All Washed Up: White Washcloths Are Over!

Forget about the colour of your parachute. We ask, what colour is your washcloth?

BUY RIGHT | Blame it on the spa industry, or decorating magazines if you want to, but the idea that thick spa-white bath towels and washcloths are the best and only way to wash and dry yourself is hogwash. White towels go with any style décor and feel indulgent in a good way, but white washcloths? No way, never! Easily stained light-coloured washcloths look dowdy quickly. Their low life expectancy means having to replace them frequently, which is both expensive and wasteful. Better to adopt the approach of more and more luxury and “cheap chic” hotels by having dark-coloured washcloths on hand, particularly for washing off stubborn makeup.

Black Is The New White Washcloth

Typically hotels embroider the word “makeup” on their black washcloths and include white ones alongside them, but we think a complete switch-out (in whatever dark colour you like) is the best way to go. That way you won’t need any labelling and all of your washcloths will be multipurpose.

Several weeks ago we replaced every one of our tacky white terry squares with a cache of superluxurious bamboo and cotton washcloths in dark slate, picked up dirt-cheap at Nood’s closeout sale. Sadly, Nood’s “washers” are all gone now, but you might consider Ikea’s all-cotton Fräjen washcloth (pictured here), which comes in black or slate and sells for $1.99 each, or watch for local linen sales and grab up a stack of dark washcloths the next time you see one. —eds

Photos, top to bottom: iStock, Ikea