7 Clever DIY Solutions To Finally Stop Your Kitchen Towels From Falling

The last thing you need when you're jumping from pan to pot to sink on a busy kitchen day is tea towels constantly slipping and falling to the floor when you so much as brush past them or wipe your hands. Most people hang their towels on oven or dishwasher door handles, but, although they look perfect for the job, they're also infamously slippery. So you're left picking towels up over and over until there's no option but to throw them in the laundry basket, get clean ones, and repeat the tedious process. Forever. And it gets even worse for those with curious kids, of the human or furry variety.

It really doesn't have to be that bleak. There are plenty of ways to stop this from happening. You can say goodbye to kitchen towels falling with a few simple and stylish DIY solutions, so that the cook in you can have their patience restored, all while making your kitchen look a little more dapper.

While some entries on this list require a certain level of skill, this solution is fit for all. It requires minimal effort and bricolage. All you need to do is ditch the skiddy oven and dishwasher door handle for a more reliable alternative. Most towels have loops that you can securely hang on hooks. Opt for adhesive ones that you can attach to the side of your kitchen cabinets, no tools needed. Functionality is paramount here, so forgo more minimalist designs for deep curved ones that can actually keep your towels in place.

Another smart and simple solution to keep your kitchen towels from falling is to use the hanging loop to fold the towel securely. Hold the towel by two of its tips, forming a diamond-like shape. Pull the top tip behind the oven door handle with the hanging loop facing forward. Bring the bottom tip up to meet the top tip, over the oven door handle, and pass it through the hanging loop. Adjust by pulling on the bottom tip so the tea towel hangs from the handle sort of like a fancy cravat.

For a slightly more complex but charming solution, you can try your hand at adding snaps or hook-and-loop strips to your towels. This method may be labor-intensive depending on how many towels you want to customize, but as long as you have the right supplies, it's relatively simple. To install the snaps, you're going to need a piercing tool called an awl and specific pliers. The hook and loop strip, on the other hand, will need to be sewn on.

For those adept at sewing, a popular DIY solution is adding a neat topper with a band that holds the towel in place around the oven handle. Since this project requires an extra piece of fabric, it can be a creative way to repurpose old cloth napkins or any fabric scraps leftover from other DIYs. You'll first create the band with a smaller but wider piece of fabric, followed by the towel topper in a rectangular shape, sewing them to each other and, finally, to the towel. 

This hack works with either a sewing machine and some strong fabric adhesive, in case sewing is not your thing. Since you'll need to either stitch or glue the towel to the pot holder, matching sets are perfect for this DIY. To transform the pot holder into a sleeve for the door handle, you can install snap buttons with the same tools mentioned above. Alternatively, if the pot holder has a hanging loop, you can use it as a buttonhole for a button that you'll sew onto the opposite side.

In this inventive towel holder, you pass it through two rings, and, in turn, hang those on the door handle via a decorative strap. The strap can be as simple as a piece of yarn or fabric tied to the rings, but for something more attractive — if more elaborate — you can try knitting, crocheting, or creating a macrame version. For the first two techniques, you'll first make the strap, then tie it around the rings. With macramé, you'll start by tying the various threads around the rings and then add more knots as you go.

If crocheting is your jam, there are a number of towel toppers you can attempt. Though there are many different designs, the most common pattern has a thinner section at the top that wraps around the door handle and attaches to the bottom of the topper through a button. The topper is crocheted directly onto the towel, which is folded lengthwise into thirds. You'll need to decrease the stitch count gradually with each row to narrow the shape, and then maintain it until the top section is long enough to wrap around the door handle.