Kmart shoppers' warning over 'terrible' $5 household essential: 'Don't bother'

Whether you’re trying to dry your body after a shower or attempting to dry the dishes after dinner, there’s nothing worse than when your towel simply moves the water around rather than doing its job. Kmart shoppers have called out a popular $5 product for doing just that and urged others to “throw them in the bin”.

Kmart’s 10 Pack Cotton Tea Towels, which have a 4.4-star rating online, are designed to wipe wet utensils or hold hot pots with ease. One social media user took to a popular Facebook group this week to ask if anyone would recommend the towels for drying the dishes and quickly received a flurry of responses.

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While some shoppers said they have “never had an issue” with the towels and “there is nothing wrong with them”, a majority of people complained that they were “hopeless”, “terrible” and “absolutely horrible”.

“Nope wouldn't waste money on these for wiping dishes. They don't dry the dishes and even after washing before use they leave little fabric hairs and different fibres over the dishes,” one person commented.

“They smear the water around, they don’t absorb anything. They’re pretty useless,” another added, while a third said, “You couldn't pay me to take them for free. They're shocking”.

“They are the worst, don’t dry the dishes at all,” someone else replied, followed by a different user who said, “They're great for flicking flies… Drying dishes, not so much”.

Simple tea towel 'hack'

Plenty of shoppers also suggested washing the towels in vinegar before use because they work “so much better” after a few washes.

Not only does vinegar act as a disinfectant to break down bacteria and viruses, but it also breaks down detergent residue which makes your towels feel soft again.

“I just add vinegar to the ‘fabric softener’ section of my wash drawer, with wash powder in the ‘wash’ section then put it on a normal 60-minute wash. Vinegar works so well!” one woman commented.

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Meanwhile, some people admitted they’ve stopped buying tea towels to wash up dishes and instead use Kmart’s cotton hand towels, which are designed for use in the bathroom. The retailer stocks a variety of styles ranging from $2.50 to $5 which have been praised across TikTok.

“Girls, can we talk about Kmart having a major slay in the towels? Like, how cute is this!” content creator @jasmyn.gif shared in her video. “They’re actually thick. These are thicker than the ones that I paid like $50 for on Temple & Webster.”

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