Where’s my Washcloth? Plus 31 Days of Giveaways – Day 24

a rose on a stack of towels
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Whether you call it a washcloth, wash rag, face-washer, flannel or face cloth, the small square towel is often popular for washing for faces and bodies in the shower or bath. Americans reading this might think to themselves that of course all hotels have washcloths, and I’d noticed occasionally that not all properties had them in Europe but thought it was an oversight.

Recently at a property in a Scandinavia, there weren’t any in the bathroom so I called down to the front desk to see if one could be brought up. I found out that not only did the hotel not have any, they’d made a conscious decision not to provide them any longer.

They said it helped them cut down on cost and not many guests had been using them anyhow. They had plenty of the larger sized hand towels, but no washcloths. Washing mitts, which are similar items where the hand fits inside what is essentially the same sized towel are often used in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium and Iran, but not in Scandinavia so there were none of those either.

I like washcloths but maybe I’m old-fashioned. I dragged one of those large hand towels in the shower, but it was so large it was comical. I travel often and somehow I missed the memo year after year that washcloths just aren’t provided everywhere outside of the United States.

To enter today’s contest to win a swag bag of goodies, leave a comment on this post about washcloths. Do you use them, and have you found yourself at a property without them? Am i the last one to figure out that they aren’t provided in all hotels?

The contest ends at 9pm PST, and for full contest rules you can click here.

Good luck!

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37 Comments

  1. Visiting my daughter Paris apartment in 1993, after recent back surgery, I stood in a stool in the narrow hallway, searching for a washcloth. The floor had a severe slope due to this Marais apartment complex being hastily built over a filled-in swamp by the French royalty, who needed a location far from the city center, in case they had to make a quick escape to the countryside. Of course, the stool toppled. Miraculously, I didn’t re-injur my back. Asking my daughter “Where are your washcloths?”, she said the French don’t use washcloths”.

  2. I’ve seen those little folded over washcloths in Germany and loved them. I love using washcloths so I would miss them.

  3. I use them. I was shocked years ago when at a hotel in Europe to find they were not offered. Now, on my first day visiting a foreign city, I stop into a nice linen shop and buy a few nice washclothes or mitts. They always have something that will work and it is a great when I look in my linen closet and have vacation memories.

  4. I grew up in the UK using a flannel, didn’t hear it called a washcloth until I moved to the US. The first hotel I stayed in in London on a visit back didn’t have them, so now we always pack a few when we travel, just in case. I even put this little factoid in a guide I wrote for colleagues visiting London for the first time. 🙂

  5. I use washcloths all the time at home and when traveling. I am a new knitter and I am working on knitting a washcloth that I can take overseas.

  6. I do like using them when I travel as well and have noticed that they are not common in Europe. You can always take the one from the flight if you are traveling in business class and dispose of it at the end of your trip.

  7. It drives me crazy that European hotels do not have washcloths. I have decided to start packing a few cheap ones when I travel and just toss them when I leave. Don’t get me started on missing top sheets.

  8. I use them and miss them if not available at a hotel. I find it is usually the smaller, non-chain hotels in Europe that don’t provide them.

  9. I use a loofah at home. When I find a hotel without washcloths, usually in Europe, I just make do. Not a big problem for me.

  10. When choosing a hotel, the availability of a washcloth is about the last amenity I think about. Don’t use one at home, don’t need one when traveling. So definitely not an issue for me.

  11. I have a specific purpose for wash clothes, so I want one – however the large hand towel would/will also work 🙂

  12. I like washcloths for use outside the shower, like for washing my face and wiping my feet off before going to bed. I find that most hotels do not provide enough for my use.

  13. I don’t use washcloths. I do take notice of what towels hotels provide and don’t think i have ever not received washcloths.

  14. I don’t use them, I use a travel loofah, or my hands if I forget it, my wife uses them a lot but more for washing her face than anything else.

  15. I don’t use ’em, but my husband does – and recently in Japan he found himself in a similar situation! He used a hand towel in the shower and had a mini adult tantrum about how heavy it got, how it wasn’t the same, etc! That said, I see the logic – when I travel solo I never use the wash clothes!

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