People don’t use dryers much in Brisbane. It hardly rains, so people use clotheslines, and electricity is expensive.

And it’s so natural.

My clothsline can usually be found with an abundance of hand (or tea) towels.

I use them all the time when cooking and am fastidious about washing them.

I also wonder how often those cook aprons are washed.

Gerba et al. report the common occurrence of enteric bacteria in kitchen sponges and dishcloths suggests that they can play a role in the cross-contamination of foods, fomites and hands by foodborne pathogens. This study investigated the occurrence of bacteria in kitchen towels often used to dry dishes, hands and other surfaces in the domestic kitchen. A total of 82 kitchen hand towels were collected from households in five major cities in the United States and Canada and the numbers of heterotrophic bacteria, coliform bacteria, and Escherichia coli in each towel were determined. In addition, identification of the enteric bacteria was performed on selected towels. Coliform bacteria were detected in 89.0% and E. coli in 25.6% of towels. The presence of E. coli was related to the frequency of washing.