Something's gotta give

When we got married, my great-aunt and my father's cousin gave us a lovely set of bath towels, handtowels, and washcloths. They were beautiful, plush Egyptian cotton. After a few washings, they were exquisite and we enjoyed using them.

Then we had children and it seemed like the washcloths were constantly in the laundry. They began to be less plush and then slightly fraying and then the occasional hole appeared. Then it seemed like they never were entirely clean. Frequent launderings, color-safe or regular bleach or ammonia with the best laundry detergent didn't seem to make a difference.

So, the other day at Target, I picked up three packages of four washcloths each. Designed for dorm rooms, they are flat -- not at all plush or cushy, but rather are sparsely threaded with something akin to the plastic mesh bags in which oranges are sold instead of Egyptian cotton. Their best feature was their ridiculously low price and the possibility that they can be discarded sometime in the future when they wear out and smell funky.

And tonight when I used one, I realized that they are not only functional, but quite possibly, necessary. The threads scrape off the top layer of one's skin so much more quickly than our old washcloths and when trying to time a shower for how long a baby will sleep, it's actually a positive that exfoliation needs no additional surface pressure from the exfoliator. Just slap some soap on it and go.

And the resultant redness fades in an hour or so...