# do white people use washcloths? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 10, 2005, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-white-people-use-washcloths/330320 "2005-11-10T01:06:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-white-people-use-washcloths/330320/21 "2005-11-10T02:34:02Z")
I do - for my face. If I try remove soap by putting my face in the shower stream I just come up spluttering. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-white-people-use-washcloths/330320/22 "2005-11-10T02:36:25Z")
No. I’m the same as \*\*roger \*\* - not since I was forced to in primary school. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-white-people-use-washcloths/330320/23 "2005-11-10T02:38:32Z")
> [@Snakescatlady](#): > > If I’m just taking a bath because it’s bathtime and **I haven’t been doing anything dirty** , I just use soap or shower gel. Gotta say you had me cracked up with this line! ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-white-people-use-washcloths/330320/24 "2005-11-10T02:41:59Z")
I’m white, I use a wash cloth when I’m washing my face before bed. I find I just don’t get all the make-up off if I just use my hands. I don’t use one in the shower, though. ---
**Author:** ![Amaranta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Amaranta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amaranta)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-white-people-use-washcloths/330320/25 "2005-11-10T03:34:24Z")
My very white, very British grandparents used washcloths (they called them flannels. as someone else in this thread did). I use a loofah or bath puff thing in the shower, but if I’m in a hotel or someone else’s shower, I’ll use a cloth. Less soap wasted, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-white-people-use-washcloths/330320/26 "2005-11-10T03:34:50Z")
Of _course_ I used a wash cloth, but I don’t think anyone else in Mexico does. I had to import my own, because not even in Wal-Mart could I find one. Yeah, I’m a white Euro-descendant. Using soap alone doesn’t provide any scrubbing friction to feel clean, plus you’ve gotta use some mechanical action to mix the skin oils with the oil-binding parts of the soap. Nothing else seems to hold the suds as well, either. ---
**Author:** ![Kyyrewyyoae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Kyyrewyyoae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyyrewyyoae)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-white-people-use-washcloths/330320/27 "2005-11-10T03:54:24Z")
Never used one. I use only liquid soap and my hands. Why would you need a cloth? ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-white-people-use-washcloths/330320/28 "2005-11-10T03:56:22Z")
I used to use a washcloth, but I feel like I can get to everything on my body better without one. Oh, yeah - I’m white. My husband’s from India and I’ve never known him to use a washcloth. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-white-people-use-washcloths/330320/29 "2005-11-10T04:07:51Z")
I saw the sketch too, and wondered about the same thing. I’m white, and I always used washcloths when I was a kid, but at some point (around 12 or 13?) I stopped using them. I developed a theory, though, that in the US the use of washcloths is vaguely a North/South kind of thing, with the South being the users, and the North being the non-users. My dad’s family’s from the South, and I feel like waaaay back in my childhood I was taught by him to use a washcloth; my mom’s family’s from New England, and I think as we got closer to them I picked up the non-washcloth habit. (How I would “pick that up,” I admittedly don’t know – osmosis? not seeing washcloths in their bathrooms?) But if this theory is true it may also explain the black/white thing, since most black Americans have their roots in the south – even ones who have been living up North in Chicago or New York maintain some southern traditions, maybe even including the use of washcloths. Totally bogus? Possibly. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-white-people-use-washcloths/330320/30 "2005-11-10T04:10:44Z")
I’ve been white for all of my life that I can remember, and I don’t use washcloths. They hang in the bathroom for “company”. I’ve got hands and soap, and they work well when combined for cleansing the human form. Combine that activity with another consenting adult and the cycle repeats, ad infinitum. Should I awaken as a negro, a la Watermelon Man, I’ll let you know if my methods change. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-white-people-use-washcloths/330320/31 "2005-11-10T04:12:58Z")
I’m white, and I use a mesh-puff-thing in the shower. Washclothes disgust me for some reason, in part because they seem really unsanitary. I wash my dishes with a sponge rather than a washcloth, too. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-white-people-use-washcloths/330320/32 "2005-11-10T04:14:19Z")
I’m black and I think it’s hilarious that Dave Chappelle has you guys re-examining your grooming habits because of an offhand comment in a skit! We call 'em facecloths in my family. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-white-people-use-washcloths/330320/33 "2005-11-10T04:15:42Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > I developed a theory, though, that in the US the use of washcloths is vaguely a North/South kind of thing, with the South being the users, and the North being the non-users. My dad’s family’s from the South, and I feel like waaaay back in my childhood I was taught by him to use a washcloth; my mom’s family’s from New England, and I think as we got closer to them I picked up the non-washcloth habit. I don’t think so location has much to do with it. Most of the girls in my dorm used them, and more than 90% of us were from New England instead of transfer students (and, being NH, most of us were white as well). You learn a lot about other women from living in an all-female dorm… I use them for taking off makeup at night, but you need a lot of them so there’s always one clean. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-white-people-use-washcloths/330320/34 "2005-11-10T04:20:59Z")
I use them on the kids for baths, but I like my poofy for myself. My BIL is a washcloth addict. We are all as white as white can be. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-white-people-use-washcloths/330320/35 "2005-11-10T04:39:49Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I don’t think so location has much to do with it. Most of the girls in my dorm used them, and more than 90% of us were from New England instead of transfer students (and, being NH, most of us were white as well). You learn a lot about other women from living in an all-female dorm… > > I use them for taking off makeup at night, but you need a lot of them so there’s always one clean. Speaking of dorms…one of my freshman roommates used a washcloth (and he was from New Jersey, so there goes my earlier theory even more) that he would leave hanging on a hook in the shower near the showerhead. That damned thing had so many pubes in it it was incredible. And nauseating. The last thing you want to look at when you wake up and are already late for class is a bunch of short and curlies… :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-white-people-use-washcloths/330320/36 "2005-11-10T04:54:42Z")
White, call 'em facecloths, use 'em every day. My whole family does, my husband and my husband’s family does. They’re white, too. And they don’t smell bad if you wash them after you use them. :dubious: And it’s _Dave Chappelle_! He’s all sorts of thilly! The man doesn’t _just_ play on stereotypes, he hauls out some damn funny non-sequiturs _all_ the time. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-white-people-use-washcloths/330320/37 "2005-11-10T04:55:47Z")
Let’s see; my husband and I are both white, and I always use washcloths (two, in fact - a face cloth and a bum cloth), and he never uses them. However, I never use soap on my face or body except for shaving and hand-washing after using the toilet, and he uses soap all over. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-white-people-use-washcloths/330320/38 "2005-11-10T05:01:59Z")
I am a complete freak about washcloths. I’m white. ---
**Author:** ![spiritturtle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@spiritturtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spiritturtle)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-white-people-use-washcloths/330320/39 "2005-11-10T05:03:10Z")
Yep, all the white people in my house and my siblings houses use wash clothes. I’m one of five kids. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![SusanStoHelit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@SusanStoHelit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SusanStoHelit)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-white-people-use-washcloths/330320/40 "2005-11-10T05:06:36Z")
> [@Patty O'Furniture](#): > > They’re called cum rags, and yeah I use 'em. I don’t think anyone else in the thread picked up on this, but that was my understanding of the washcloth thing, too. I’ve heard other black comedians talk about having a washcloth for cleaning up after sex (DL Hugley comes to mind). I’m white, and I don’t use a washcloth- for anything. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-white-people-use-washcloths/330320.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-white-people-use-washcloths/330320.md?page=3)