Get the Stink Out of Your Dish Cloth {Without Buying New}

There’s a few items I received multiples of when I got married. Dish cloths/towels were one of them – in pretty much every color imaginable too. I’ve never had to buy any, and still have a bunch of brand new ones packed away for when my current cloths get rips or holes.

But if you use a dish cloth long enough, it’s going to stink. Bad. Like smelly locker rooms mixed with mildew. It makes me shudder just thinking about it.

I tried bleaching them, washing them in scalding hot water, and kept piling on the detergent, but nothing worked. The minute the cloth got wet, it stunk.

Introducing my friend, baking soda

Baking soda is known for getting out odors, so I thought I’d give it a try. The results were amazing! Care for the details?

Now presenting, the most elaborate scientific process to getting the stink out of your dish cloths: <– Click to Tweet

1. Pull out the biggest pot you have and start boiling water 1/2 – 3/4′s full.
2. Place 3 or 4 dish cloths into the boiling water using tongs. You don’t want to get burned!
3. Pour 1/8 cup baking soda into the water and stir. I found other sites that recommend using 1/2 – 1 cup of baking soda, but you really don’t need that much. A little bit ‘ill do ya!
4. Boil for 20 minutes.
5. Pull the dish cloths out with tongs and put straight into your washer. You should probably do a load at this point. {grin}

A few tips and tricks

-Dish cloths with more holes, tend to stink less overall. I’m talking about the ones you can knit together yourself. Don’t be afraid to use those homemade beauties – I think they work much better than store bought ones.

- Don’t boil together dark colors and light colors. I had a dark red in with a light blue, and the blue turned dingy.

- Keep an eye on the pot so it doesn’t boil over. The baking soda can get frothy at times.

- The key to keeping the smell away is to change the dish cloth often. I use it once, let it dry, and then toss it in the laundry basket. I haven’t had to boil them again since – and that was about a year ago!

I know there are many methods to getting the odor out of dish cloths, but this is the method that has worked for me. I am so much happier now that I have clean smelling cloths to work with. It makes such a big difference.

Plus, you don’t have to throw away perfectly good dish cloths and waste money. Granted, you can get cheap ones at the dollar store, but you could also save that dollar toward something else!

How do you deal with stinky dish cloth syndrome?

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers.

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