tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026359168982468373.post4667369172852735582..comments2024-03-28T23:25:17.414+00:00Comments on Bonkers about Perfume: Perfumista lifestyle markers: the owning - and 'dishing out' - of tea towelsVanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847145282522572183noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026359168982468373.post-729254470734522122014-02-05T17:48:25.754+00:002014-02-05T17:48:25.754+00:00Hi Blacknall,
We do appear to be domesticated, d...Hi Blacknall, <br /><br />We do appear to be domesticated, don't we? ;). I haven't gone the scenting route, mind. Oh, I have some waffle weave tea towels too, but have yet to see any with turnips on them, hehe.Vanessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11847145282522572183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026359168982468373.post-31945673269779908822014-02-04T14:29:19.083+00:002014-02-04T14:29:19.083+00:00Tea towels as social markers? OK tea towels, we a...Tea towels as social markers? OK tea towels, we are a domesticated set!<br />I love Anne Marie's Mother's housewifely attention to the tea towel's scent, and should adopt it, as mine sometimes do get scungy. <br /><br /> They are the old waffle weave ones you see in Italian kitchens, with designs of vegetables in the weave. Usually turnips for unknown reasons. Blacknall Allenhttp://www.aperfumeblog.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026359168982468373.post-3556847139248355392014-02-04T08:15:43.805+00:002014-02-04T08:15:43.805+00:00Hi Martha,
Absolutely it could, and what a perfec...Hi Martha,<br /><br />Absolutely it could, and what a perfect coinage for the textile range in question! Having foxed a few readers with the very term 'tea towel', I must now go and google 'pillow shams' - I only know of cases...;)Vanessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11847145282522572183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026359168982468373.post-61353137496749033652014-02-03T06:01:37.065+00:002014-02-03T06:01:37.065+00:00Hmm. I don't collect tea towels (mine tend to ...Hmm. I don't collect tea towels (mine tend to all be the same rather bland stripe), but I do have a growing heap of vintage handkerchiefs. Could this be seen as being two points on one collection-of-useful-but-interesting-linens spectrum? (Pillow shams could be elsewhere on that spectrum.)<br />Marthahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06115821731964909442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026359168982468373.post-15730296172317140412014-02-02T16:33:07.788+00:002014-02-02T16:33:07.788+00:00Oh, by the way folks, Birgit has confirmed that th...Oh, by the way folks, Birgit has confirmed that that Cairns tea towel I happened to find in Google images is the exact one she was given!Vanessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11847145282522572183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026359168982468373.post-54429687481012567872014-02-02T16:32:04.165+00:002014-02-02T16:32:04.165+00:00Hi Anne-Marie,
Haha - famous might be overstating...Hi Anne-Marie,<br /><br />Haha - famous might be overstating it, but you are indeed splashed all over Bonkers and your comment on OT was a very important trigger for this post. ;-) <br /><br />Thanks for explaining the nuances of 'scungy' in more detail - I can relate to grotty and yucky, certainly. Interesting to see you favour cotton on absorbency grounds. This year I will put both Vanessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11847145282522572183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026359168982468373.post-44989672362279912902014-02-02T16:25:44.649+00:002014-02-02T16:25:44.649+00:00Hi Ingeborg,
I am with you on giving tea towels a...Hi Ingeborg,<br /><br />I am with you on giving tea towels as gifts, though they have historically suffered from a bit of an image problem, along with peg bags and a pastry brush, which my mother was forever putting on her Christmas list and finding no one would buy her as they considered these to be such utilitarian items.<br /><br />The two tea towels from Denmark pictured are indeed from GeorgVanessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11847145282522572183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026359168982468373.post-26863961687392952382014-02-02T16:18:39.676+00:002014-02-02T16:18:39.676+00:00Hi Tara,
