A dishcloth or dishrag is used in the

kitchen A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation in a dwelling or in a commercial establishment. A modern middle-class residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water ...

to clean or dry dishes and surfaces. Dishcloths are typically made of

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor p ...

or other fibres, such as microfiber, and measure 11" to 13" inches square. Dishcloths used for drying dishes are also known as tea towels.

Microwave disinfection

Dishcloths are often left damp and provide a breeding ground for

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were am ...

. Since the kitchen sink is used to clean food, dishcloths are routinely infected with E. coli and

salmonella ''Salmonella'' is a genus of rod-shaped (bacillus) Gram-negative bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae. The two species of ''Salmonella'' are ''Salmonella enterica'' and '' Salmonella bongori''. ''S. enterica'' is the type species and is fur ...

. In 2007, a study from the '' Journal of Environmental Health'' found that putting a damp dishcloth (or sponge) in the

microwave Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from about one meter to one millimeter corresponding to frequency, frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz respectively. Different sources define different fre ...

for 2 minutes killed 99% of living pathogens. However, fire departments have subsequently warned people not to do this as it can be a fire hazard, especially if the dishcloth or

sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate throug ...

is not sufficiently wet. Several small fires have been started as a result of people following the advice from the study.

References

{{reflist Kitchen Linens Domestic implements