Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Dishcloths

Our family is in the process of phasing out kitchen sponges.  They get gross pretty quickly, and they’re not compostable, and they come in plastic packaging.  So I'd like to phase in the dishcloth.  I found an incredibly easy pattern for knitting or crocheting here:  http://www.joann.com/static/project/0706/P148439.pdf  It was fun to make, I could do one during a movie, and I loved the way the crocheted one felt.  I was really excited about them.  Unfortunately, they don't scrub that well and I find them to be too large to manage, but that's all probably because I've been using kitchen sponges since I was a kid.  The good thing about making it yourself is you can always customize the size (as well as the color, shape, and texture)
Homemade: 
Prices stated are retail, but I found them both on sale.
1.99 for a ball of Sugar n’ Cream, 1 ball makes 1.5 dishcloths. (1.99/1.5 =   1.33)
1.99 for a crotchet hook

First cloth comes to a whopping $3.32, and subsequent cloths would be $1.33
Store bought: 
11.99 for an 8 pack from Target, coming to $1.49 each
Verdict:  
Buy it ...unless you are looking for an easy project to get you into yarn crafts.

4 comments:

  1. If you don't have a knack for yarn crafts or desire, Etsy.com is an awesome place to support local crafters who make things like dish clothes... Without the plastic wrapping:)

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  2. I cut my sponges into quarters. Effectively, they get gross a quarter as fast. I have had those dishcloths, but find them completely ineffective. And I think they look terrible after a couple of washes (which may mean a future project for you is laundry detergent!)

    I wonder if you can buy or salvage some kind of plastic --many even monofilament?-- you could knit into a scrubber? I had a friend who knit chain mail once for a drama production, but I don't recall what she used.

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  3. Knitting a scrubber is actually something I think I'm going to be looking into shortly. Right now I use a brush, but it's been a weird switch for me, I always forget I have it. I did find some store bought dishcloths I really like at Harris Teeter of all places, they have more texture than the ones I made.

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