March 15, 2013

Paperless Kitchen Tested: Toockies Dish Cloths Review

Now that I've made the leap completely and removed the paper towel holder from the wall in my kitchen, I'm starting to experiment more with reusable alternatives to paper towels. In past blog posts, I've discussed disposable towels and reusable scrubbers, but have yet to test any fabric cloths. To change that and familiarize myself with another green paper towel replacement, I picked up a pack of Toockies Handmade Dish Cloths and decided to put them through a kitchen road test.

The Basics

Toockies dish cloths are made from 100 percent certified organic cotton and are sold in packs of three. We've discussed this eco-friendly brand in a previous blog post, explaining how all Toockies products are produced by hand by women in India who are able to better provide for their families with the wages they are paid for putting their knitting skills to good use.

The Inspection

As a special touch, the packaging of the Toockies cloths gave the name of the woman who made mine. It was a powerful reminder of the good that Toockies does for impoverished families every day.

Once I removed the cloths from the packaging and started handling, them I was immediately struck by their thickness. The cotton is so thick, and the knit is so flawless and tight that I could easily use my cloths as pot holders or trivets. The size of the cloth is perfect for the size of my hand and comparable to other dish cloths that I've used in the past, but my Kitchen Assistant felt that the cloth was a little small for his much bigger hands.

The Full Sink

Since dish cloths are primarily used for dishwashing, my kitchen assistant and I decided to fill up my sink and clean up the dishes from the lunch we ate before our road test began. Lunch was pasta, and our dishes were covered with sticky sauce and melty cheese. The grain of the weave on the Toockies cloth was easily able to lift away the grime, and it took very little scrubbing to get the dishes clean.

What impressed me even more was that when we rinsed the cloth, it looked as good as new. This surprised me because I was sure that the sauce would leave stains on the fabric.

The Microwave

Now that we had seen how well the Toockies dish cloth worked for tackling the dishes, we turned to the microwave, which I hadn't given a thorough cleaning in quite some time. My kitchen assistant and I took turns scrubbing and were impressed by how easily it was to clean all of the surfaces of the microwave. It was so easy to get the turntable clean that we didn't even have to take it out and soak it in the sink. We were also able to use just a tiny amount of dish soap to do all of the cleaning, thanks to the weave of the cloth.

The Washing Machine

When we finished with our test, I decided to toss the cloth in the washing machine. It softened up a little during the wash, but it held up very well without any visible signs of wear and tear.

The Takeaway

I really love the Toockies dish cloths. They're well made and very easy to use, and if my initial wash was any indication, they'll stand up well to repeated use. I did this road test four days ago and have used my cloths several times to clean counter tops, wash dishes and wipe my hands.

My kitchen assistant was also impressed with the cloths, so impressed that when I offered to give him one of the three clothes from my pack he said, "No, I want to buy a pack so I can have more than one."

I'd highly recommend these to anyone looking for a great everyday cloth to use in place of paper.