use bleach for anything unless whitening is my primary concern.
I am very careful with food prep, and I wash my hands more frequently than most people, so I'm not generally careless about pathogens - just, sterilizing everyday household surfaces seems pointless to me, along with being bad for the environment and maybe even bad for one's health. I wipe my kitchen counter off with the same sponge I use to hand wash dishes. I let that sponge fully dry out daily and occasionally put it in the dishwasher (particularly during summer months, when sometimes the air is too humid for the sponge to dry out before I use it the next day). Food prep happens on a clean dish or cutting board that is on a non-"sanitized" counter. Those things then either go through the dishwasher or get hand washed. I feel okay about that.
I do use paper towels or toilet paper for cleaning the rim of the toilet and the floor immediately surrounding the toilet. Other than that, I have one sponge that I use for cleaning the bathtub and bathroom sink/counter area. I rinse the sponge well when I'm done and never think about sanitizing it beyond that. The sponge fully dries out between cleanings and stays in good condition for a long time.
For floors, I have a bunch of microfiber mop pads. When I'm mopping, I'll use one pad for the bathroom floors, another pad for the kitchen, and another for the living room. When all my mop pads are dirty, I'll do a laundry load of only those, according to the instructions that came with the pads.
posted by wondermouse at 12:00 PM on August 28, 2022
I am very careful with food prep, and I wash my hands more frequently than most people, so I'm not generally careless about pathogens - just, sterilizing everyday household surfaces seems pointless to me, along with being bad for the environment and maybe even bad for one's health. I wipe my kitchen counter off with the same sponge I use to hand wash dishes. I let that sponge fully dry out daily and occasionally put it in the dishwasher (particularly during summer months, when sometimes the air is too humid for the sponge to dry out before I use it the next day). Food prep happens on a clean dish or cutting board that is on a non-"sanitized" counter. Those things then either go through the dishwasher or get hand washed. I feel okay about that.
I do use paper towels or toilet paper for cleaning the rim of the toilet and the floor immediately surrounding the toilet. Other than that, I have one sponge that I use for cleaning the bathtub and bathroom sink/counter area. I rinse the sponge well when I'm done and never think about sanitizing it beyond that. The sponge fully dries out between cleanings and stays in good condition for a long time.
For floors, I have a bunch of microfiber mop pads. When I'm mopping, I'll use one pad for the bathroom floors, another pad for the kitchen, and another for the living room. When all my mop pads are dirty, I'll do a laundry load of only those, according to the instructions that came with the pads.
posted by wondermouse at 12:00 PM on August 28, 2022
According to the internet:
- You should clean cleaning cloths within a couple of days of use to prevent mold and gross odors.
- You should keep the cloths used for bathroom, kitchen, and everything else separate.
- You should use bleach when laundering, so you're sanitizing the cloths and not just swishing germs around.
- You should use a microfiber mophead, which picks up dirt far more effectively than cotton. But, bleach can't be used on microfiber (at least, according to the instructions on my mop), so you'll need to launder it separately.
This is all completely nuts. Personal opinion; casting no aspersions:
If you want to be tidy, the best and easiest things to do are...
-Have relevant cleaning products easily accessible (eg. paper towels and Windex; Comet and sponge, vessel for splashing water in bathroom(s)). It is okay to have duplicates. If you have two bathrooms, having these things in both increases the odds you're going to spontaneously clean a thing.
-Focus on the physical e.g. what's gross, which is, walking barefoot on a dirty kitchen floor in August humidity.
-Leverage filth: if you are about to throw a dirty washcloth into the laundry, take a minute and use that thing to wipe around the tub/sink/floor
-Focus on the visual: shine a couple of high profile objects and it makes it seem like you totally have it together. Which is to say, faucets, mirrors, and any high profile lighting.
Lastly, germs are normal. They aren't something to chase down unless your immune system is deeply compromised. Opt for cleanliness and comfort and doing what you can with soap and a rag.
Big fat stress over this shit compromises the immune system too.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 6:05 PM on August 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
- You should clean cleaning cloths within a couple of days of use to prevent mold and gross odors.
- You should keep the cloths used for bathroom, kitchen, and everything else separate.
- You should use bleach when laundering, so you're sanitizing the cloths and not just swishing germs around.
- You should use a microfiber mophead, which picks up dirt far more effectively than cotton. But, bleach can't be used on microfiber (at least, according to the instructions on my mop), so you'll need to launder it separately.
This is all completely nuts. Personal opinion; casting no aspersions:
If you want to be tidy, the best and easiest things to do are...
-Have relevant cleaning products easily accessible (eg. paper towels and Windex; Comet and sponge, vessel for splashing water in bathroom(s)). It is okay to have duplicates. If you have two bathrooms, having these things in both increases the odds you're going to spontaneously clean a thing.
-Focus on the physical e.g. what's gross, which is, walking barefoot on a dirty kitchen floor in August humidity.
-Leverage filth: if you are about to throw a dirty washcloth into the laundry, take a minute and use that thing to wipe around the tub/sink/floor
-Focus on the visual: shine a couple of high profile objects and it makes it seem like you totally have it together. Which is to say, faucets, mirrors, and any high profile lighting.
Lastly, germs are normal. They aren't something to chase down unless your immune system is deeply compromised. Opt for cleanliness and comfort and doing what you can with soap and a rag.
Big fat stress over this shit compromises the immune system too.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 6:05 PM on August 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
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Laundry that makes the bathroom cloths clean will also clean away anything they transfer to the other cloths.
posted by clew at 6:18 PM on August 27, 2022 [3 favorites]