The older Winfried Kretschmann gets, the more often he is indignant about the unnecessary complication of everyday life and the administered world.

A few years ago, the Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg, 74 years old and actually a self-confessed wimp, revealed that he learned to swim in the Danube and did not need a heated swimming pool for this.

Rudiger Soldt

Political correspondent in Baden-Württemberg.

  • Follow I follow

In view of the approaching heat and gas crisis, Kretschmann now recommended an alternative to daily showers in an interview with the “Südwest-Presse”: “You don’t have to shower all the time.

The washcloth is also a useful invention," said the Green politician.

Washcloths are those terry cloth rags that can smell bad if they're not properly dried.

A long time ago they were relegated to the museum by the shower gelization of life.

For years now, however, the textile industry has been seeing a return to the washcloth, which they politely call “facecloth”.

This brings with it the trend towards bars of soap and sustainability.

Celebrity Fans

The classic “face cloth” today has a size of 30 by 30 centimeters and is mostly made in the form of gloves.

At Breuninger in Stuttgart, the classic, single-ply washcloth is still available, and a particularly high-quality example from Ralph Lauren has just been reduced from 48 to 24 euros.

Anyone who reaches for a rag is in the best of company: Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts are self-confessed supporters of “non-bathing”.

This saves water and gas and is gentle on the skin.

The Elmer und Zweifel company produces high-quality organic cotton wash mitts and terry towels in Bempflingen, Swabia;

Managing Director Roland Stelzer welcomes the move: "We agree with our Prime Minister - the washcloth is a wonderful product, especially if it has been produced sustainably and for a long time." The German textile industry has a great deal of production knowledge.

Hygiene rules for cloth use

From the point of view of doctors, there is nothing to be said against the washcloth if, as the head of the Institute for Hospital Hygiene at the Stuttgart Clinic says, you pay attention to a few things: "In principle, a washcloth can be used at any age and in all parts of the body.

In order to kill any germs that may be on the washcloth, it is important to wash the washcloth regularly at at least 60 degrees.”

However, the doctor rejects a washcloth socialism: "You shouldn't share the rags with family members or friends."