February 24, 2013

What to Do with Wet Towels in Your Kitchen

Going paperless in your kitchen means ditching paper towels and opting for reusable alternatives like biodegradable disposable cloths, green cleaning cloths and cloth towels. But what do you do with your paper towel alternatives after you've used them? Letting a dirty cloth or towel rest on your counter top is unattractive and unsanitary, but if you're like many people, you may struggle with precisely what to do instead.

Here are some of our best ideas for managing wet towels and cloths in the kitchen.

- Laundry bags. Both e-Cloth and PeopleTowels make special laundry bags for their products. Outfitted with zippers or drawstrings, these compact bags can be kept in a drawer or cupboard and filled with dirty towels and cloths that are ready for the washing machine. Although these are created for specific brands, you can easily use them to store other types of paper towel alternatives like our SKOY cloths or Bambooee bamboo paper towels.

- Towel bars and rings. You can mount a decorative towel bar or towel ring on the outside of the cabinet beneath your sink, at the end of an island or in another easy-to-access spot in your kitchen. There are many green towel rings and bars available online.

- Hooks. Pick up some sustainable wood, recycled metal or other eco-friendly hooks and mount them on the inside of one of the cabinet doors beneath your sink. This will keep your cloths and towels at the ready, yet out of sight.

- Magnets. Several companies offer magnetic towel rings and bars that can be placed on the front or sides of your fridge. Full Circle even makes the Stick 'Em Magnetic Dish Towel, which has a magnet sewn right into the fabric.

There are just a few ideas to get you thinking about what to do with wet cloths in the kitchen. Do you have a different technique? If so, share it in our "Comments" section.