Eco Nuts and Dryer Balls

I don't usually write about cleaning products unless they're kitchen-specific. This one is a little further removed, but it's still about kitchen stuff. Specifically, my dish towels.

My dish towels, over the years, had become less and less absorbent. I'd try to wipe a dish or wipe off the counter, and the towel wouldn't soak up the wetness, it would just move it around. If I wanted to get a dish towel wet, I'd put it under the faucet and water would run off until I kind of worked it in. I'd grab a towel to wipe my hands and they wouldn't really get dry.

That's not how towels are supposed to work. Not.

I'd heard that the problem was that fabric softener coated fabrics and made them less absorbent, but I hadn't used fabric softener in years. You'd think that the detergent would wear away the softener coating eventually, right? And it seemed like my clothes weren't waterproof - which would have actually been useful.

I considered throwing out all my towels. Or burning them. Or donating them to an unsuspecting charity. But they weren't worn out or ugly. They just had a waxy buildup. Or something.

So anyway, I read up on this horrifying problem, and apparently it's quite common. I followed instructions to make them absorbent again. The one that seemed to work best was to first pre-soak the towels with a lot of vinegar in the water, and then run them through the wash cycle with baking soda in the washer. I might have actually done that a few times. I might have gone through a gallon of vinegar.

So, great. Now I have towels that act like towels. But how could I keep them from getting coated again?

And ... completely unrelated gripe ... my bath towels were scratchy rather than soft since I wasn't using softener. Could I make them soft without softener? Yeah, not exactly an earth-shaking problem, but if I was shaking up my washing routine, I figured I'd hope for the best.

That's where the Eco nuts and wool dryer balls came in. The Eco Nuts are a plant-based ... well, nut-like thing - that you put into a cloth bag (for easy retrieval) and put into the washing machine. The Eco Nuts have a naturally soapy substance in them.

The dryer balls are larger than tennis balls and are a little squishy, and they're made from wool. In the dryer, they bang around and make the clothes fluffy. I've used tennis balls when drying things like fluffy jackets, to keep the filling fluffed rather than matted or compacted. It really works. but it's noisy. The dryer balls are less noisy than tennis balls, probably because they're not as hard.

I like the drying balls a lot - I'm using them for all of my clothes. I just leave them in the dryer all the time, even if I'm using a softener.

I'm saving the eco-nuts for use on all of my towels - both kitchen towels and bath towels. So far, so good. It doesn't seem that the towels are returning to their previous non-absorbent state, and the dryer balls make them seem fluffier than before. I'm hoping that the towels will stay absorbent long term. It might take a few years to have a final-final result, so I figured I'd post this now, after a couple months of use.

If you're looking for more natural laundry methods, give these a look.

Who's it for: People who do laundry.

Pros: Natural product. No artificial scent. Dryer balls are better than tennis balls.

Cons: My dog tries to steal the dryer balls if they roll out of the dryer when I'm gathering the clothes. Then I spend 10 minutes looking for the missing one until I realize what happened to it. Go ahead, laugh.

Wishes: Erm ... it's laundry stuff. It's not like I have any wishes other than that the stuff is clean.

Source: I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.

Insink 4-in-1

When a product offers to make my dish-washing and sink usage more efficient, I perk up just a little bit. I can always use a little more efficiency in my life.

The Insink 4-in-1 device includes 6 pieces - a container with holes at the bottom for draining, a similar container with no holes, two suction devices to keep the containers in place in your sink, a funnel-like attachment that fits either contain to help you get things into the container (or it can be flipped to hold either of the containers upright without the use of the suction things), and a scrub brush.

That sounds like a lot of stuff, but the important parts are the two containers. The one without holes is intended for holding soapy water so you can just dunk your sponge or dishcloth in there to keep from wasting soap when you wash dishes. You can also use it as a pre-soak if you have sticky foods on your spoons and knives.

I've been living with these things in my sink to see if I actually use them. I haven't yet used the non-holed container to hold soapy water. but I have put silverware in it while they were waiting to be washed.

