Looking for soap-absorbent/-retaining dish clothes

January 5, 2021 9:44 PM

I want to quit using sponges and switch to dish clothes, so I'm looking for ones that are thick and will hold/retain a lot of dish soap while I use them.

I mainly do dishes by putting a bunch of soap on a sponge and washing all dishes/pots (that don't go in the dishwasher) with it, as opposed to filling a sink with soapy water. I hate the waste of sponges and how quickly they get gross and I'd like to switch to dish clothes, but I feel like every dish cloth I've ever used has been super thin, and dish soap drizzled on it just washes off because they're too thin to really absorb/hold on to the soap. Any recommendations for thick dish clothes that can hold onto a lot of soap? I am less concerned with their scrubbiness. Thanks!

posted by skycrashesdown to Home & Garden (13 answers total)

Have you tried hand-made cotton dishrags? Crochet will be thicker than knit. You can probably find them at any craft-market type event, definitely on Etsy ($2-3 each), or if you or a friend crochet? They stay soapy pretty well and machine wash, instead of being disposable products. If you're in the US and want to message me your address, I can send you a couple to try.
posted by dorey_oh at 11:21 PM on January 5, 2021 [3 favorites]

Are washcloths (rather than dishcloths) workable?
posted by vegartanipla at 12:10 AM on January 6, 2021

If you can get one of these where you live, I'd recommend it. Inside the pad there's some kind of thick inner layer that seems to hold onto the soap pretty well.
posted by rd45 at 1:46 AM on January 6, 2021

I really like these. Hopefully you can get them where you are
posted by kinddieserzeit at 2:47 AM on January 6, 2021

Personally I like to use these , if I search for microfiber sponge cloth Amazon brings up a ton of options.
posted by koahiatamadl at 3:56 AM on January 6, 2021

Microfiber cloths get really soapy. Target used to have some plaid tablecloth-looking ones - they had them for year!!! - that were good but look to have been discontinued.
posted by Frowner at 5:05 AM on January 6, 2021

I have three reusable/ washable sponges from Marley's Monsters, and they hold a lot of soap. (I use solid dish soap.)
posted by wicked_sassy at 5:58 AM on January 6, 2021

Swedish dishcloths
posted by matildaben at 8:48 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

I live where they grow loofah plants, so they are fairly inexpensive. They work well for this task! They last longer than sponges and are a lot more airy so they dry out quickly and don't get gross. When they're worn out they can be composted or used as mulch.
posted by hannahelastic at 9:11 AM on January 6, 2021

I use silicone dish-washing pads, basically "reusable sponges", but I found them a bit too soft and don't have the "scrubbing" power of those dish sponges I'm used to.
posted by kschang at 10:11 AM on January 6, 2021

Just to check: Do you let your sponges dry in between washings, whether in a rack like this or just upright on the counter? I wash dishes in the same way as you (soap on sponge instead of basin of soapy water), and this keeps the grossness down quite a bit.
posted by batter_my_heart at 6:05 PM on January 6, 2021

I've been using these dish cloths. They're absorbent, like a washcloth, but one side is textured so they can be used for scrubbing. They have a loop for hanging to drip dry and are machine washable.
posted by easy, lucky, free at 8:33 PM on January 7, 2021

We've been pretty satisfied with these washable microfiber sponges. Every day or two I toss the old one into the wash and start using a new one.
posted by Lexica at 12:46 PM on January 13, 2021