Ten and Co.
Ten and Co. make the reusable versions of kitchen disposables — Swedish sponge cloths that replace paper towel and sponges, printed tea towels, and handmade cotton rope trivets.
The sponge cloths are the core of it, and the thing most people buy first.
More about Ten and Co.
What is a Swedish sponge cloth?
A flat cloth made of cellulose and cotton that behaves like a cross between a sponge and a tea towel. Dry, it is stiff as card. Wet it and it goes soft and highly absorbent, which is why one cloth handles a spill that would take several sheets of paper towel.
The reason to bother is that it is washable. It goes in the dishwasher or the washing machine, comes out clean, and does that repeatedly for months — then goes in the compost rather than the bin.
How do I stop it smelling?
The failure mode for any dishcloth is being left wet and bunched up. Wring a sponge cloth out and lay it flat or hang it — it dries stiff, and dry cloth does not grow anything.
When it does start to smell, run it through the dishwasher on a normal cycle rather than throwing it out. That resets it, and it is what these are designed for.
Cloths, towels and trivets
- Sponge cloths — wiping, spills, and standing in for paper towel
- Tea towels — drying, in printed designs; also sold paired with a sponge cloth as a gift set
- Cotton rope trivet — handmade, for hot pans on the table
How many do I need?
Two or three sponge cloths in rotation is the usual answer — one in use, one drying, one in the wash. Buying a single cloth is the most common way to conclude they do not work, because it never gets a chance to dry out between jobs.
More in unpaper towels and kitchen cloths and eco-kitchen.