In Praise of Rags

Sorry I have been so lax on posting lately. Seems like I have not had alot of creative energy for writing, but have been busy cooking, cleaning and getting a few Christmas gift ideas together. With all the cleaning, I started thinking about how I love my rags.

Some of my friends have said I have the nicest rags in town. Guess that is my claim to fame, albeit not a very distinguished one.

I am from the era before paper towels. When did paper towels show up in kitchens and cleaning buckets anyway? When I was growing up we did not have paper towels because we had hand towels to wipe our wet hands on, dishtowels for drying dishes and rags under the sink for cleaning and absorbing spills. They were changed and washed regularly. Yes paper towels are a convenience, although… one I have never really gotten into using, except for an occasional bit of cat barf or dog poo.

One rag will do the job of 4-5 paper towels. If you do not have old towels or clothes to make into rags you can buy a pack of cheap wash cloths or shop rags and they will last you for years. In my way of thinking paper towels are an unnecessary item and extra cost. It is like throwing away money. I have heard you can shred or wet them and use them in compost, but have not tried it.

My rags are mostly from terrycloth towels which no longer matched my décor or became too worn and tattered for daily use. They were cut to a manageable size, which means small enough to wring out, but large enough to do the job. The edges are zigzagged on my sewing machine. Over the years I found that if they were edge stitched they lasted a lot longer. Then I did not have to untangle them when the edges became frayed and wound their raveled strings to other pieces of laundry. Then they have a new home in my rag hamper in the laundry room or under the bathroom and kitchen sinks.

I have rags that are used exclusively for certain purposes, like those I will use with furniture polish, which are kept in a metal coffee can, as they could be flammable. Floor cleaning or bathroom cleaning rags are only used for those purposes. Then they are washed with bleach or soaked in bleach before washing. The rags that are very worn out are used to polish shoes, clean the dogs muddy feet or clean up nasty messes and then are thrown out. My old cotton dishtowels which get stained and grubby looking are saved and used when I clean mirrors, glass top tables and do windows.

So what does one do with a dirty rag? Rinse them out, let them dry and wash them with other grubby laundry. The ones that are used for heavy duty cleaning are washed with rugs. Like when we used cloth diapers you can put them in a bucket of water with soap and a bit of bleach until you are ready to wash them.

I have never kept sponges, as I feel they breed germs, although I have read you can microwave them a few minutes and kill anything living in them.

In my kitchen I have a terry cloth hand towel for wiping my wet hands on and a dishtowel for drying my dishes, as I do not have a dishwasher. (Usually the dishes are not wiped but air dried.) They are changed every few days and all washed once a week. It is still possible to find the nice cotton muslin dishtowels at Wal-Mart. Gone are the days when the young ladies embroidered the days of the week on the dishtowels for their hope chests.

When walking down the cleaning supply aisles in the stores I am amazed what people pay for all the new cleaning gadgets and stuff, when a rag would work solve the cleaning problem. They are fun to try, but I always go back to my old rags and not continue to buy and buy.

HOMEMADE CLEANERS

This has been a rough day, so decided I would give my brain a break and pass along some great ideas for Cleaning Products. These are products I use on a regular basis and am pleased with the results. If you start adding up the costs of the ingredients, you will be very surprised what you will save making your own even over getting cleaners at the $1 store.

GLASS CLEANER/GENERAL PURPOSE CLEANER
1/2 c Ammonia (sudsy or clear)
2 c rubbing alcohol
1 teaspoon dish soap, like Dawn or Joy
Put the 1st two ingredients in a gallon jug, then fill with water. Add the dish soap and mix well. Put in a spray bottle and use as you would any other glass or all purpose cleaner. (Just plain rubbing alcohol works pretty well for glass cleaner.)

DISINFECTANT SPRAY
This is great when every one has colds, or you want to make sure your cutting board is sanitized etc. Mix 1 part bleach to 10 parts water. This idea was give to me by the Health Department nursed when we did a seminar for my home health aides.

If you are interested in becoming more green look at all the possibilities of plain ol' vinegar and baking soda.

DRAIN CLEANER:
This is something that should be used on a monthly basis to keep your drains clean. Slowly pour a cup of baking soda down the drain, then add a few cups of vinegar. Allow it to sit awhile and pour hot water down the drain. (You can also use this to clean your toilets.) A 50 cents box of baking soda and $2 for a jug of vinegar goes a long way!!! Having a drain cleaner guy or plumber would not be near as inexpensive.

If you have allot of hair that goes down your bathroom drain, you might want to just use bleach on a regular basis as it will dissolve the hair.

You would be very surprised what all comes out of the hose on your washer, which all goes down the drain. A guy who worked for a drain cleaning service told me to put a nylon stocking over the washer drain hose. Tie it on the hose with a piece of elastic or old shoe string. Change the "sock" regularly. What do you suppose all that STUFF is? Maybe we don't want to know!

Well, those are a few of my favorites. Simple and basic....just like me!