Washing a Pastry Cloth?
I have my grandmother's nigh upon ancient pastry cloth. I know it's older than I am - my mom remembers seeing it in use when SHE was a kid, and she's 60. Let this be a testament to the lifespan of good, quality stuff! It came with a few bits of dough imbedded into it where stuff had stuck. Nothing to worry about. And then, last week when I was making my version of Anadama bread - I failed to flour thoroughly before turning my dough out onto the cloth to divide and shape. I have a large, perhaps 3" round spot now that didn't come up entirely when I scrapped (carefully and at a very shallow angle) with my bench scraper.
Can I wash this? Is it going to be a mess? The edges are not finished/hemmed - they're simply cut with pinking shears. Other than unraveling, do I have to worry about the embedded flour and dough just turning into a paste and ruining the cloth entirely?
Any suggestions welcome.
I wash my pastry cloth all the time. What I don't do is put it in the dryer. I just hang it on the clothes line, where I dry most of my laundry, outside. That way it retains some natural stiffness.
--Pamela
For something that is very likely delicate (especially the unfinished edges), I would carefully hand wash and avoid any machines. You might also get away with just 'spot washing' that one area. I'd try that first, then move on to other options if that doesn't produce good results.
- Keith
Mine is just an unhemmed real flour sack cloth that I bought on eBay. It doesn't seem to fray much in the washer maybe because it is a pretty thick/tight weave.
--Pamela
Mine looks and feels like raw canvas.
Given that my family is one of artist, and my grandmother always had canvas around, I wouldn't put it past being canvas!
My pastry cloth had a weak spot from too much scraping too much or too hard. This is what I do when it goes beyond what I feel comfortable with. I don't mind flour water & oil on it and I like to keep the oil down because of rancidity.
Place the cloth in your clean kitchen sink & cover it with cold water. Let it soak a while. Then use a plastic brush on it. Do a small section at a time. When the water gets cloudy from the flour change it. Turn it over and do the backside. Then the front. A good 20 minutes to a half hour the first time. Air dry. It does not have to come perfectly clean. I would not agitate it in the washer because of the pinked edges. Remember you can always repink the edges. I would not use fray check. Mine is cotton canvas with a tight weave. One has a soft spot is the one that was purchased by someone and it has red pie circles on it. It is softer and not as tight as the cotton canvas I purchased at the fabric store. I have given many of these away to aspiring bakers. Always a clean surface. Fold up and place in a zip lock & whip it out when you need it. They last Forever.
I do about the same as mredwood...give it a good soak and a gentle scrub..several rinses and hang to dry!