The Hack That Will Make Collecting Dirty Towels From Your Kitchen So Much Easier

Whether you're using them to wipe off a countertop, dry some dishes, or clean up a spill, kitchen towels are one of the most invaluable multipurpose cleaning tools in your arsenal. However, they tend to get pretty grimy at a much quicker rate than, say, bath towels, for example. It can get difficult to remember to bring each individual kitchen towel to your laundry room or hamper, and you may find yourself with a large pile of dirty towels. One simple life hack to this problem is keeping a hamper in the kitchen.

The reason people use hampers in bedrooms and bathrooms is to easily lug all your laundry to the washing machine at once, as opposed to dealing with ugly piles of dirty clothes. The same can be applied to your kitchen — and not just for dish towels. Other kitchen textiles, like washable rugs, oven mitts, pot holders, aprons, and so on can benefit from a catch-all hamper you can easily transport to the laundry room as needed.

For this kitchen towels-hamper hack, there are a few factors to consider first. One, you need to keep in mind how many towels you go through. If your household is small, odds are you don't need a huge hamper. However, if your family is large and you're constantly cooking and cleaning, a higher-volume container may be necessary.

Next, you need to consider that the dish towels will likely be wet and dirty, as will most other textiles you toss in with them. You'll want a lid on your hamper to keep odors from seeping out into the rest of the kitchen, just like with a trash can. The hamper, or alternative receptacle, should also have a waterproof lining on the inside to make sure it won't damage the external material, as well as prevent mold from growing.

Of course, you also want to keep in mind the general visuals of your kitchen — a cute wicker laundry basket would look very out of place in a sleek minimalist kitchen, so decide if you want a more discreet hamper or something a bit more integrated.

Now that you know what to look for in a kitchen hamper, it's time to decide which one to choose. If you need a container that can hold a lot of towels, then a traditional hamper may be the best option. This DOFASAYI hamper from Amazon, for example, has a lid and is made of waterproof material, and could easily fit in your kitchen next to the trash can.

Another, more discreet, option is a hanging laundry basket. If you have a pantry or spacious cabinet, you could hang up a mesh laundry bag like this one on Amazon from Smart Design. The mesh will help wet towels from smelling mildewy, and the design allows you to just carry it from the kitchen to the laundry room as needed. Just be sure you regularly empty open baskets like this so mold doesn't grow.

Oma Ford, an executive director at Better Homes & Gardens, told the outlet she uses a countertop basket for storing dirty towels, too. For this method of the hack, just make sure you choose a lidded basket to keep odors from polluting your kitchen space.