Definition: Tea Towel
tea towel n. A cloth for drying dishes; a dishtowel.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
A relatively simple tool, used to drying things with which you use to eat. Things that will no doubt, in some way or another will come in contact with your mouth. With that in mind, would you think someone would say, drop a tea towel on the floor and then put it back up to be used (or for a change not, and just leave it laying there)? Or perhaps even wipe up food dropped on the floor and then put it back up where it belongs? Until recently, I've not had the pleasure of meeting anyone who would do such a thing. It's quite horrible, to reach for a tea towel to dry a plate and find that it is actually dirtier than the bottom of a shoe. Essentially everytime I use the kitchen, I bring out a fresh tea towel because I can not trust the cleanliness of the existing towel. I have, until recently, been the only one in the past 4 months to wash the tea towels.
Today's reason why my flatmate pisses me off;
Using tea towels to wipe the floor (and god knows what else), and then returning them back to the handle of the oven to be used unsuspectingly by others.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
A relatively simple tool, used to drying things with which you use to eat. Things that will no doubt, in some way or another will come in contact with your mouth. With that in mind, would you think someone would say, drop a tea towel on the floor and then put it back up to be used (or for a change not, and just leave it laying there)? Or perhaps even wipe up food dropped on the floor and then put it back up where it belongs? Until recently, I've not had the pleasure of meeting anyone who would do such a thing. It's quite horrible, to reach for a tea towel to dry a plate and find that it is actually dirtier than the bottom of a shoe. Essentially everytime I use the kitchen, I bring out a fresh tea towel because I can not trust the cleanliness of the existing towel. I have, until recently, been the only one in the past 4 months to wash the tea towels.
Today's reason why my flatmate pisses me off;
Using tea towels to wipe the floor (and god knows what else), and then returning them back to the handle of the oven to be used unsuspectingly by others.
posted at 12:16
13 Comments:
I once shared a house with a man who (while chatting with me in the kitchen) *sneezed* into the tea towel and then proceeded to put it back in its place.
AAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH
I'd say let the flatmate keep their own tea towels and keep yours separated and hidden! I remember doing a bacteria swab for a staff microwave a while back in highschool. There were other samples taken from around the school, but the microwave sample turned out to be the worst. And the microwave appeared fairly clean!
To just imagine how the towel would've turned out...(shudder).
One can only wonder if it would've killed the flatmate to use napkins or toilet paper to clean the floor instead of afflicting a tea towel that wipes dishes that people eat off!
At my parent's house we had a solution for this: two towels. The upper one was for dishes ONLY, while the lower one was for drying or wiping hands while cooking. We always had two sponges too, one for dishes only, and the other (with a corner cut off) for the floor etc. At my house now, we never dry dishes, we just leave them in the rack until they're dry and then put them away.
well..while i was on vacation my old flatmate moved out and chose a new one for me... though we kept in contact by email and i told her who was my prefered of the new candidates.. she chose one she liked best_ however. after 10 weeks away i found a flat that looked terribly. my new flatmate i didn't know at all had painted his room and left traces all over the flat.. including the rinsing sink... all over with paint. and to remove his traces in the corridor, he just used my tea towels to _remove_ the paint and not leave any more traces of paint. .. haha! what a nice surprise! on top of that, he used my glasses as an ashtray, disposal for painting brushes and used my wooden cooking spoon to temper his paint... and all that without knowing me... i was very impressed when i came home after several hours of travelling. i had thought it couldn't be worse than my former flatmate.. i was proven wrong. .. as my new flatmate is age 36, and pretends to be working in the states ( i live in germany now), he still is not able to pay his rent...nor his bont (?) after being my flatmate for 6 months...nor the money i have to pay for him to not get into troubles.. like electricity... etc. .. all i can say is that i am thankfull our leaser (?) is so fair and doesn't ask me for my flatmate's debts... haha
but i think your flatmate is still more uncomfortable than mine when he's in germany.. somewhat relieving...
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I've been reading through your rantings and yeah you have a point. Though sometimes I think you're an obsessive compulsive person. You have to recognize that not everybody is as perfect as you. Hehe, but thanks for the laughter. I find your blogs quite funny. I just think that you're making all of these up. :)
Well, sometimes I get lazy and I do the same, but since I don't use tea towels much, I don't haev any problems.
My boyfriend hadn't believed me when I told him about how nasty my flatmates (2) are until his visit last weekend. Previously they have managed to be clean when he's around, but this time they:
sneezed on the oven mitt and put it away for others to use
I'm also the only one who ever changes/ washes the teatowels. I feel your pain, and I'm getting rather paranoid about what they do while I'm gone :-/
I totally agree with what you're saying. I wish more people felt this way and took the time to express themselves. Keep up the great work.
Andrea Jasperson
http://www.kitchenrangehoodscenter.com
Just trying to understand the TEA TOWEL culture - as it is a very Brit thing. From this link, found on a random Google search, I can see that it is clearly not used for wiping the floor of food - but is it ever really used for its namesake of TEA? People are clearly very particular about their tea towels, but I really think you/everyone should clearly state, up front, where you stand regarding your tea towel. If you prefer to use a freshly laundered towel every time you wipe - it seems you better let your flatmate know. Maybe there could be a big pile of your old manky tea towels, to do as the flatmate pleases? ~Annoying Anonymous American
This Blog is really helpful to me. Its a learning experience. Hope everyone feels the same.
Jared Bruskin
http://www.kitchenrangehoodscenter.com
I have great pictures of a teapot! Check it!
Personally - I'll never use tea-towels to dry dishes. This is the most manky thing I could think of.
Beyond the typical bacterial issue & the whole room mate dissin the tea-towel & putting it back for ready use...they always leave fine fibres on every dish you dry them with.
No matter the tea-towel type - fluffy or not - they all leave these fibres. I'm dry reaching at the thought of it now.
How could anyone want to 'dry' the dishes?
That's what a well maintained dring rack is for (yes - drying racks need regular cleaning too).
People that use tea-towels for anything other than drying a bench top (where food to be eaten won't be touching) or clearing a mess are MANKY!!!
You horrify me people - let nature dry them.
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