I've been washing dishes by hand for longer than I care to count. I don't mind the chore, but I'm always looking for ways to make it easier. Well, did you know that a simple button can help you get your dishes cleaner? True story!
My project for this weekend involves my button jar. We all have one (or want to) and it's satisfying to dump it out every once in a while and find a new one to put to use. This time around it's going on a few dishcloths. Why?
Last week a friend and I were chatting while I was doing the lunch dishes and she mentioned a trick her mother taught her some time ago. It was one of those things that she thought everyone knew and was excited to share her knowledge with me.
Her mother sewed buttons to the corners of her dishcloths (the ones for drying) to help remove stuck on food. Yes, you should be washing your dishes thoroughly, but sometimes there's that one little bit that you thought you removed, but didn't. So when you're drying your dishes and don't really want to submerge things again, just use the button!
She's used the trick in her household for several years and her mother before her. It's a simple way to not only bust out the button jar, but to make handwashing even easier! Give it a try!
(Image: Flickr member Laineys Repertoire licensed for use by Creative Commons)
Find Your Style: 20 Classic to Contemporary Kitchens to Add to Your Inspiration Board
Beth's Romantic & Retro Residence
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Shaw's Original Fir...
10 Ways to Put a Muffin Pan to Good Use (Other Than Making Muffins!)
How To Cook Tender, Chewy Wheat Berries on the Stovetop
I don't get it. Do you use the edge of the button to scrape it off? That's kind of gross.
I suppose you wash your dishes perfectly every time.
I envision using the fabric against the dish, backed by the firmness of the button?
You can either use the button to scrape off the last little bit of food (and then wipe it off) or use it as pressure for the towel.
If you're using your towel to wash dishes with, then the later is great, if you're using your button towel to dry with, then the prior might be more helpful.
There will still be germs where the person scraped. I would wash the item, not scrape.
You do realize for the most part it is the act of friction during washing that cleans things, right? Water just helps pull particles and soap is just a surfactant used to make it easier. That little spot isn't going to magically hold billions of bacteria. People are seriously weird about cleaning.
And just in case one of those scary germs gets through, people have things like digestive systems and immune systems to take care of it.
I think if I found a piece of stuck-on food on a clean dish, I'd wash it off. It takes just a second to run it under running water and whisk a sponge over it. I guess I'm not understanding the whole button premise.
You probably only need to worry about the germs under a tiny smudge of food if you have an immunodeficient person in the house or the plate was previously holding uncooked chicken. Cooked food fairly promptly washed is just not going to have many dangers in it, especially in such a minuscule quantity.
It sounds like a good idea to me!
great idea! i've been sewing putty knives to my dishclothes all these years...what a relief!
If you are really concerned about bacteria, the dish cloth and sponge you used to clean and dry your dishes are far dirtier than the dishes themselves. For most bacteria, once the dish air dries, the bacteria will die as well. Generally, health codes forbid sponges and manually drying dishes in restaurants at all.
Genius!!! And yes, people ARE seriously weird about cleaning. I'm sure it's cleaner than flicking it off with my finger nail, which is what I would have done anyway.
Hey @leahcdouglas - I'm with ya on the fingernail. Benefit - you don't have to sew it on!
Actually the Health Code in restaurants say to have a 3 sink cleaning method. First one to soak, second to rinse, third to sanitize with solution. Finish that off with air dry, never towel dry.
All this fretting over drying a dish at home. It's a wonder our species has servived at all.
Laughter is good medicine....haven't experienced a good belly-laugh like that in a very long time. Thanks.
That said, I LOVE reading about these tips that are passed down from generation to generation. Although, I confess, my fingernail requires much less energy and forethought.
*wipes tears from eyes*
"great idea! i've been sewing putty knives to my dishclothes all these years...what a relief!"
Spit take!
The dish cloths I use for drying are called TOWELS. And this is, without a doubt, one of the stupidest posts I've ever read.
This assumes that one actually dries their dishes.
What is this drying you all speak of?
But seriously, what's with the germophobia? You should visit Europe to get cured. We like bacteria here, especially in cheese.
Seriously I never pay attention to any food that might be stuck on a dish
It's a nice little idea if it fits into your approach to washing dishes. If not, don't do it! Geez oh pete. It's getting like YouTube over here.
Oh Susan in Austin! You made me laugh :D
I hadn't visited AT for a long time, and I'm sad to say that the nitpicking in the comments has increased so much, that the experience is now ruined. So long for one of my favourite sites. And just a note on the running under water again: With this tip you put an unused button to use. If you wash your dishes by submerging, there's waaaay more stuff underwater from all the dishes you already washed. If you run the dish under water, you're wasting water. We might as well stop touching anything, start hovering and stop breathing, god forbid we ever have to use our immune systems again.
Lol! I adore the comment from onexynwykr!
I think it is a practical idea and one that would work. What is with all the negative comments here?
If you don't like it, don't do it, but don't ridicule it. Goodness, folks, grow up. Sarah Rae was sharing a creative use for old buttons that might have good memories associated with them.
Thanks, Sarah Rae, for a creative and fun tip for using up our button stashes (for those of us who have them or have inherited them). I like the idea of have a reason to use and see one of inherited buttons every day.
The comments on this post are bizarre.. It's not that deep.. So everyone here re-washes entire dishes because of a little spot? Sounds like a waste of water...
The button is a cute idea...