Kitchen Towel Konundrum

The Roommate & I have been struggling with the KTK for years.  We buy pristine kitchen towels in a cute or cool design & then we're afraid to use them.  Why?  Because we know in a very short period of time (3-4 weeks) they will look so cruddy we're ashamed to let guests know we use them.  

For example,

I bought these towels about a year ago.  I've been reluctant to use them  because I know once we start, they will quickly be so dirty that we'll have them in the rag pile.  Look closely at this photo; see how the white is dirty on all 3 towels?  I finally got them out of the drawer & put them to use about 3 weeks ago...and already, yucko! I don't use bleach (ever), and hot water just doesn't do the trick of putting them back in almost-new condition.  

About a month ago we were at Crate & Barrel Outlet, which is about 1.5 miles from our place.  I noticed that all the Marimekko fabric they have is on sale for $5.95/yard.  It's fairly wide, too, (54"), so that's a great deal.  And even better?  There's very little white space on their fabric (in fact, most of the prints have none).  The downside is there are no cute kitchen motifs either, but oh well.  Life is awfully hard.  

So yesterday, the Roommate & I went in and bought 1.5 yards of a large blue print and tried it out.  First, I washed & dried the fabric.  Then he did some dishes, using the fabric both to dry the dishes and to dry his hands.  (The Roommate does 95% of the dishes in our house.)  He gave the medium weight cotton fabric his approval & declared it would be excellent for kitchen toweling.  

So, I got busy and ironed the fabric, then cut it up, double-folded the edges & ironed them and this morning we have 6 new towels!  I am hoping they last a good long while.  I really hate buying new towels because they look dirty and not because they are worn out.  

This afternoon, after a 20 mile bike ride into DC & back, we headed back to Crate & Barrel & bought 4 more yards of fabric.  That should be about 16 more dish towels.  A nice, mindless project for me as I complete the Starlet Suit jacket!