Kitchen Garden Forum

Tea towels... what has happened to them? I'm fed up with chasing water around the surface of pots and pans!! They don't dry things

Buy them, wash them, don't use softner as it inhibits water take up and they still don't blasted well dry. Hmphhh.

I've tried towelling ones, smooth ones, tufted ones and now I'm grumpy!

Any solutions! (Apart from a dishwasher)

MW

MW - perfect timing as hubby was moaning to me about same thing. No he doesn't do it frequently unfortunately! He claims the best ones are the holiday tea towels family & friends have given us. They are generally linen & after a couple of washes do the trick.

We are currently on sites of Cornwall, but rotate with a few veg themed ones. The towelling ones are relegated to the back, but he grabbed one of these, hence the moan!

Westi

Have you tried proper linen towels, MW? They are more expensive to buy but do the job and last many years. I think many of the towelling ones are not pure cotton and their artificial fibre content seems to stop them from absorbing.

These towels from Lakeland are the best ever. I wouldn't use anything else now.

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/21865/Red-E-cloth-Tea-Towel

Beryl.

Don't have much trouble with drying up tea towels but agree linen glass cloths are the best.
If you want a new moan how about zips. I throw more clothes away with broken zips than worn out, admittedly they have to be pretty worn out to not be used in the garden but even so.

Zips! Oh don't start me on zips! My normal attire is jeans and T-shirts which are generally OK (Cotton traders or M&S jeans, other manufacturers available) but my work clothes have to be 'smart' (frowned upon to take minutes wearing jeans!) and the zips go frequently.

Is it just womens' clothes that are not made to be 'worn'? 'They're only fashion garments madam' What? What? They're clothes for goodness sake, what am I supposed to do with them?

Thanks for the link to the lakeland tea towels, I'll have to keep them out of the way of the spaniel that likes to pull them off the bar on the range....

MW

Motherwoman wrote:Zips! Oh don't start me on zips!

Is it just womens' clothes that are not made to be 'worn'? '

You're right, my partner breaks zips in her jeans and I noticed that even though they are not cheap garments the zips tend to be lightweight compared to blokes zips.

I only break zips on warm jackets, never on jeans or trousers.

This is my theory, the zips on ladies garments are shorter than on mens garments because the designer thinks blokes are always up-and-down but they forget the stress on a short zip when ladies unzip, pull their pants down and sit on the toilet.

Regarding t-towels, we have all sorts. Soft cotton and linen and some I can only describe as waffles. Waffles are hopeless, old worn linen that she's just about to bin because they look scruffy are the best so I have to suffer, "Why do you always get those old t-towels out"

I just shrug and smile-sweetly because I'll be wrong if I state my corner.

Yes, it's fleeces and anoraks that annoy me most - I have an excellent gardening fleece that now bursts open when I work in it. I may have gained a little weight this Winter but I think it should be up to it.

Zips are a moan of mine too. The zip on a favourite gardening anorak recently busted and I was quoted about £25 from the dry cleaners to replace it which is more than the anorak cost about 20 years ago! I shall be replacing it with something from a charity shop which will cost about £4, which I what I naively thought it would cost me to replace the zip. I still live in the last venture when it comes to the repair prices I expect to pay.

Incidentally, I have some favourite tea towels which seem to have some grease engrained in the fibres and they don,t feel very pleasant. . Any ideas how I can get them serviceable again? I suspect they have been in the washing machine on too low a temperature,

Could try a soak in some Vanish (other stain removers available) and then a 40 degree wash Primrose.

Back to zips... no4 son came home from school yesterday and his trouser zip had gone he was not amused!

And while I'm about it why are jars jar shaped? Was there ever a more awkward shape to get mayo out of? Guaranteed to go all up the knife/spoon handle. Why can't we have jars with straight sides? No bulge at the bottom either, us frugal people spend ages trying to get it all out! Don't like squeezy bottles much either, you end up spluttering the mayo all over the place when there's still loads left.

MW

Swafega - the gel that mechanics use to clean their hands with, works on fresh grease marks, partcularly anything polyester. A good dab making sure it is colour fast first, then washing well. Not sure if it's dried in though.

Beryl.

Oh MW - jars! That little bulge just under the screw is a right pain! As you drag your spoon up the jar to get the stuff out it all accumulates there. When the jar is nearly empty you think you have a wee bit left there so no panic but it is always yucky & thick!

I'm sure there is a valid reason for it ( other than to annoy), but it is a total design fault!

Westi

Why are (most) jars jar-shape?

Having given this a bit of thought, I reckon that the reason for the shoulder is to ensure that the diameter of the lid is the same as that of the jar. If it were greater, then the lid would stick out beyond the jar requiring additional space when packing together and possibly leading to breakages. That's my guess. And having said that, there are some shoulderless jars. My favourite are Bonne Maman jam jars.



See what I mean about the extra width?



...and extra wasted space when packed?

There's a very valid reason for it, Westi. Most people don't bother to get the last bit out. so that way they sell more jam/pickles/whatever. Always follow the money

Indeed JohnN!

A few years ago I was watching one of the chef programmes & he commented on how much is left behind in tins & jars . He demonstrated with a tin of soup & calculated the cost & it was a few pence which added up to a free can over a year. His recommendation was a silicone spatula which I do use to get the last bits out of things.

Unfortunately with things like jams & mayo that you use longer that last bit is pretty gross, but great for tins!

Westi