Haha - it would seem so, wouldn't it...Hi Tara,<br /><br />Haha - it would seem so, wouldn't it? Actually, I will revise my plan for your tea towels, because of course one of them is plain cream and can - and will - be used all year long. <br /><br />Oh, that was Katie, not Kafka, but the 'British Men' tea towel did sound a sketch, I agree! ;)Vanessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11847145282522572183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026359168982468373.post-6295359522349641072014-02-01T21:43:20.878+00:002014-02-01T21:43:20.878+00:00Yay! I'm famous! Quoted on Bonkers. And to hav...Yay! I'm famous! Quoted on Bonkers. And to have introduced the word 'scungy' into perfume discourse, my happiness is complete. (I believe it is indeed Australian and NZ slang for 'grotty', 'yucky' etc, with an implication of grime and sour smell.) <br /><br />I'm for cotton tea towels myself because I find them actually more absorbent than linen which, in my Anne-Marienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026359168982468373.post-74855898406014609792014-01-31T15:40:12.585+00:002014-01-31T15:40:12.585+00:00I would never think of tea towels as somethig not ...I would never think of tea towels as somethig not OK to give away, just because we find so many nice designs these days. I am really fond of the lint free, soft and much used linen towels dating back to the 50s or so and which I think must originally have been used during barbering, not in the kitchen. I also have tea towels in a mix of cotton and linen from Georg Jensen Damask in Denmark, a realIngeborgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026359168982468373.post-18927285659390866902014-01-31T12:28:55.928+00:002014-01-31T12:28:55.928+00:00You have surely uncovered yet another niche intere...You have surely uncovered yet another niche interest of the perfume community, V. <br /><br />How nice you are saving the ones I gave you until next Christmas. You clearly treat your tea towels well. I love the one you bought with the tea-cups. Kafka's "British Men" tea towel is something I'd like to see :)Tarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00825957684276136205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026359168982468373.post-89329212212276783512014-01-31T10:49:07.258+00:002014-01-31T10:49:07.258+00:00Hi Undina,
Perhaps I should have specifically mad...Hi Undina,<br /><br />Perhaps I should have specifically made the connection in my post between the two terms, rather than airily stating that readers may know tea towels by other names! Anyway, you cracked it with the help of Wikipedia and it seems you are more a fan of kitchen roll than tea towels in any event. Or rather that you use them primarily as hand towels instead. Like the sound of Vanessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11847145282522572183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026359168982468373.post-44959348098669484402014-01-31T10:47:13.212+00:002014-01-31T10:47:13.212+00:00Hi Liz K,
Kittens in dresses doing chores, eh? Th...Hi Liz K,<br /><br />Kittens in dresses doing chores, eh? That's a first. I think you may mean 'holey'...;) I like the idea of tea towels becoming more saintly as they age. Would that we all did. I must try looking in antique shops for the linen variety - taking care not to bring any companion likely to kibosh my purchase. That was a funny story about your husband. Not sure he should Vanessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11847145282522572183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026359168982468373.post-70210999330569337242014-01-31T10:43:10.697+00:002014-01-31T10:43:10.697+00:00Hi SallyM,
Sabine mentioned microfibre ones from ...Hi SallyM,<br /><br />Sabine mentioned microfibre ones from Germany and I must be honest and say I have only ever encountered a microfibre dish cloth and it gives off a funny static charge and is rather clingy. Interesting that you struggle even to find cotton, never mind linen. And no mince pie tins over there - who knew?<br /><br />I definitely have distinct hand towels - the aforementioned Vanessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11847145282522572183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026359168982468373.post-15558953994919252922014-01-31T10:40:03.198+00:002014-01-31T10:40:03.198+00:00And thank you for saying 'delicate stemware...And thank you for saying 'delicate stemware'. What a beautiful expression. ;)Vanessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11847145282522572183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026359168982468373.post-77411360316964498112014-01-31T10:39:17.243+00:002014-01-31T10:39:17.243+00:00Hi AnnieA,
The point you make is something I have...Hi AnnieA,<br /><br />The point you make is something I have only twigged to in the course of writing this post. I simply had not figured out why my older tea towels seemed more absorbent and it will be the linen factor. And they are all old and soft as you say - if rather frayed, haha.Vanessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11847145282522572183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026359168982468373.post-88872293038125321212014-01-31T10:37:55.740+00:002014-01-31T10:37:55.740+00:00Hi Hazel,
