h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I am fortunate to be able to survive on my smallish pension but it shrank when the economy also shrank - the pound lost a lot of its value against the euro. Now, I see the euro losing ground against sterling once again and there have been a few more euros in my housekeeping.

Last night I bought

Washing Powder - 4.57 Euros (cheapest own brand)
I litre UHT mile 0.96 Euro
half a kilo of beef for a curry - 3.75 Euro
and a dishcloth

The dishcloth was not priced - but I didn't bother checking as it was only a tiny little Spontex thing. Anyway I got it home and then read the till receipt as I thought the four items were a bit expensive. The dishcloth was 2.85.

I must find how to write a Euro sign

Well somebody cleaned up

correct!

I thought you said your shops were having sales?

You could have bought a sheet for that price

Is your pension denominated in Euros or in British Pounds, Lanzababy? Also, are you presently in the Canary islands, or in Great Britain? Are the Canary islands used to using Euros or pounds?

If your pension is denominated in pounds, and you live in a country that uses pounds, why would exchange rates with the Euro cause problems? Surely, dishcloths are manufactured in Britain? If the one you bought had to be imported, there might be a problem, but weren't there comparable british-made ones available at a lower price?

Sorry to be confusing paulh, but I am mainly in the Canary islands where they use the Euro as the islands are part of Spain, even though they are a long way away from the mainland of Europe.

My income is in pounds ( sterling) so the banks make a little profit each time I take some money out in euros via an ATM. I can't spend pounds here, but I can use my bank card in the same way, in shops, as I do in England. Of course, they make a bit more money then too, but not so much as to make me panic.

'This exclusive dishcloth is guaranteed for six months and uses silver ion technology to keep it bacteria free'. That's posh isn't it? (I am paraphrasing the Spanish blurb on the wrapper.)

Normally I just presume a dishcloth has to be washed in very hot water, and hung outside to dry, and thrown away when it gets a bit nasty looking. I'll let you know how the silver ion thingy works out.

Most things use "silver ions" today, simply because silver kills bacteria (I assume it won't work any better at say, wiping dirt off a tray or similar0

Also, what do you do if you consider it not working after four months; rather an odd discussion, holding the cloth in question, not to mention finding the definitive point of a cloth past its best

I've been using dishcloths for five or six years now, and so far there's no sign of deterioration.I will keep using them until they wear out. I wash them with the rest of my laundry, at a permanent press setting, which is basically cold water. I use a laundry detergent that works at all temperatures.

I had no idea that dishcloths needed to have silver ions in order to be effective. Haven't people been using regular cloth dishcloths for hundreds of years? Bacteria seem to be clever enough to adapt to whatever you throw at them.

they don't need them no, not at all

I don't even know if they make sufficent difference to make it worth the effort of adding the silver into the makeup of what is otherwise, a pretty simple thing

Clean dish cloth in washing machine, with towels etc... normal detergent, etc. to steralise the quickest way is to wet the cleaned, dry dish cloth, and nuke it in the micro after wetting it first... and of course this can be done with the manky dish cloth next to the sink, inbetween laundry times Some of those 'fancy' cloths are so* overpriced though... I must admit I've never ahd any problems with own brand supermarket dusters, cleaning cloths, j cloths, scrubbing brushes, pan scourers, squidgies etc... isn't 'spondex' err however its spelt, the really big rip off brand? Its all part of this rediculus over the top advertising and marketing to try make us believe that we're all going to die unless we have the newest super wonderful bug-blasting tissues, cloths, or soap I'm scepticle can you tell?

I am sceptical too 2legs. I was in a hurry and brought it because it was blue, and in the same aisle as the soap powder.

I'd have been just as happy with a plain white cotton cloth that I could boil up now and then. By the way, my mother nukes her dish cloths in the microwave too in a little plastic bowl she keeps just for that purpose.

Of course, there were no simple white cloths in the supermarket, just ones that were microfibre or bamboo or a multitude of ones that were orange or yellow and made of some man made fibre or other. So I went with the blue one.

Since 2legs brought J cloths up...

Are they designed with a particular purpose in mind? I just ask 'cus I've never used them for anything that wouldn't be done better by a different kind of cloth. So is there some secret thing they're used for that I'm oblivious to?

I can see a whole Entry devoted to dish cloths. Why are J cloths called that? and why don't they stock them here? I am curious.

KB, I use them for everything and keep washing as necessary till they almost disintegrate, remembering not to put them in the tumble dryer as they are made from paper I understand. They are cheaper than other cloths too.

Websailor

Cheaper, yes...but isn't that just because they last such a short time?

In which case we need a massive h2g2 trial, to figure out the cheapest cloth over time, and could be enhanced with effectiveness (to give efficiacy over time)

I shall be single-handedly trialling this monstrous rip off of a dish cloth. For the next six months.

I can report to this journal if any mankiness occurs, above and beyond the normal. Luckily the day the journal started was the first day I used the cloth, so that will help.

On my keyboard, you do a euro sign by holding down Ctrl and Alt and pressing 4. Alternatively, you can hold down AltGr and press 4.

My keyboard is set to Irish, though, so that may not work on yours.

€
Thanks Gnomon, the control/alt and 4 worked

News on the dishcloth, it actually works quite well, and I now have very clean, shiny granito work surfaces and whatever surface the hob is - glass?

It would be a bit much if it didnt work for all that money and conversation
A glass hob?