Should You Air Dry or Towel Dry Your Dishes?

Created: Friday, 27 November 2020 09:22

If you’re washing your dishes by hand, you have two general options for drying. You can leave your dishes on a rack to air dry, or you can grab some dish towels to dry them by hand. When you’re trying to determine whether to air dry or towel dry, you’ll want to consider food safety.

Regardless of whether you towel dry dishes or air dry them, you’ll want to make sure they're completely dry before putting them away. Bacteria can grow anywhere, especially in a warm, wet and dark environment like your cupboard or even the spaces between wet stacked dishes. Look under your dish rack, and you may see mildew unless you clean very thoroughly. Mildew in and around your dish drying rack can contaminate your drying dishes, too.

Another consideration is streaking. When you towel dry your dishes and glasses using a soft, lint-free cloth, you can buff the surface to provide a sparkling clean, ensuring every plate and cup is perfectly dry and streak-free.

When Is It Okay to Use a Towel to Dry Your Dishes?

After you have washed dishes in hot, soapy water, you can use a dish towel to dry them. In general, it's okay to dry your dishes with a towel as long as the towel you use is clean. The advantage of using a towel is that you can dry dishes thoroughly and quickly, then put them away. 

If you decide to air dry your dishes, consider letting them dry on a clean dish towel or a cleaned dish rack. Always check your dish rack to ensure no mold or mildew is starting to grow on it.

Is Towel Drying Your Dishes Sanitary?

Towel drying is only sanitary when you use a fresh, clean towel for every drying job. If you use the same towel you use to wipe down surfaces or dry your hands, you risk cross-contaminating the dishes that you just worked so hard to clean.

When towel drying dishes and cutlery, your best option is to have a stack of clean towels on hand. As each kitchen towel gets wet, toss it aside and use a fresh towel to dry the remaining dishes. All wet towels should go directly into the laundry.

If you're concerned about cross-contamination, one option is to have kitchen towels with stripes for dish drying. This way, you only use these towels for drying dishes and never for drying wet surfaces or your hands. Towel Super Center has a range of kitchen towels and bar mop towels for every need in the kitchen. 

Find the Dish Towels You Need Online

If you’re looking for kitchen towels to keep your dishes dry and clean, Towel Super Center can provide them. On our site, you can buy bar mop towels in bulk and have them shipped right to your door. Our 100% cotton bar mop towels are lint-free and dry your dishes and glasses with no streaks. Bulk buying lets you buy plenty of towels so you always have enough on hand. Browse our extensive inventory today.