Oh, how I yearn to be a sybaritic dishw...Hi Hazel,<br /><br />Oh, how I yearn to be a sybaritic dishwasher owner again - one day... It is remarkable how much mess the lone diner can produce. The tea towels I inherited from my mother are very much in that herbal spriggy vein - and probably at least as old as yours!Vanessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11847145282522572183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026359168982468373.post-32524263279184924862014-01-31T06:15:00.353+00:002014-01-31T06:15:00.353+00:00Until today I didn't know if "tea towel&q...Until today I didn't know if "tea towel" and "dish towel" were synonyms. So when I started reading this post I went to Wikipedia :)<br />I do not use tea towels for dishes or countertops - for that I have a dish rack and disposable paper towels. But I always keep those in the kitchen to dry hands.<br /><br />The cutest one I have now is wine-themed one. And I consider Undinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05292100499371921334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026359168982468373.post-69337118164591016572014-01-31T03:57:32.332+00:002014-01-31T03:57:32.332+00:00I wonder how many tea towels I have? My husband&#...I wonder how many tea towels I have? My husband's grandmother sends two or three embroidered ones every year for Christmas (plain white cotton with kittens in dresses doing chores) and I rarely retire them unless they are really holy. I also can't resist linens at antique or thrift stores or estate sales. My husband occasionally declares one a rag and ruins it in the shop before I can Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06536779212534940225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026359168982468373.post-18883566829081580282014-01-31T01:49:38.832+00:002014-01-31T01:49:38.832+00:00Tea towels! I love 'em! Trouble is, you cant g...Tea towels! I love 'em! Trouble is, you cant get good ones imo - or at least not like I was used to back in ole Blighty - over here in the US. They mostly seem to be made of everything BUT cotton - microfiber (which feels really weird to me) or some version of terry toweling. And it seems that you have to go to a specialty kitchen shop to get cotton-y ones where you pay an arm and a leg. In SallyMnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026359168982468373.post-74283372749389380552014-01-30T23:26:50.792+00:002014-01-30T23:26:50.792+00:00Linen tea towels are supposedly becoming collector...Linen tea towels are supposedly becoming collectors' items, as they get displaced by the cotton kind. The older the better, as they become soft and absorbent and even better at drying delicate stemware...AnnieAAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026359168982468373.post-66416219977813481832014-01-30T22:56:10.016+00:002014-01-30T22:56:10.016+00:00I was using one the other day - rather frayed, wit...I was using one the other day - rather frayed, with pictures of exotic herbs, like tarragon and parsley - and thinking it must date from when I first lived away from home - 30, maybe 40 years ago. Certainly I haven't acquired any in the last decade or so, sybaritic dishwasher owner that I amHazelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026359168982468373.post-63859007632942446142014-01-30T18:33:11.404+00:002014-01-30T18:33:11.404+00:00Hi Carol,
You have introduced two non-standard ca...Hi Carol,<br /><br />You have introduced two non-standard categories of usage - as a 'dish cloth' and a 'hand towel'. I will be honest and say that when my tea towels get a bit damp anyway, I sometimes deploy them as dish cloths - most commonly in the immediate aftermath of a serious spillage of something! (When kitchen roll is out of its depth, type of thing.) I tend to dry myVanessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11847145282522572183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026359168982468373.post-13745788297793187752014-01-30T18:29:25.250+00:002014-01-30T18:29:25.250+00:00That is quite fine - between the vagaries of Blogg...That is quite fine - between the vagaries of Blogger and the unpredictability of small children, I am always pleased when you can manage to comment, typos and all!Vanessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11847145282522572183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026359168982468373.post-25125750343726889722014-01-30T18:27:59.953+00:002014-01-30T18:27:59.953+00:00Hi Birgit,
Well, well! That is pure chance - I ju...Hi Birgit,<br /><br />Well, well! That is pure chance - I just googled tea towels of Cairns and up it popped! I fear mine may also fall into the 'scungy' zone before they eventually get washed, so I also need to improve on that score. After all, it is not as though I don't have others I could be using while some are in the wash?Vanessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11847145282522572183noreply@blogger.com