How I Invented The Mitty I

One day, a genius friend of mine suggested I try OIL CLEANSING, I almost laughed at her. Isn’t oil bad? I grew up on a strict “oil-free” regimen. All the fancy, new-fangled oils on the market were total head scratchers to me.

That friend is a super-smarty-pants, so curiosity won out. The websites I consulted made oil cleansing seem like advanced chemistry. Complicated oil blends, hot washcloths, detox periods, facial steaming…ugh. I spent a lot of time learning about it, though, trying lots of variations. You know what? My skin loved it, no matter how much or how little effort I put into it. (Why and how? That’s a topic for another day.) Thanks to my trial and error, I can confidently report that oil cleansing has two critical components:

1. Put oil on face
2. Wipe it off with something

As with anything, you can make things complicated or keep them simple. Re: item #1, I’ve learned a ton about oils, and my favorites are jojoba oil and apricot kernel oil. Re: item #2, I’ve learned a lot about washcloths–they’re terrible. I tried microfiber, bamboo, organic cotton, hemp, muslin, you-name-it. They’re all gross, clumsy, lumpy squares that uglified my bathroom while taking their sweet time to dry.

This got me thinking–almost everyone I know owns washcloths. But no one seems to like them. How dumb is that? A personal care staple that everyone hates. Is the problem the shape, the fabric, or the general ugly? Clearly, it wouldn’t be hard to do better.

I decided that Step 1 was Find the Most Awesome Fabric Ever. (This conveniently left Learning How to Sew for another day.)