It’s hard to find a kitchen that doesn’t house a roll of paper towels on the counter or under an upper cupboard. Even though many of us try to use them less, there are still times when they’re just about indispensable (absorbing grease after frying ground beef, for instance).

As indispensable as they can be, though, there ARE some things you just don’t want to be wiping with a paper towel. Glass is number one on the list (including fine china and crystal). Paper towels are notorious for leaving linty residue behind, making glass furniture, windows, and mirrors look dusty. And they push dirt and grime around, rather than lifting and removing it. They’re just not user-friendly when it comes to most cleaning goals.

Micro-fiber cloths are much more eco-friendly and don’t harm glass or mirrors and leave no residue. Pair one with a quality squeegee and you’ve got a winning cleaning combination!

Stainless Steel is next on the list. Like glass, paper towels leave lint on stainless-steel surfaces, causing them to look dull and drab instead of sleek and shiny. They don’t remove fingerprints or greasy buildup (think appliance handles). Here’s another place where micro-fiber cloths perform well.

Then there’s non-stick cookware. Test kitchen experiments show that using paper towels on smooth, nonstick surfaces only smears grease instead of lifting and removing it. Applying extra force while scrubbing with a paper towel will also scratch the protective coating, leading to the need to replace cookware more frequently.

The best approach for any non-stick surface cleaning is to rely on a soft sponge and cloth to get the job done.

Now I’ll turn to where using the paper towel is appropriate: cleaning the waffle iron. Boy can they be a pain in the neck to clean! If you have one with removable grid plates, you’re lucky, and smart—there’s really no issue.

But if not, then there’s folding the above-mentioned paper towel just right to wipe out the tracks, but it’s slow-going and not that effective. Test kitchen pros agree the folded paper towel is the right idea, but they have a suggestion for speeding up this process.

First, let all left-behind dribbles and dabs dry thoroughly. Then with a clean kitchen brush, loosen all this stuck-on stuff. Carefully lift the appliance upside down and lightly shake it, to let all crumbs fall off (maybe over the sink). THEN go after anything left in the tracks with your folded paper towel. Loosening the mess with a brush first makes the rest of the job a breeze.

After I read this suggestion, I thought, “DUH—why didn’t I think of that!?” That’s the way it is sometimes—seemingly obvious solutions can be totally off our radar. That said, what cleaning tips do YOU have that might be off our radar? We’d love to hear how you make cleaning simpler and easier!