My Favorite Cooking Tool Isn’t Meant for the Kitchen

As far as I can tell, I’ve owned most of my dish towels since my first apartment (that was 12 years ago!); they were part of a big Home Goods shopping run to get my “grown-up” kitchen up to snuff. They’re classic-looking (white with red and blue stripes), mildly absorbent, and, at this point, full of stains. They’re workhorses, nothing more—I’ve never given them much thought. 

But a few weeks ago, something shifted—by accident. I ordered a couple of forest green Kip & Co. waffle hand towels to refresh my bathroom. In the end, they didn’t quite fit the color scheme (the perils of shopping online), but I thought: Why not try them in the kitchen instead? It was the best decision. It turns out, they’re much more absorbent than my old dishrags, they hide splatters, and they’re getting softer with every wash—and they look so much better hanging from my oven handle than my old ratty linens.

This was around the same time I watched a cooking video that taught me to sling a dish cloth over my shoulder when I’m cooking; professional chefs always have one there for anything from drying their hands to grabbing hot pans. It makes cleaning spills so much easier! And while $17 is a little pricey for a humble kitchen rag, it turns out there are a ton of other affordable waffled options out there. So why not give the meal-prep staple an upgrade? 

Cactus Green Waffle Hand Towel, Kip & Co. ($18)

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Set of 2 Space-Dyed Organic Hand Towels, West Elm ($13)

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Set of 2 Oversized Waffle Indigo Dish Towels, Crate and Barrel ($13)

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Set of 6 Organic Waffle Kitchen Towels, Coyuchi ($48)

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Discover more home essentials we love: All of My Closets Were Overflowing Until I Bought These $29 Space Savers This $13 Kitchen Tool Makes Me Feel Like a Master Chef This $40 Kitchen Must-Have Cut My Plastic Wrap Consumption in Half