Martha Stewart Urges You To Replace These Kitchen Items Weekly

The kitchen is a focal point for many households. It's where all of the great meals and the great messes can be made. But to keep things orderly, you may want to try some of Martha Stewart's go-to kitchen organization tricks, like storing things where you need them, including your kitchen towels. These ubiquitous, rectangle-shaped pieces of cloth are among the essential kitchen tools every household needs. But Martha Stewart says if you aren't changing them out weekly, you may want to start.  

Kitchen towels can be used for everything from wiping down countertops to drying pots and pans to covering food to drying hands. In a 2009 column for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Stewart shared, "Change dishcloths at least once a week, and replace sponges approximately every two weeks or as soon as they begin to fall apart." The domestic diva went on to explain that these items are "equal-opportunity" breeding grounds for germs and bacteria — the very things you are trying to eliminate or shield food from when you use them. 

Martha Stewart notes that food-borne pathogens can easily find their way onto a dish towel, where they grow and spread. Dish towels can also take on odors from garlic and onions. But changing them once a week may not be enough. According to the MSU Extension, dishcloths should be changed out daily. The organization cites a study of 100 dish towels from home kitchens where 45% of them were tainted with a bacteria that could be traced to a foodborne illness. Translation: Kitchen towels can get gross fast.

This is why Stewart says you want to wash them in hot water to kill any of those germs that might be hanging around, ready to make you and your family sick. Foodborne illnesses are real. In fact, the CDC estimates that approximately 9.9 million people come down with a foodborne illness each year. Many require hospitalization, while others result in death. 

If you want to practice peak kitchen safety, color-code your kitchen towels. Use one color for each of your kitchen needs: Drying, wiping, covering foods, etc. Additionally, the cookbook author says you should consider using single-use paper towels if laundry isn't a frequent chore, and especially when wiping up eggs or patting meat dry.