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Monday, August 29, 2011

Do you tawashi?

A tawashi is actually a japanese word for a specific type of scrub brush, but the term has expanded in the crochet realm to these cute little thingees that people started making and using as scrubbies for their dishes.  
Tawashi anyone?

I came across these first on etsy.  What caught my eye in particular was the fact that they were made out of acrylic.  Cheapo acrylic yarn, the scratchier the better.  I had always followed the yarn commandment that says, "Thou shalt only use cotton for handmade yarny kitchen thingees."  But much to my surprise acrylic does an extraordinary job of scrubbing dishes. I even scrubbed my lasagna pan without soaking it first with above tawashi and it took no time at all and nowhere near as much elbow grease as it usually would.  Hmmmm... looks like I'll have to take back my vow to never ever buy Red Heart Supersaver again.

I used this pattern to make the tawashi above.  The crochet part was super simple, but I had to watch a video  I found on ravelry to understand how to put it together.  So I made a little picture tool to show how it's done in case anyone wants to make one.
  
Do you tawashi?

When I looked up "tawashi" on Flickr and ravelry I found that people are cuckoo for these things.  Sort of like useful amurigami.  For me the awesomeness of tawashi all lies in the idea of maybe never having to buy a sponge again.  And the fact that you can throw them in with your regular laundry. Because I've always been a little creeped out by the whole sponge crawling with bacteria situation.  Speaking of which, supposedly tawashi made from acrylic is so good at removing food particles from dishes that you don't even need to use soap. (Of course, I still will use soap, but how cool is that?)  There is also some Japanese yarn that has been treated with silver ions to make it anti-bacterial.  Yarn made especially for tawashi making! But I'll stick with my Red Heart stash for now.

So far I've just tried this one pattern, but I found all kinds of super cute tawashi pictures on Flickr.
Here are some of my favorites: 

15 comments:

K @ Aurora Blythe said...

Thank you for sharing this. And for the acrylic tip. I had always wondered about it.

Yarny Days said...

Oh, how interesting! Thats for the visual tutorial.

Lonestarcasie said...

fun things that seem useless but aren't rock! Cute things to collect are cool. What could be bad about this? NOTHING.

Chiyo said...

I can't seem to follow either your pictures or the instructions. Both are confusing. Got a better explanation?

Sarah said...

I just made one of these and it only took about a half an hour. Super simple to make. The pictures make more sense after watching the video. I'm going through my scrap yarn and finding as much acrylic as I can. I'm going to make one for all of my sisters-in-law for christmas!

Maggie said...

thank you for the video link! super easy to follow! looks like people will be getting these for Christmas this year!

Unknown said...

They are so beatyfull <3.
I was wondering if you made them with a much thinner yarn and stuffed them you actually have some christmas balls?
What a great tutorial <3

Unknown said...

I meant: Beautyfull

Unknown said...

OMG! Thank you for posting the video! I have tried to make these from the original pattern and got so frustrated. I have several of these in ready, just sitting in my WIP basket.Now I can go home and finish them after, oh, I dunno, maybe THREE YEARS!!! LOL! Thanks so much!!!

Sue said...

The first thing I thought of when I saw this was that I would love it as a cushion! Hmmm. That should work but the scrubbie idea is wonderful too. Thankyou for sharing the wonderful pictures for finishing it off.

Unknown said...

So i dont have to buy 100% cotton and tulle for these.

renee said...

Tammy- You can use whatever yarn you like! Well, I'm not sure what wool would do, but cotton, acrylic, anything that is washing machine friendly. I prefer acrylic because those microfibers really scrub my dishes and pans without scratching anything.

Mrs. Laura Lane said...

I make something similar with knitting. I am quicker at crochet, so I think I'll try one of these soon. I don't have any acrylic, so I'll use cotton for now. Great use for scraps.

azpines said...

Can someone help me? I'm new at crochet but found these instructions easy to follow. I've made two of these scrubbies and had this problem both times. My scubbies aren't flat, they bowl in/out? Am I doing something wrong? Because I'm new at crochet I know my knots aren't even, they are kind of tight. But the flat shape before I sew up the sides look good and even But when I stitch them together they bowl up and are a mess. Can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

renee said...

@azpines- I'm not sure how to help, but perhaps you're sewing up the edges too tightly? I realize that my picture didn't exactly show that part, but maybe you can find a video that shows someone else sewing one together.