Exfoliate your face or your dishes....plus a giveaway must-have for every coffee drinker!

     I'm sure I've said it before - I love reusable things. I also love dual/multi purpose things. That is the premise of my own Etsy store. So these hand-knit washcloths immediately caught my eye because they have both of these attributes AND come in gorgeous colors! These washcloths are soft enough to use on your face or delicate china, yet textured enough to clean up messes. No more wasteful paper towels and tissues! The colors in the set I reviewed are SO yummy and appropriately named Neapolitan:

     These washcloths are made by Maria, who sells hand-knit washcloths, coffee cup sleeves, soap savers, and scarves. They come in the prettiest colors too! She describes why she opened her Etsy store, HeritageKnitting:
     "In my family, knitting has been a craft handed down from generation to generation. My grandmother taught my mother during the snowy, Minnesota winters and my mother taught me when I was a hyper teenager with too much time on my hands.

     I discovered Etsy while checking CNN.com at a job I hated. Yes… CNN, the corporate commercial giant led me to Etsy, the headquarters for the hand-made little business movement. I was completely intrigued with the idea that I could work at home doing something I loved. By this time, I had a closet full of well made, hand knitted scarves that I wasn’t doing anything with. In October 2010 I quit my job and opened HeritageKnitting with no startup capital and no idea how to run a home business. It took a couple months of advertising and many late nights researching how to make a living by home crafting before I made my first sale.

     I am still very new to all of this, but I’m loving every second of it. I am very thankful to those who have given me the chance to turn a family craft into a family business. I hope and trust you will love my items as much as I enjoy making them."

     I received the package quickly and appreciated the extra touch in her wrapping and thank you note. It would certainly be appropriate to send an item from Maria's store as a gift to someone:

     I stopped just long enough to snap a few pictures, then tore into the box. My first thought was, "I LOVE these colors!!!" I am a sucker for pink, yes, and the tricolor combination is so sweet. They would make perfect housewarming, baby shower, or birthday gifts for your friends....or yourself :). I examined the washcloths carefully and found each to be very well made. There were no pulls or loose ends. At first, I couldn't decide what I wanted to do with them, but after some thought decided on the strawberry for me (of course), the vanilla for baby, and the chocolate for the kitchen.
     They are the perfect size - enough surface to clean, yet small enough to handle. Each is 7"x7", made of 100% cotton, and nice and fluffy.

     So, how did they hold up? Quite nicely. I washed and dried them first, as I do with everything new. They kept their shape well, but the knit tightened up a bit (as will all 100% cotton knitted items) causing the squares to shrink about 0.5". This was super easy to remedy, I just gave a little pull to stretch them back out and voila! Good as new.

     I used the strawberry one initially to clean my face, and it exfoliated so well that I decided to take it with me to the shower. My body felt soft and smooth...like buttah....after a scrub (I'll have to keep it from my hubby, who likes to use wash cloths for his showers). I normally like to use a loofas to scrub, but hate that I can't properly wash them. Regular washcloths are too thin, don't exfoliate, and don't suds up well. The loose knit on this wash cloth worked up a great, luxurious lather for me, and when it gets dirty I can just throw it in the washing machine!

     I then used the vanilla wash cloth on baby during her bath. I'm sure she loved the suds and the softness of the knit too. I've also used it damp to wipe her face and hands after meals, which works much better at getting off crusted food than paper towels (which she hates because they're scratchy) or tissues (which fall apart when wet).

     As for the kitchen, the chocolate wash cloth did a great job cleaning dishes. I hate using sponges because they get gross so quickly, and had the same problem of no lather and no scrubbing ability with regular washcloths as I did on my face. This one worked great. It was absorbent, which is great for wiping counter tops, and the loose knit of it was great at scrubbing dishes. 

     I highly recommend these washcloths, and Maria is super sweet to work with. If you want an eco-friendly way to clean your house or yourself, get a set of these. Stop wasting paper!!! They come in a variety of colors and also in a 11"x11" size (perfect as a baby blankie, dish towel....or even to wash your car).

  

Maria is giving away a coffee cup sleeve. Never waste another cardboard sleeve at Starbucks! It saves a little cardboard, insulates your hot drink, and helps you to identify your cup.....plus it's just pretty to look at ;).

How do you enter to win this fabulous coffee cup sleeve? Simple!

~Please leave a comment for each entry~

Mandatory entry:

- Follow my blog

- Visit HeritageKnitting on Etsy and comment in this post about your favorite item for sale

Bonus entries (1 credit each)

- like Annelyn Designs facebook page 

- Post on my fanpage wall Annelyn Designs

- visit Annelyn Designs on Etsy and comment in this post about your favorite item for sale

I will randomly pick a winner and post it on Thursday, March 24th.

Thanks for looking, and good luck!