I recently stumbled upon this easy way to remove lingering odor from kitchen dishcloths. It works with any type of cloth…crochet or knit cotton, microfiber, standard kitchen dishcloths…whatever!

It’s better than bleach for a few reasons. First, bleach is quite toxic so should only be used when absolutely necessary. It will quickly remove color from any cloth it comes in contact with if you use too much (which is very easy to do).

Also, (and I know this for a fact), bleach destroys cotton fiber. Yes, really. I learned this during my undergraduate degree in a textiles lab. We took a small piece of cotton fabric and soaked it in 100% bleach. The fabric disintegrated! Moral of the story…Don’t use bleach on cotton if you care about the fabric!

New trick…boil those smelly yet laundered dishcloths. Place them in a pot of water. Bring it to a boil and boil them for a minute or two. Then leave them on the burner and turn it off. Allow them to sit for 5 to 10 minutes to cool down some and continue killing any remaining germs. Then drain the cloths and add cool water until they can be safely handled. Wring them out and (if desired) dry them further by wrapping them in a clean dry towel. Then toss them in the dryer until they are dried. Done!

It’s really very easy and effective, AND no toxic chemicals involved! Here’s a video on the topic! Enjoy, Judi