Sensational Living®
March 2003
© 2003 by Bret S. Beall

There are so many things I want to do each day that bring me joy and happiness, that I sometimes become annoyed when I have to wash dishes (I don’t use my dishwasher). Washing dishes annoys me almost as much as doing laundry or cleaning house; cranking up the radio while I’m scrubbing away at plates and bowls and glasses is one of the two things that saves my sanity. The other thing is … nylon netting.

Nylon netting is what I have used for a quarter of a century to scrub my dishes instead of the usual sponges, washcloths and prepared scrubbers, and my mother used it at least a decade prior to . It’s cheap, easy to clean (so it’s more hygienic), often does a better job of scrubbing and can be used for other purposes. Don’t believe me? Read on!

1. Nylon netting is inexpensive (69 cents per yard, and it’s about 48” wide), which is cheaper than most sponges or store-bought scrubbers. I usually buy two yards of netting, and cut swathes 12” wide and 48” long, which last maybe a month or six weeks, so that is 23 cents every month or six weeks, versus 89 cents for a store-bought scrubber that lasts even less time. By the way, I actually tried something new recently. You know those nylon bags that are used to bundle 3 lbs of yellow onions for convenient sale? Well, some of those bags have small enough mesh to be useful as scrubbers. So, I cut the top and bottom clasps from the bags, and found that I had several flat pieces of “free” nylon netting (I use lots of onions; check out the Simple! Sensible! Sensational! recipes for February 2003 for ways to use onions). To be honest, this was a little more work than I cared for, but I wanted to share the idea with you regardless.
   
2. Nylon netting is easy to find: if you don’t go the “onion bag” route I mentioned above, just visit your favorite fabric store; they will have roll after roll of it.
   
3. Nylon netting is color-coordinated! Those multiple rolls at your favorite fabric store that I just mentioned? They are in different colors! As many at 15! Brighten your kitchen! You can’t lose!
   
4. Nylon netting is easy to store. You buy a couple of yards, cut your first 12” swath, and then just place the rest into a plastic bag and store upright along the wall of your cupboard or cabinet. It is flat and takes up no space at all. And what about the netting that you are using? It will soon form into a nice ball-like pile that will sit at the back of your sink and offer a bright spot of color, depending on what you chose. Because it is non-absorbent, it won’t retain water, and will quickly dry, unlike other types of scrubbers.
   
5. Nylon netting eliminates those difficult to clean and baked on problems. The multiple “edges” of the netting cut into stubborn stains while scrubbing far better than I’ve been able to accomplish with either a dishcloth or a sponge. Furthermore, the highly flexible netting can be shoved through tiny openings and manipulated with long pointy “things” (spoon handles, butter knives, or whatever). No bottlebrush ever worked as well (or as affordably).
   
6. Nylon netting saves money on dish washing liquid. Start by washing a cup. Squirt some liquid into the cup. Use your moistened (but not wet) netting to work the liquid into a lather, changing your hold on the netting throughout. This will effectively “load” the netting, and you can wash the rest of your dishes without any additional liquid. Keep the original cup handy so that you can “re-load” the netting (depending on the size of your batch of dishes). A bottle of dish washing liquid will last 3 to 4 times longer than if you are washing with a sponge or washcloth, or even those commercial scrubbers.
   
7. Nylon netting is more environmental. OK, this is up for debate. Nylon isn’t biodegradable like some cloths and sponges, but then neither are other cloths and sponges (and once they get into a landfill, there is rarely enough moisture to allow them to decompose). Utilizing netting uses fewer natural resources than commercial nylon scrubbers. When it’s time to be tossed away, nylon netting actually takes up less space than sponges, cloths and commercial scrubbers (also, if you really want to reuse materials, let the netting dry and cut it up into small strips, maybe ½” by 4”, and scatter them on bushes for birds to use in their nests). Finally, since you are using less detergent, you are putting less soap into the water supply, and ultimately, using fewer plastic containers that would go into landfills. Think about it.
   
8. Nylon netting is more hygienic and healthier. The netting is not porous, so organic debris and germs cannot get into it. The netting is easily rinsed, and can be completely unfolded for thorough cleaning in hot water (this is important if you scrub away cheese, the only real problem I ever have, but one that you will also have with cloths and sponges and even more so with commercial scrubbers because they can’t be unfolded … and because they can’t be unfolded, they get so disgusting that their lifetimes are a fraction of the must cheaper netting). You can certainly launder washcloths, and even put sponges and cloths in the microwave for sanitary purposes, but most people neglect to do this on a regular basis. You really don’t want to know what kinds of ick and blech are living in your sponges and washcloths. I have seen individuals use the same sponge to clean the floor that they use to wash dishes … you don’t want to know what was on that floor, either.
   
9. Nylon netting can be used to clean other items. I find the flexible nature of the netting ideal for getting into tight corners around sink drains, faucets and other hardware (I also employ used toothbrushes for these tasks). The nylon is soft and won’t scratch soft surfaces (including non-stick surfaces), especially when combined with baking soda as an abrasive! Don’t limit nylon netting’s use to the kitchen, either; see what wonders will happen when you use it in the bathroom!
   
10. Nylon netting is ideal for scrubbing vegetables. I always use nylon netting to scrub potatoes, carrots, parsnips and other vegetables with edible peels (in fact, the smaller pieces that I gained from cutting up an onion bag are ideal for this application). I know, a lot of people just peel these vegetables. DON’T! The highest levels of nutrients are just below the skin, plus the skins themselves offer fiber that is missing in so many peoples’ diets. The flexible netting gets into tight crevices in the veggies, rendering them almost 100% edible. By not peeling, you save time. By not peeling, you increase nutrition. By not peeling, you save money by not having to use more of the veggies because you peeled away half of the volume.

So go out and get some nylon netting, and get on with your Sensational Living! (and while you are reusing onion bagging, start saving yellow onion skins for an April Senses of Living activity; just add the peels to a plastic bag, and we’ll play with them next month).