Sisal Bath Scrubber

Gross old mitt

I have an ancient bath mitt that I had a hard time replacing, so I kept using it even though it’s gross.  I tried switching to a luffa, but it’s not coarse enough for me.  I thought this should be a really easy fix.  After a quick internet search to find out what a bath mitt is knit from (sisal twine) and a trip to Lowes, I was ready.  I also looked around for some tips on knitting twine, and found advice that included wearing cotton gloves, and using large needles.  My first attempt, I used size 10 ½ needles, and cast on 14 stitches sans gloves ( gloves, really?).  I knitted something resembling a square, and cast off.   It took no time, and worked great!  It did look a little sad though.  I thought maybe I ought to make one that looked like I actually tried.  For my second attempt I used size 9 needles, and cast on 16 stitches, and made a lop-sided near-square.  It looked a little nicer, but honestly it worked just the same, used more twine for no good reason, and I was the only person who was ever going to see the thing.  I prefer the funky 10 ½ needle version, though if I were giving it as a gift, I'd do a 9 needle.

10 1/2 model

For the 10 ½ needle version, I estimate 22 ft.  For the 9 needle version, I estimate 32 feet  (width of the finished product x the number of rows x 3, rounded up = the amount of twine used).

Twine: $4.21 for 525 ft at Lowes ($.008 (per foot) x 22 = $.18 for 10 ½ model, $.008 x 32 = $.26 for 9 model)

Needles: I already had some, but they’re easy to find.  I prefer the Boyle metal ones because I like the clicking of metal needles (don’t laugh at me!) and Boyles are all metal in very minimal packaging.  They’re $2.99 at Michael’s.

9 model, pretty similar

Time: about 45 minutes for the 10 ½ model, and 1 hour for the 9 model.

Try it:  It cost me between $.18 and $.26, and I still have a ton of twine to, say, tie a Christmas tree on my car, or make a kitchen scrubber, or stake out a horse shoe pit in my yard.  If you had to buy new needles, the most it would cost you would be $3.25, which is still a deal.

Buy it: $5.95 for a body scrubber glove on Amazon

Verdict:  Try it!  It’s really easy, and it’s a great exfoliater!