UK households urged to ditch paper towels – 1 thing mops up better

People have praised one simple kitchen instrument that they say eliminates the need for kitchen roll. A staple in almost every UK household, kitchen towels are used for spills and crumbs, but we often need to use an awful lot of pieces to clean things up, especially when we cause major spills. However, there is an alternative and you may have never heard of it. And if you have, you probably know how handy it can be in the kitchen.

Have you ever heard of a Swedish dishcloth? If not, we are about to put you onto something that might just make cleaning up your kitchen countertops and table a whole lot easier. A Swedish dishcloth is a reusable, compostable cleaning cloth made from a blend of natural wood cellulose and cotton. Rather than using a paper towel and throwing it away, you can get multiple uses out of a Swedish dishcloth. Think of it as a halfway point between a kitchen roll and a sponge. It kind of works as both.

It was invented in the 1940s, and it is common in Swedish households. However, many UK households haven’t adopted it yet.

This is despite its ability to hold 15 times its weight in liquid, making it a much more effective cleaning agent than paper towels and more sustainable as well. Plus, you can throw them into the washing machine after rinsing them to get more uses out of them.

Various social media users have praised these inventions for their effectiveness. One Reddit user shared: “I’m Swedish and use them for anything, more or less. Wiping the counter, washing some dishes, but they are absolutely not meant for patting down meat.”

Another wrote: “I’ve been using mine to wash dishes for a few months now. I hang it over the sink faucet to dry between uses and sometimes I use it to clean up a mess on the counter or spills. I feel like it should definitely last me a few more months at least.”

A third said: “I love them for washing dishes, been using them for years. I just throw them in the washing machine to clean them.”

A fourth shared: “We use them in my house, but like sponges they can hold on to bacteria and smell if not dried and washed. When we use ours to wash dishes they are replaced with a clean dry one daily. Depending on how frequently you use them and how hard you scrub, they should last between a few months to a year.”