I did find a genius use for the draining container. The suggested uses are for putting washed silverware to let it drain, or to wash and strain berries. That's not what I've been using it for. Instead I've been using it for food scraps that are destined for the trash. Particularly wet scraps. I can let them drain before throwing them in the trash so that I don't end up with a soggy trash bag.

While I wouldn't rank these as a must have item (knife, spoon, cutting board, fire, pot ...) they are handy if you have sink-space to hold them. If you have a tiny sink, you might not want something extra sitting in it at all times, but since they nest, you could store under the sink and pull them out when you need them.

Please note that these are a Canadian product, so the price will be different than what you see. As I'm writing this, the price in US dollars is lower.

Who's it for: People who want better sink organization.

Pros: They're tall and thin, so they don't take as much sink space as a bowl or strainer.

Cons: They might not fit all sinks. If you decide to keep them in the sink at all times, you'll need to remember to wash - or at least drain - the container with no holes.

Wishes: Colors to match people's kitchens would be nice. These are white with green accents.

Source: I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.

Kuhn Rikon Stay-Clean Scrubber

If there's something every kitchen needs, it's a selection of things to clean and scrub knives, dishes, and things that can't go into the dishwasher.

I've destroyed plenty of sponges, scrubbers, dishrags and other cleaning tools over the years. Some work better, some worse. Some last longer than others. Some are for gentle cleaning and some are for terrorizing the burnt-on crud in the bottom of a pan.

There's no one perfect scrubber. But I'd sure like to find two or three that work well and last reasonably long.

The Kuhn Rikon Stay-Clean Scrubber is the latest cleaning gadget in my kitchen. It's made from silicone so it doesn't soak up water and resists weird odors. It can be cleaned in the dishwasher. And it's got fairly soft bristles that help hold soap, but rinse clean.

This scrubber isn't one you'd use for muscling stuck-on food off of a cooking pan, but it's perfect for gentle cleaning - great for non-stick surfaces as dishes and silverware.

Speaking of those soft bristles, it feels nice an soft and sort of squishy when you handle it. If you don't use it for dishes, it would also be fine for gently scrubbing hands. Or even your face. Yes, it's that soft.

I've only had the scrubber for a few weeks, so I can't say how long it will last, but so far it looks pretty much the same way it did when I got it.

Who's it for: People who hand-wash at least some dishes

Pros: All the advantages of silicone

Cons: It might be a little toooo soft for some folks.

Wishes: A three-color pack with different hardnesses would be nice. Or maybe a different hardness on each side. I like that this is a nice soft scrubber, but I'd love a tougher one as a mate for it.

Source: I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.

Angry Mama Microwave Cleaner

I don't usually write about cleaning products here, mostly because I think cooking is a whole lot more than cooking. Cleaning has to be done, but ... yawn.

However, the Angry Mama Microwave Cleaner from NewMetro Design amused me enough to want to tell you about it. It's simple, really. You rip mama's head off, add white vinegar and water to the designated lines, and microwave mama on high for 5 minutes.

Steam comes out of mama's head - which all by itself is really amusing. But the deal is that that vinegary steam helps loosen the splashes and splatters in your microwave, so you just wipe it down.

The little bit of vinegar water left in mama can be poured out and used to do a little extra cleaning inside the microwave, or outside.

I can hear you saying that you can simply put vinegar and water into microwave-safe mug and just microwave that. But think about it. When you've accidentally boiled something for too long in the microwave, what happened?

Yeah, it boiled out of the container and left a puddle.

Since the Angry Mama is sealed with holes on top, you get a lot of steam rather than a lot of boiling over.

Yes, it's not the most essential thing in the kitchen, but it's useful and funny, and if you prefer using natural cleaners, this works well.

If you had a bad day at work or you're annoyed with a family member ... well, this is a really safe way to vent. If you know what I mean.

Who's it for: People with microwave ovens and who like quirky cleaning tools.

Pros: It works. It's amusing. It's might even be a stress reliever.

Cons: Not actually necessary.

Wishes: None I can think of.

Source: I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.

Sprucing up the Kitchen #OXOSpringCleaning

This dish drainer will never again be this empty.

