# 12" steel rule for back scratching. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 9, 2015, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-steel-rule-for-back-scratching/734025 "2015-10-09T13:35:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-steel-rule-for-back-scratching/734025/21 "2015-10-09T21:10:50Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > Cannot one be delicately leathery, I ask? [Of course](http://www.yandy.com/g/Faux-Leather-and-Venice-Lace-Corset.php?utm_source=googleps&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=googleps&gclid=CN-luJSltsgCFUhufgod7tIJIg). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-steel-rule-for-back-scratching/734025/22 "2015-10-09T21:19:57Z")
At work I use a stainless steel lobster fork (made in Japan) that a coworker brought me as a souvenir from New England. At home I use a letter opener. Ah bliss… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-steel-rule-for-back-scratching/734025/23 "2015-10-09T21:39:46Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > A coworker gave this to me as a gift years ago: [Amazon Link](http://www.amazon.com/Bear-Claw-Telescopic-Scratcher-shipped/dp/B0067ARLTU). I have been very careful to treasure it since then. Nice. I have one of those and have been looking to buy a second one. ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-steel-rule-for-back-scratching/734025/24 "2015-10-10T00:33:41Z")
For about a year now, I’ve been using the antenna that broke off my boombox. I carefully bent a curve in it so I can reach below the shoulder blade but I can still retract it. The plastic tip has a slightly sharp edge that is just right for scratching. Ah, bliss! Some years before this I used to use a T-square. It, too, had a slightly sharp edge on the T-bar thingy that was just right for scratching. Alas, I lost it somehow and haven’t found one that works as well since. But now I have my antenna so that’s OK. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-steel-rule-for-back-scratching/734025/25 "2015-10-10T00:55:56Z")
[That Old Back Scratcher](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GQMqCSQLuw), Allan Sherman > [@Allan Sherman](#): > > That old back scratcher has me in its spell, > That old back scratcher like the Chinese sell. > Your plastic fingers up and down my spine, > The same old itchcraft when your touch meets mine. > You tame that tingle when I’m all alone; > For I am single, so, to itch his own. > So down and down you go, > Around and around and around you go; > Scratching my unreachable zone. Sung to the tune of “That Old Black Magic”. ---
**Author:** ![Mikeisskeptical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@Mikeisskeptical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikeisskeptical)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-steel-rule-for-back-scratching/734025/26 "2015-10-10T01:04:34Z")
I have low self-esteem and endure an itchy back as punishment for my wicked thoughts. ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-steel-rule-for-back-scratching/734025/27 "2015-10-10T01:04:58Z")
Thanks so much for that, **Senegoid**! Loved that. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-steel-rule-for-back-scratching/734025/28 "2015-10-10T01:06:26Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Kitchen utensils work well. Also a nail remover, kind of like a crowbar as running coach mentioned. In a pinch a pen or pencil will do the trick. On the other hand, the eraser end of a pencil is the perfect tool for scratching between your toes. Fellow athletes’ foot-sufferers will understand. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-steel-rule-for-back-scratching/734025/29 "2015-10-12T02:58:16Z")
My daughter got an alligator-hand back scratcher as a souvenir from the Arkansas Alligator Farm. It’s fantastic. ---
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-steel-rule-for-back-scratching/734025/30 "2015-10-12T17:18:23Z")
My best back scratcher is the towel that I dry off with after my shower. Yes, sometimes I have to shift it around to get “that spot,” but I always get “that spot.” I think that a four foot length of old-style hemp rope would work just the same. ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-steel-rule-for-back-scratching/734025/31 "2015-10-12T18:21:43Z")
I sometimes do that when I take my bra off at night. The elastic band on the bottom edge is just the right thing to relieve that itchy area between my shoulder blades. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-steel-rule-for-back-scratching/734025/32 "2015-10-13T04:07:09Z")
My roommate uses the bristle toilet brush. Very alluring. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-steel-rule-for-back-scratching/734025/33 "2015-10-13T06:52:22Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > On the other hand, the eraser end of a pencil is the perfect tool for scratching between your toes. Fellow athletes’ foot-sufferers will understand. That will come in handy someday. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-steel-rule-for-back-scratching/734025/34 "2015-10-13T13:03:30Z")
Its all fun and games until the dry cleaner can’t get the blood stains out of your shirt. “These stains on the back won’t come out. You work in a bank or something…?” ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-steel-rule-for-back-scratching/734025/35 "2015-10-13T19:41:02Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > My roommate uses the bristle toilet brush. Very alluring. Animal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-steel-rule-for-back-scratching/734025.md?page=1)