Kitchen Towels and Cloth ... cleaning

[Adamsmama]

Do you guys soak your kitchen cloth in between washing? I have to admit I've only been washing 1x - 2x a week ... this time it has been about a whole week and I just dumped my towels in the washer to find white furry mold growing on some of the washcloths toward the bottom. They were crumpled, wet, and stored in a dry pail ... should I be soaking? Should I use bleach? I threw out 2 of them ... not sure if others were bad looking -- but I did pour some bleach in the washer and will follow by a sanitize cycle. I really wish I could get this right. I don't want to have mold growing in my kitchen every week. I don't think I can wash daily. WWYD?

[PGTlatte]

I never soak.

While they are wet, I hang them over the side of the bucket for a day. I rotate the bucket so I can hang things all around it, in order. Within a day they are dry and go into the bucket. Anything that is still wet keeps hanging until the next day. This way I don't ever have wet stuff molding in the bottom of the bucket.

I don't throw anything out if it does mold. I just use a little bleach and wash in hot.

[ChetMC]

Hanging

I do the same. I hang cloths to dry on the side of the kitchen bucket for a day before I chuck them right in. I do the same thing with diapers and the diaper pail.

Borax will also kill mold if you don't want to use bleach.

[proudmomof4]

Originally Posted by laundrycrisis

I never soak.

While they are wet, I hang them over the side of the bucket for a day. I rotate the bucket so I can hang things all around it, in order. Within a day they are dry and go into the bucket. Anything that is still wet keeps hanging until the next day. This way I don't ever have wet stuff molding in the bottom of the bucket.
(...)

The trick is really not to bury wet or even damp things on the bottom of your laundry hamper / tub / whatever you use. I usually give dishrags a quick rinse and wring them out before they're waiting for their turn to be washed. (I rinse to remove oatmeal, bread crumbs, and similar stuff that would encourage mould.)

[greenmansions]

I hang the wet (wrung out) rags and damp towels on the oven handles, or on the edge of the laundry room sink til they dry. I always let them dry before I toss them into the pile to be washed. Most things dry overnight.

[ollyoxenfree]

I hang them as well, usually around the rim of one of the laundry baskets. The real trick is to get the kids to hang them to dry. They are the ones who toss damp/wet towels into the laundry basket, and then pile other dirty clothes on top. Then when I'm doing laundry, I get a mildew-y surprise.

A soak in diluted vinegar before washing helps if you have mildew/mould.

[proudmomof4]

Originally Posted by ollyoxenfree

I hang them as well, usually around the rim of one of the laundry baskets. The real trick is to get the kids to hang them to dry. They are the ones who toss damp/wet towels into the laundry basket, and then pile other dirty clothes on top. Then when I'm doing laundry, I get a mildew-y surprise.

A soak in diluted vinegar before washing helps if you have mildew/mould.

Yup - and train your husbands / partners early, as well!