One
of my favorite grocery items to buy in bulk is the kitchen paper towels and
it’s because we use them a lot in our household. Most people thought that paper
towels are only used for
- cleaning up spills and other mess in the kitchen
- drying out our hands after washing them
- draining fried food of excess oils
However,
you will be surprised how versatile kitchen paper towels are. Let us take a
look at some other things you can do with these absorbent paper towels.
1. Keep Leafy Veggies and Herbs Fresh Longer
The
thing I don’t like about storing leafy veggies and herbs in the fridge is that
they start to wilt or rot after just a few days. One solution to this problem
is to wrap them first in kitchen paper towel, then place them in resealable
plastic bag prior to storing in the fridge. The paper towels help absorb the
extra moisture that is the culprit behind rotting veggies and herbs.
2. Cook Bacon in the Microwave – Easy and Mess-Free
During
those lazy days when you want to have bacon for breakfast but you don’t want to
spend the rest of your morning cleaning up oil splatters caused by frying bacon
in a pan, then here is a cooking hack just for you. Place two paper towels on a
microwave-safe plate, lay the bacons flat on the towels then top with another
two paper towels. Microwave on high for 30 seconds interval until the bacons
are crispy. Easy peasy, right? You have crispy bacons in a few minutes and
cleanup is easy as the kitchen paper towels absorb all the grease from the
bacon – which means no oil splatters in the microwave!
3. Improvised Coffee Filters
You
are about to drink brewed coffee when you suddenly realized that you have ran
out of coffee filters. Don’t’ worry because you can easily make a makeshift
coffee filter using paper towels (watch the video below to find out how). This
hack can also save you some money because paper towels are cheaper than coffee
filters.
4. Freeze and Thaw Breads without Getting Soggy
If
you’re one of those people who love buying bread in bulk and freeze them for
later use, then you might be familiar with the problem of frozen bread getting
soggy as it thaws. To solve this problem, just put a couple of paper towels
inside the bag of bread before freezing it. When you are ready to defrost it,
the paper towel will absorb the moisture while thawing, therefore no more soggy
bread.
5. Facial Blotting Sheets
I
used to buy lots of Clean & Clear Oil Absorbing Sheets to control the hyperactive sebaceous glands on my face, even though I find them
expensive (I used an average of 6 sheets a day). It was until I saw my male
office colleague who used paper towel to blot the oils on his face that I was
convinced to try it myself. Oh boy, it does work like a charm! It manages to absorb
the excess oils on my face. I also love that it doesn’t break easily, it’s
unscented and doesn’t have powders unlike the typical facial blotting papers.
6. Soften Hard Brown Sugar
Brown
sugar hardens as its natural moisture (coming from the molasses) evaporates. An
easy way to soften rock-hard brown sugar is to place the hardened block in a
bowl, cover it with a damp paper towel and let it sit overnight. The moisture
in the paper towel will transfer to the hardened brown sugar to make it soft
again the next day.
7. Pat Dry Meat and Fish before Pan-Frying
When
I was just a novice cook, I’m not aware that putting moist meat and fish on a
hot oil will result into so much splattering. In order to reduce splatter, I
learned that you need to pat dry moist meat and fish before frying them in the
pan. Of course, the ever absorbent kitchen paper towel is the best item to use
to blot meat and fish dry prior to pan-frying.
8. Remove Hardened Wax from Fabric
Cleaning
candle wax spills on your carpet or any fabric shouldn’t be hard. All you need
to do is to lay paper towels over the hardened wax on the fabric, then press an
iron (using its lowest heat settings) over the paper towels. The heat from the
iron will melt the wax which will be absorbed by the kitchen paper towels.
Alternatively, you can also use hair dryer to heat the wax under the paper
towels.
9. DIY Underarm Sweat Pads
If
you live in a tropical country, sweating is a constant issue and having sweat
marks is inevitable especially if you wear long-sleeved shirts on your daily
commute to work. While there are disposable sweat pads that you can buy online,
one cheaper trick is to stuff your underarms with paper towel prior to wearing
your clothes. In order to prevent paper towel from sticking out of your
sleeves, you may want to use a double-sided tape to adhere the DIY sweat pads
to the underarm area of your clothing.
Do
you know other uses for kitchen paper towels besides cleaning? Share them on
the comment section below J
P.S.
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