Tawashi
Includes step-by-step picture tutorial.
How to make tawashi?
Tawashi is another great discovery straight from Japan, a sponge made from recycled fabrics (we have used old socks and the sleeve from a sweatshirt in this tutorial) to replace the commercial synthetic sponges that are not recyclable and contribute to environmental pollution whenever they are incinerated or sent to landfills, and also are a real ecologic disaster.
You can use a tawashi to clean any surfaces or for washing up, even clean your car.
This is why today we are bringing a new simple and effective solution: making your own sponge with recycled fabric.
Another step toward zero-waste, which is fun and easy to make (you can even have your children help out).
Making your own tawashi instead of buying a new sponge every other week could also save you money, around £10-£20 per year.
There are different techniques to make tawashi.
Today, we are demonstrating one technique in this tutorial with step-by-step pictures.
Using homemade loom
Making the loom is actually the most time-consuming process in making tawashi. It may take you up to 10 minutes. Although, once it is made, you can use it indefinitely and make tawashi in under two minutes.
Here is what you need to make the loom:
a small wooden board (smooth and flat) measuring about 25 cm x 25 cm, giving you a working space of a square of 20 centimetres.
a pen
a square (to draw a right angle)
28 flat-head nails or screws
a screwdriver or a hammer
Making the loom:
With the pen and the square, mark a square with sides of 16 centimetres on the wooden board. Make a mark every 2 centimetres on every side.
Place a nail or a screw on every mark, but not in the corners (see pictures below for a demonstration). By doing so you have 7 nails/screws on each side, spaced every 2 centimetres.
Finished loom
Making the tawashi:
collect old pieces of clothing large enough to make 8-centimetre-long loops (e.g. leggings, sleeves of a tee-shirt or sweatshirt, thick tights, or socks). The piece of clothing must also be long enough to make 14 loops 1-2 centimetres wide. Although, you can mix fabrics and make a patchwork tawashi.
a pair of scissors
1. Cutting the fabric:
Place the fabric flat on a clean table/countertop and cut 14 ribbons 2-3 centimetres wide
2. Making tawashi:
Place the loom in front of you and place one ribbon going from one nail/screw to the opposite one on the same line
Repeat until you have used the 7 lines
Repeat the process using the horizontal lines, going above and below as you go from the top screw to the lowest one.
Repeat until all ribbons have been placed
Carefully, take the first loop in the left-hand corner and the loop below. Pass the second loop inside the top loop, leave the top loop and fix the second loop on the second nail/screw
Repeat until the last loop. Use the last loop to make a knot, which can be used to suspend the tawashi.
Wash your tawashi in your washing machine (30-60˚c) and reuse it again and again…
Step-by-step tutorial:
Make a knot with the last loop to complete your first tawashi
Use different fabric for different use, including soft fabric for dusting or jeans for scrubbing
