In a recent post I mentioned that I had been using “shop towels” in the kitchen and figured this was a good time to order more. A couple of days ago I washed all 150 of them and this morning I folded them. These aren’t nearly the same quality as the first ones I had ordered. Even after washing, they have a “shop towel” smell – kinda like Pledge. Vince said the first ones I bought did too when I first got them . . I don’t remember that. The smell isn’t so obvious that I wouldn’t use them for drying my hands or drying dishes. I dried some dishes this morning and the dishes don’t smell. I’m peeling potatoes to can and I wouldn’t lay the potatoes out on them
I’m not disappointed in them because what I use them for they’ll be fine. I am canning this morning and I grabbed a stack of 20 of the shop towels and I’m quite sure by the end of the day, the entire stack of 20 will be in the laundry basket. I drip water on the floor and toss a towel down and use my foot to mop up the water. I wouldn’t want to do that with nice towels.
Last night I made a sink of hot vinegar water in the downstairs bathroom sink and used one of these towels to “mop” the tile floors down there.
When comparing to the cost and convenience of these vs. paper towels, I will continue to use them and replace them when needed but I also ordered the bar mop towels this morning. These may be better suited for a lot of kitchen work. There are 60 14″ x 12″ towels for a bit less than $40. The shop towels were about the same price and they come in packs of 150.
I still have somewhat decent regular dish towels but for most of what I do, I need something inexpensive, something that can be bleached and lots of them!
Mostly I just wanted to share that, as of now, I don’t like the newest batch of shop towels as much as I do the older batch.
Teri says
Thanks for letting us know about the quality of the new ones. Hope you will you let us know how you like the bar mop towels when you use them.
Nelle Coursey says
Maybe after a few washings they will be better.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I think so too.
Rebecca says
I have a package of bar mops that I picked up at Costco. I thought that they would be more versatile than they are, as they are rather coarse, and the terry loops are kind of scattered. I kept thinking of them when you were writing about shop towels. It is nice to have something to just grab! Even though my city does composting now, I’d still rather use reusable towels except for greasy or oily clean-up!