Anyone who has ever rolled out pastry dough on a counter top or other flat surface knows what a chore it can be to clean up. Flour scattered everywhere, lumps of dough stuck to the counter -- cleanup can take as long as it took to make the dough. Using a pastry cloth makes cleaning up after rolling out pastry dough a breeze. The cloth stretches out over a flat surface and dusting flour is placed into and onto the cloth. When done, the pastry cloth is simply picked up and put away until next time, leaving a spotless surface behind. Pastry cloths should be cleaned periodically to prevent the formation of bacteria from moisture and fats that can build up in the cloth.
Shake the pastry cloth out to remove any dough caught between the folds of the cloth.
Fill a bowl with warm water and a couple of drops of liquid dish soup. Agitate the water so that suds appear.
Submerge the cloth in the bowl and squeeze it several times to release any flour or fat inside.
Wring the cloth gently to remove excess soap. Empty the bowl and rinse it well. Refill it with cool water
Place the pastry cloth back into the bowl and swirl it around to remove any remaining soap. Wring it gently and hang in a dry location to air dry.