Sometimes I think those folks at OXO are looking over my shoulder, and this time it's a bit embarrassing. I have tons of cooking gadgets, but my sink area is a bit of a mess.

Or at least it was a bit of a mess.

In their latest spring cleaning campaign, they sent out some useful items that motivated me to organize the area around the sink. I'm not promising it's going to stay this way, but at least I have a fighting chance.

The major change was the nifty new dish rack and drainer that's not going to dribble onto my counter, and that has places to arrange things neatly, and two divided utensil cups - one on each side of the rack - for standing utensils upright.

While most of my dishes can go into the dishwasher, there are some delicate things I wash by hand as well as some that don't fit into the dishwasher.And, since I air-dry my dishes in the dishwasher, there are sometime a few pieces that don't dry completely before the next re-load, so they need a little more air and a little more dry before I put them away. Now I have an organized way to let 'em dry.

Sponge holder, soap dispenser, and scrubby tool. 

The sponge holder doesn't sound like a big deal, but it holds sponges upright so they dry rather than sitting in a puddle or falling into the sink. There's a drip tray that catches drips, and it has feet so it's not going to get stuck to the sink if something does spill. It comes apart for cleaning, and it's dishwasher safe.

A scrubby with a handle and a drip tray is a nice thing, too. The scrubby part is replaceable, so when it wears out I can buy more. I used it on a stainless steel pan that had the remains of a cheese sauce. I thought that was a good test. Now I just need to buy refills, because I'm imagining that I'm going to use it a lot. Note: it's not recommended for nonstick.

In the photo, the soap dispenser is also an OXO product, but it wasn't part of this promotion. It's actually a hand-soap dispenser that I've had for a number of years, but I bought it to use it for dish soap. I couldn't find exactly this model online, but they've got plenty of other pump-style soap dispensers, if you're looking for one.

I also received a sink mat that's supposed to help cushion anything that lands in the sink, and it's heat-resistant, so you can put stove-hot pots right on top of it. Which means it's also dishwasher safe. That's always a plus, since the dishwasher will sanitize it as well.

Sink mat- keeping small things out of my garbage disposal!

The mat is made a fairly soft material, so you can cut it to fit your sink (Yikes! I wish my sink was this big!) and you're supposed to cut a hole for the drain.

But when I had it in the sink and I was about to mark the drain hole, I thought, gee, that's where the garbage disposal is - why not leave the mat as-is and let it catch anything that's trying to go down the drain?

Anything that doesn't fit between the mat's slats shouldn't be going into the garbage disposal, whether it's food bits or forks.

I've accidentally dropped silverware and small measuring tools and other petite items into the garbage disposal. When I see them disappear, it means I get to stick my had down there to retrieve them. If I don't see them disappear - well, I've ruined a few things that way.

If the dish drainer catches anything that needs to be thrown away - like potato peels or egg shells - I can just lift the whole drainer, let it drip a bit, and toss the bits into the trash. Or maybe into a compost bin. I got one of those, too. The city I live in is talking about adding composting to our trash pickup, so this could come in handy.

If I decide I don't like the sink mat as a sink mat, it might come in handy as a trivet for baking sheets. and hot pots and other things that I shouldn't put right onto the counter. We'll see.

Also in the photo with the sink mat is a set of three bottle brushes. They come on a ring for easy hanging ... somewhere. I might hang them inside the under-sink cabinet door, but I haven't decided yet. These will come in handy for more than bottles. And look! That little one is pretty unlikely to fall into the garbage disposal!

They also sent along a set of  4 Piece All Purpose Clips. I use these magnetic clips all the time, for clipping bags shut or for hanging notes and things on the refrigerator. There's also a large hole, so you can clip and hang things on hooks.

Photo by OXO

The Expandable Utensil Organizer that I got from OXO hasn't found a home yet - I've been rearranging some of my kitchen drawers, so it might have a permanent installation soon.  It has dividers to separate things, and it expands from 9 3/4'' to 16 1/2'' so it will fit a whole lot of different drawers. If I don't use it for utensils, I might use it to organize my pastry tips and decorating tools.

Much thanks to OXO for providing all of these tools. Now, I just need to finish my spring cleaning!