A microbiologist has settled the long-running debate over how often tea towels should be washed, saying they should be changed every day.
Tea towels are used for everything from wiping spills to drying pots and pans. While they do a lot of cleaning, opinions differ on how often the towels themselves should be cleaned. Some people say they should be washed daily, while others wait until they smell or look stained.
Why daily washing matters
According to Dr Primrose Freestone from the University of Leicester, tea towels should be changed every day because they can easily become a breeding ground for bacteria. If left too long, they risk spreading dangerous bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella across kitchen surfaces.
Dr Freestone told the Daily Mail: “You could get sick if the tea towel has mopped up fluids with infectious bacteria in them and then re-used to contaminate a previously clean area.”
What people say online
The discussion recently reignited on Reddit. One person said they would only change their tea towel “when it stinks. When it looks dirty.” Another said: “I change things when they get gross. So, when you can see stains on the dish towels and cloths.”
Others do swap out their dish cloths more often. One commented: “Dishcloths and rags every day or every other day, MAX every third day. Anything else is gross when they're used in the kitchen.”
How bacteria grow
Dr Freestone explained that when tea towels are used regularly for drying dishes and cleaning up mess, “an environment is created which favours growth of bacteria with dampness and nutrients”. She added: “Kitchens favour this growth by being quite warm environments. Bacteria which can cause food poisoning can grow well at room temperature.”
So the next time a tea towel is used to dry pots or clean up a spill, it should be put away for washing before it is used again.
