Saturday, January 17, 2009

What the H*ll Are These For??

For those of you that have ever wondered what the h*ll you do with those square and round 'things' sold on etsy...prepare to be enlightened.

Commonly labelled as coasters, scrubbies, scrubby, mug rugs, washcloths, and whatever else, they have a wide range of uses.

If they're made of acrylic they have fewer uses, in my opinion, since acrylic is much less absorbent than cotton.  Acrylic scrubbies (my favourite term) are best for coasters and pot scrubbers.

Cotton scrubbies, on the other hand, have way more uses (again, this is my opinion).  Small or mini sizes are great for those tiny wash-up jobs such as silverware polishing or makeup removal.  They're also cute to have a pile together in a basket, since they're usually about an inch across.

Medium sizes (up to about 4" across) are the most general-use.  They are coasters, dishcloths, bath scrubbies, facecloths, pot scrubbies or just 'swipe the table with one.'  They look great bundled with some fabulous handmade soap from Etsy as a gift.  Plus, the added bonus is that all the ridges created by the handmade stitches produce a super lather!!

The largest scrubbies are ideal as pot holders, table squares, dishtowels and supersized scrubbies for dishes or the bath.

Now, for the BIG SECRET!  If you can knit or crochet at all, you can make them.  They're so easy it's criminal.  All you do is make a square or circle as big as you want.  The mini circular ones take mere seconds (like, less than two minutes).  So maybe as a seller I shouldn't be telling you this!!

As of right now, here are some Etsy shops selling my idea of pretty scrubbies (hey, even pot scrubbers deserve to be pretty):


And for some beautiful Etsy soap:


Enjoy!!

6 comments:

  1. I've made a few for myself...they are really handy!

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  2. I never knew people used those to shower. My first thought was definitely coaster.

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  3. They are EXCELLENT for washing with, either yourself or in the kitchen. If they're made with super-soft cotton, they're really luxurious, especially if they have lots of texture.

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  4. I would have just thought coasters too!
    What neat little items.

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  5. Wow! You learn something new everyday! I just always thought they were snazzy coasters but I had no idea they could be used to scrub things! I always thought that they little fibers would come unraveled or something.

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  6. No, unless a really fuzzy or loose-spun yarn is used, they won't come unraveled. I find mine just don't wear out no matter how bad I treat them.

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