Washing things is a necessity in this life. HOW we wash things is another subject. It is assumed, wrongly, that everyone knows to rinse out the sponge often when you wash a vehicle. Or you’re just pushing around the dirt that you’re trying to remove.

It wasn’t until recently that we discovered that in 2018 there are some people that don’t use washcloths. I have to say that I was more than a little bit mortified that this was occurring. Guys in the gym just do good to wash off, cover up in Axe and then be on their way. So, I sort of get the gym thing.

BUT, apparently, at home, there are plenty of folks today that don’t have a laundry basket full of fun colored washcloths to fold. How we fold them in our house is still, after 35 years together, sort of a thing. We don’t all fold them the same way. Some are folded in half and done. Then some are folded in half and THEN in half again. I do know of a young lady that said once she was married, she’d never fold another washcloth. She’d toss em in a basket and fish out what she wanted when she wanted it. I broke out in a cold sweat on hearing that and nearly had to take another shower, with a washcloth.

We all see things differently. For instance, I don’t see ‘murdering’ a perfectly fine vehicle by making it all black so as it looks like a sad and violated licorice jellybean in the parking garage. But I cannot wrap my head around not using a piece of cloth to scrub your body.

#1. It just feels good to scrub this skin that has been in the elements. It’s been exposed to unknown assailants all day long; gym sweat, lotions, oils, deodorants (please use this, but that’s another blog), hand sanitizers that smell like pumpkin spice, laundry detergent and dryer sheet remnants and lawnmower oil if you change yours like I change mine. I pretty much end up with oil on everything but in the mower itself. So it physically FEELS good to scrub on this covering we walk around in all day. Don’t miss that feel good part of the day.

#2. Not everything ‘washes’ off with just soap. I can assure you of this after 30 years of using alcohol wipes to clean what appears to be an already perfectly santized area with alcohol. They smell good, they’re clothes are clean and they have manicured fingernails. But one swipe with an alcohol wipe before giving a shot or drawing blood proves otherwise; brown skidmarks on an alcohol wipe. True story.

#3. Washcloths are cool. They come in lots of different colors. I prefer the solid ones. I cannot bring myself to use the polka dot ones or anything of such. Somewhere in our house is a Mickey Mouse washcloth that we got on a Disney trip. It came in a tiny cube and unfolded like magic before our kid’s eyes when it hit the water. Even as a grown man-geek, I thought that was cool.

I’d steer away from solid white ones, for obvious reason. I’m still perplexed as to who thought white underwear was wise.

I remember when I was growing up, there were washcloths that came in detergent boxes.

 This video is for a whole towel that came in the box, but this concept was applied to washcloths that came in detergent boxes. They smelled good forever.

Then there are these loofah/spongy things folks use now. Some of em look like a tangled up spiderweb. I see guys in the gym walking around with them.

shower-sponge-1216556_1920 IDK. They so extra.

But I guess it’s better than no scrub at all.

 

#4. Once your bathcloths are holey, (has a hole in it, not blessed thank you) you can use them as shop towels. Or, I always keep a ‘driving’ towel by my side in the vehicle. You never know when you’ll sneeze while eating an egg salad sandwich. Thusly, try to find yourself a not holey rag for such use or you’ll end up with egg salad on your dash.

And before I forget it, in the south, we call these necessities ‘wash rags’ not washcloths.  But we’re not always known for making ourselves clear.

So if you hear someone say ‘carry me to the Dollar Store, I need to get some washrags’. Please understand that request is not to be thrown over your back and carried anywhere.

But no matter what they’re called, please don’t miss out on the finer things in life.

Use a washrag.

That’s the best that I can tell about it,

~Mark