Quality kitchen oven mitts can give you years of faithful service. Here are a few tips for cleaning and caring for your oven mitts:
Buy Good Quality - Well-made oven mitts are designed and made to take repeated washings. They’ll launder nicely time after time, giving you years of dependable use. Don’t fall into the trap of grabbing a cheap pair at the supermarket because it’s easy. Inexpensive oven mitts fall apart after a few washings.
Don’t just spot clean - Toss your oven mitts in the washer frequently to wash any remaining bits of raw food or bacteria that may have transferred over time from your hands to the inside of the mitt. It goes without saying that if the outside of your oven mitt or pot holder have touched raw meat or other source of possible contamination, they need to be laundered in hot water.
Buy 100% Cotton Oven Mitts - Cotton will shrink a little in the wash, but quality oven mitts are made a little bigger to accommodate the expected shrinking. Your cotton oven mitts should be just perfect after being washed!
Tug Gently to Reshape - After washing your oven mitts, tug them gently back into shape. Like any 100% cotton product, a little stretching right after washing restores the original shape beautifully!
Totally dry before using - 100% cotton loses it’s ability to insulate from heat when wet. Make sure your oven mitts are completely dry after washing. I stand mine up on a heat vent in the winter, and lay them out on the deck on a sunny day - just to be sure. Steam burns are no fun!
If you purchase quality kitchen oven mitts, pot holders and kitchen towels, frequent washing should be easy. The best kitchen textiles are made to stand up to years of use in your kitchen, and your laundry room!
