Tenugui Cloth - Navy White Dot

I am a Navy White Dot patterned Tenugui Cloth. Everything starts from a dot, except me. I started from a thread.

Curator's Notes 

Tenugui cloths are one of Japan’s old traditions but when we first received one as a gift, we had a lot of questions about this seemingly plain cotton cloth... Why are the ends frayed? What is it used for? Why the rectangular shape? A friend explained that tenuguis are a multipurpose cloth used for decorating, wrapping gifts, carrying items, wiping and drying hands. They can also be used as handkerchiefs, napkins, bandanas or kitchen cloths. The edges are frayed to allow quicker drying and are antiseptic as bacteria will not be as prone to build up as it would if the cloth had seams.

Once we discovered their versatility, we began to appreciate the meaning behind such a simple household object. We now have a large collection of tenuguis on rotation in our home and often give them as souvenirs when we return from Japan. Tenuguis by Kamawanu are handcrafted using traditional techniques. The labour-intensive process can be seen in this video.

Navy White Dot Tenugui Cloth was curated by Angélique Chmielewski

Designer/Maker 

Maker: Kamawanu

Specifications

Dimensions: 13” x 35” or 33cm x 90m

Weight: 2 oz or 57 g

Materials: 100% Cotton

Details

• Made in Japan
• No seams
• Ends are left raw
• Selvage-edged sides
• Ends will fray with time and stop at around 1cm of fraying
• Cloth will soften with each wash
• Tenugui are dyed by hand and variations in the dye color or pattern may occur
• Color fading is expected over time and can be reduced by hand washing
• Multi-purpose function