The two-tea-towel method

It's a little slow around here at this time of year. I'm spending time with my family in the UK; my first Christmas here since 2002! The year after, I went to Australia as a backpacker and just never came home. I like to say that I moved to Australia by accident.

So here's something for the holidays. I have access to a kitchen again, and the first thing I did was go and buy fresh tea towels. If you care about cooking, this is how you need to tea towel. This is the two-tea-towel method.

Theory

When you're in the kitchen, you have two requirements in the cloth department.

First, you need one permanently slung over your shoulder that you can use to wipe your hands, the bench, to handle a pan, or mop a spill. This is your 'bench towel'.

Second, you need to dry things that you'll eat with, or off. You'll need to polish a glass or a spoon. This is your 'clean towel'.

Implementation

You need two (2) types of towel to meet these two needs.

Let's start with your clean towel. This needs to be a decent towel that can actually dry a thing. It needs a bit of fuzz to it, y'know? Your clean towel can't be one of those that feels like an old pair of underpants even when it's brand new.

Spend a tiny bit of money on your clean towels. For me. If you're on a budget, your bench towel doesn't need to be as fancy.

As a rule, simple cotton does the job. Avoid linen. And of course wash them before use to fluff them up a touch.

They must be visually distinct

It is vital that these two towels are different so that you can see, at a glance, which is which. If possible, don't choose a dark coloured 'clean towel': you want to be able to quickly intuit when it's no longer clean.

So find yourself two types of towels.

Clean: light (in colour), heavy (in weight and drying power).
Bench: dark (in colour), and can be cheaper.

We used these stalwarts from IKEA for many years. I used 'stripes' as clean and 'checks' as bench; while I wish they were more visually distinct, it worked. Importantly, the fabric suited both jobs perfectly and the price is right. Because...

Buy a dozen of each

That's twelve (12), six plus six. Two more than ten. Of each, not total. Eight more than you thought you needed before you read this article.

No, that is not too many. You must be able to use these towels freely. This is core to the method: you will never, ever use a dirty towel. You will use them with reckless abandon. You will be utterly free in your towel usage. This will change your life.

When we lived in a house and I prepared three meals a day I used at least one set of towels a day. On a normal day, one set is enough. It depends what you cook. But the instant you look at a towel and wonder as to its cleanliness: get a fresh one. Chuck yours in the wash.

You need hooks

This tip courtesy of my mam, who currently doesn't have hooks. Your tea towels must be on a hook, attached to an open wall. This removes all friction, literally.

Don't go hanging them over the oven handle or some other hack. Get a 3M hook and stick it on the wall. No excuses.

The weekly towel wash

We were lucky in having a house with a washing line (and generally sunny weather, in Canberra). As I sit and type this in a basement flat in the UK with my thermal top drying on a radiator I realise this situation is not universal. But do what you can.

At the end of the week, you've got 14 towels to wash. Chuck in some bathroom towels and that's a full load. Now you can hang them all out together and fold them together and that'll speed things right up.

Merry Christmas

Have a lovely Christmas. It's not too late to pop down the shops to get yourself a last minute gift. I'm sure IKEA is delightful today.

100% human. 0% AI. Always.