All tin and iron dishes should be thoroughly dried before putting away, to prevent rusting.

If draining is considered preferable to wiping dishes, a good plan, if one has not a patent dish drainer, is to fold an old tablecloth in several thicknesses and spread upon the table.  Wash the dishes carefully and rinse in hot water.  Place a cup or bowl bottom upward, lay a plate on each side, then one between and above them, with two more on the outside, and so on, not permitting them to touch more than necessary.

DISHCLOTHS AND TOWELS.—­No dishes or utensils can be well cared for without good, clean dishcloths and towels, and plenty of them.  An excellent dishcloth may be either knit or crocheted in some solid stitch of coarse cotton yarn.  Ten or twelve inches square is a good size.  Several thicknesses of cheese-cloth basted together make good dishcloths, as do also pieces of old knitted garments and Turkish toweling.  If a dish mop is preferred, it may be made as follows:  Cut a groove an inch from the end of a stick about a foot in length and of suitable shape for a handle; cut a ball of coarse twine, into nine-inch lengths, and lay around the stick with the middle of the strands against the groove; wind a fine wire or cord around the twine to fasten it in the groove; then shake down the twine, so it will lie all one way like a mop, and fasten it to the handle by tying a second cord around it on the outside.

Towels for drying dishes should be of three different grades,—­fine ones without lint for glass, silver, and fine china; coarser ones for the ordinary table ware, and still another quality for pans, kettles, and other kitchen ware.  The right size is a yard in length and half as wide, with the ends hemmed.  As to material, fine checked linen is usually employed for glass and silver towels, and crash for ordinary dishes, for iron and tinware towels which have become somewhat worn, or a coarse bag opened and hemmed, may be used.  Old, half-worn tablecloths may be cut into excellent dish towels.

It is of the greatest importance that all dishcloths, mops, and towels be kept perfectly sweet and clean.  Greasy dishcloths and sour towels are neither neat nor wholesome and are a most fertile source of germs, often breeding disease and death.  After each dish washing, the dishcloth, towels, and mops should be thoroughly washed in hot water with plenty of soap, well rinsed and hung up to dry either upon a line out of doors or a rack made for the purpose near the kitchen range.  If care is always taken to clean the dishes as much as possible before washing and to change the suds as often as they become dirty, the towels will not be hard to keep clean and sweet-smelling.  Those used during the week should go into the wash as regularly as other household articles.  Dish towels are also much better for being ironed.  It gives them a “surface” which facilitates the drying operation.