I hang the tea towel to dry, not in a heap by the sink

This is not a recipe, but it is one of the kitchen habits I care about most. At the end of the evening, after the last pan is dried and put away, there is always a tea towel left on the worktop. Damp, folded in a heap by the sink, still warm from the steam. It looks harmless. But a damp, crumpled towel in a warm kitchen is exactly where germs like to grow, and the next morning, that same towel dries the clean cups and wipes the children's hands. So every evening, I shake it out and hang it flat to dry, and I keep a few simple rules around it.

Why it matters is simple. A tea towel touches almost everything in the kitchen: wet hands, plates, knives, the edge of the chopping board, and a splash from the sink. Food safety advice warns that cloths and tea towels can spread bacteria from one surface to another if they are used for everything and not washed often. A towel that stays damp all night gives those bacteria warmth, moisture and time. When it is hung open over the oven rail or a hook, air reaches both sides and it dries in a few hours. A heap by the sink can still be damp the next day, and it starts to smell sour. That smell is the clearest sign that it needs a wash, not another use.

My rules are not complicated. First, I keep separate towels for separate jobs: one for drying hands and one for drying clean dishes. They are different colours, so nobody mixes them up. Second, raw meat never meets a tea towel. When I have handled raw chicken or mince, I wash my hands with soap and warm water and dry them on kitchen paper, which goes straight in the bin. Juices from raw meat on a cloth would travel to the next plate it touches. Third, I don't use the tea towel to wipe the worktop or the floor. That is a job for a separate cloth.

Fourth, I change the towels often. In a busy week, that is every day or two, and straight away if it has wiped up a spill or smells at all. Used towels go into a basket, not back on the rail. I wash them on a hot wash, at 60°C if the fabric allows, with ordinary detergent, and dry them completely before they go back in the drawer. Cotton and linen towels handle a hot wash well and get softer with every wash. I keep about ten in the drawer, so there is always a clean one.

Fifth, I let the dishes dry by themselves when I can. A rack by the sink does the job, and the dishes dry with nothing touching them. I only reach for a towel for the glasses and the pans I need again straight away.

In autumn and winter, when the windows are closed and the kitchen is full of steam from soups and roasts, all of this matters even more. Things take longer to dry, and the kitchen stays warm all evening. On a busy evening, like Halloween with a pot of soup on the hob and a tray of baked apples in the oven, there are more wet hands and more plates than usual, so I put out a fresh towel before the cooking starts.

None of this takes more than a minute. Shaking out a towel and hanging it on the rail is the last thing I do before I switch off the kitchen light, together with wiping the worktop and emptying the sink. In the morning, I come into a kitchen that smells clean, with a dry towel ready for the first cup of tea. It is a small thing, but the small things are what keep a family kitchen safe.

How do you handle tea towels at home: a fresh one every day, or until it smells?

My tea-towel routine. Every day, about 2 minutes. You need at least two cotton tea towels in different colours (hands and dishes), kitchen paper, a dish rack, a laundry basket. Use one towel for hands and one for clean dishes. After touching raw meat, wash your hands and dry them on kitchen paper. Let dishes air-dry on the rack when possible. Every evening, shake the towel out and hang it open to dry. Change towels every day or two, or straight away after a spill, and wash them hot (60°C if the label allows), drying them completely.