Tips for cleaning cheesecloth?

[CheeseSnipe]

So it seems that while many sites reference reusing higher quality cheesecloth, I have been unsuccessful in getting the little bits of cheese out of them (both cloth and plastic versions). Does anyone else reuse theirs or should I just consider it to be disposable all the time?

[Bishop]

As long as you don't let the cloth dry between using it and trying to clean it, your likely to be more successful.  I prefer to dispose of mine (I buy the economical stuff) because I can scrub them for ages and I still feel they could possibly harbour bacteria, I would rather throw out cloth than cheese.

[tananaBrian]

I'm new but what I do is to wash the cheesecloth out with hot water and a drop of dish soap, then continue to wash/rinse/squeeze with hot water until it's obvious that no more soap is in it, then I steam it in a colander (in a large pot) along with my other "to be sanitized" items.  Seems to work.  I threw the cheesecloth out the very first time, but have been cleaning it since.

Brian

[sstrantz]

When you wash cheesecloth you need to be sure you start out with COLD water.  When you wash it in hot water, it melts the cheese residue into the cloth and makes it almost impossible to remove.  (Imagine  laying down a piece of cloth, putting a piece of cheese on it, folding the cloth over the top of the cheese and ironing it with your iron.  Very similar results!!!!!)

It took me awhile to figure out a good method but I have two ways that I’ve been able to do cheesecloth that both work pretty well.  (One by hand, one by machine.)  Here’s how I do it if I use the washing machine:


-Rinse the cloth out by hand in the sink under running COLD water.  (If you made a soft cheese, you’ll need to spend a little more time on this step than if it is a hard cheese!)
-Put the cloth in the washer and run on COLD ONLY.  If there is a lot of residue in the cloth, I run a whole cycle; if there’s just a little, a single rinse will do.  I usually put in a little detergent with this.
-Wash on HOT cycle with detergent and a small amount of bleach.  Run a second rinse to help get all the bleach out.
-Hang to air dry.
 
I guess I need to note that I keep my hot water very hot so this method usually does a good job and I’m satisfied that it has gotten very clean.  I ALSO NEVER WASH ANYTHING ELSE IN THE SAME LOAD. 

If you run your water heater at a lower temp, you might consider putting your cloth in boiling water before you use it and letting it hang dry.  The only time I do that is if I’m washing by hand.

Also, if there is going to be some time between making your cheese and when you are going to wash the cloth, after removing it from the cheese, put it into a bowl with COLD WATER to soak until you can tend to it.

Hope that helps some!

[sstrantz]

PS:  If I wash by hand, I do the same basic process by hand.  At the washing step I start with cold water with a little dish soap like Brian, then work up to hotter water when I’m sure  most of the cheese residue has been washed out.  After that I put mine in a pot on the stove and let it boil about 5 min. then hang to dry.

[smilingcalico]

As soon as we unmold the cheese, we take it outside and give the cloth a few good shakes.  Then we put them in warm water to remove a little more cheese. We then spray it out with a hose.  Finally, we wash in hot water with a little unscented soap.  Of course we then dry them thoroughly before storing.  We have cloths that are over 2 years old.  They take maintenance if you choose to keep them, and clearly, we do.  We don't bleach them every time, but once in a while is recommended.

[CheeseSnipe]

Thanks all, great feedback! I'll give it a try again tomorrow.

[Sailor Con Queso]

Use dairy cleaner and/or an acid wash for the initial soaking.

[tananaBrian]

I'm new but what I do is to wash the cheesecloth out with hot water and a drop of dish soap, then continue to wash/rinse/squeeze with hot water until it's obvious that no more soap is in it, then I steam it in a colander (in a large pot) along with my other "to be sanitized" items.  Seems to work.  I threw the cheesecloth out the very first time, but have been cleaning it since.

Brian

Thanks, Leah's Mom ...I completely forgot about the initial cold water rinse/wash.  I start out with the sink sprayer and the faucet on cold and spray all the bits of cheese completely out of the cheese cloth before I continue on to using detergent and warmer water.  I don't switch to warmer water until the cloth already looks clean.  BTW, the initial cold-water rinse/wash is something I do for all my cheese making utensils/pots/etc when cleaning. 

Sailor ...can you recommend sanitizing products?  When I was a brewer, we used Idophor ...it'll stain the cheese cloth, but is that a good choice here as well?  If not, then can you recommend something else?

Brian

[CheeseSnipe]

TananaBrian, as a home brewer I've been using StarSan acid sanitizer for years. Doesn't take much to clean a 5gal bucket.  Just a quick dunk and you're done. However i discovered yesterday that it instantly turns Annatto stained cheesecloth pink. :-)

[zenith1]

Agree with Sailor-how about using a proteolytic type cleaner like OxyClean to remove the protein build up.

[velward]

Soak in cool water with OxyClean overnight, then scrub the clotha against itself to remove the softened cheese, rinse with warm water and hang to dry.

[Illiterate]

I guess I'm a little late, but I'm also still alive (this hasn't killed me yet), I let my cloths air dry at least 24 hrs. so all the little bits of curd dry out and come right off, then soak them over night in cold watter with some AWESOME cleaner, hand wash and boil hard for 5 min, air dry and place in freezer bag.

Sam 

[CheeseSnipe]

Thanks Illiterate, I may try drying them out. the softer curds are the real issue but the hard pressed cheeses seem to work their way into the fibers more. The last time I washed in the washing machine I ended up with a nice cheesecloth soccer ball that could not be unraveled.

[tananaBrian]

Thanks Illiterate, I may try drying them out. the softer curds are the real issue but the hard pressed cheeses seem to work their way into the fibers more. The last time I washed in the washing machine I ended up with a nice cheesecloth soccer ball that could not be unraveled.

Try putting the cheese cloth into a mesh bag during washing and drying ...like some do when washing certain 'delicates'.

Brian