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I've only needed to use cheesecloth a few times in the kitchen and was curious to know if it's reusable.

If so, how is it cleaned and how many times can it be reused?

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2 Answers

up vote 8 down vote accepted

I've not been able to use store bought cheese cloth more than twice and then only if I used it gently. And I'm not gentle on the stuff. I use it for cheese making regularly as well as juicing and random filtering.

I gave up on normal cheese cloth because it is too fragile and way too expensive for what it was.

I now use instead a tightly woven polyester mesh fabric. I found a yard of it in the scraps section of the fabric store for $1. A yard is about 3 times more than I will ever need. I cut it into smaller pieces and hemmed it. It is strong enough to be rung out full of grapes as well as laundered and a tight enough weave to filter small particles out of beef stock.

I was surprised how often I end up using these cloths and highly recommend them.

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Great answer! I have been struggling with normal cheese cloth for a while for the exact reasons you describe, and never considered woven polyester. Once you start using cheese cloth regularly, you find a million uses for it (besides the ones you mentioned, it makes a great satchel for herbs that you don't want in your meal - my wife hates the texture of rosemary, for example, but likes the flavor). Very excited to hit the fabric store this weekend, thanks for the answer! – stephennmcdonald Aug 26 '10 at 21:39
I've never used polyester, but I have used muslin before, because I had it on hand. – Joe Aug 26 '10 at 22:07
Of course, many forms of polyester will not take boiling. – derobert May 10 '11 at 22:39
@derobert- this is true. I had never thought of using these for herbs. Mine wouldn't handle the heat. – Sobachatina May 11 '11 at 2:52

I save my dishcloths and washcloths that become thin and worn down to just the threads to use as "re-usable" infusion pouches, and for other typical things where cheesecloth is used.

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