
I wanted to share with you today a skincare tip that I have been trying out with increasing success. There’s no point sharing a beauty tip unless you have tried it for yourself and know that it works, you know 🙂
It is a very cheap tip and importantly, it is very effective!
The tip is thus : Use a face cloth when cleansing your face. It cleans your skin, gently exfoliates and leaves your skin looking cleaner, clearer and brighter. No more need for any fancy face washing gadget, yo! 😀
I take no credit for this tip. It is in fact, a tip I learned from the blogger and skincare guru (I don’t throw words like ‘guru’ around lightly, mind you!) Caroline Hirons who is a very strong advocate of using what she calls a ‘flannel’ which is essentially a face cloth, or wash cloth.
I’ve been trying this out for almost a month, every day and it’s been so good, I couldn’t wait to share 😀
I mostly decided to try using a face cloth, because I’m now using cleansing balms in the evening.
I started out with the Antipodes Grapeseed Butter Cleanser and I like it so much, I’m thinking of trying another one soon. If you read my review on the Antipodes cleansing balm however, you may notice that I say it doesn’t clean off very well using a muslin cloth. I didn’t find it effective because a muslin cloth is quite light, and there just wasn’t enough “grip” for me to move it around my skin.
However, it all changed when I dug around my cupboard and found a square face towel and decided to try that. Changed my life! 😀
What is a face cloth or face flannel?
A face cloth is basically a face towel or also known as a wash cloth. It is usually a square piece of absorbent terry cloth material with varying thickness.
Where do I buy face cloths?
Good question! I found mine while digging around my cupboards. You can buy them from most linen departments or even Ikea where they aren’t very pricey at all. Sometimes, they are sold as part of a set of fancy towels. Or better yet, locally, look in the baby department 😀
Most people will buy a set of absorbent handkerchiefs for their babies and these will work as well. Get one of the thicker ones. I’m nicking a few from my nephew HAHA!
Are these face cloths expensive?
Nope! Well, ok mine were random non-matching pieces that I managed to scrounge up. I don’t know how I came to be in possession of them, but I somehow did. Sometimes you get them free as a GWP. I never knew what to do with these square face towels but now I do!
Otherwise, they aren’t very expensive to buy at all, just a few bucks each, or maybe a wee bit more for a better one. Some beauty stores like The Body Shop and Crabtree & Evelyn carry these too (I happen to own one from each – don’t ask how!) but I can’t imagine they are as cheap. For the record, I much prefer my generic white ones to the fancy ones 🙂
How often do you change them?
Daily. I have one for each day of the week so I have a minimum of 7 pieces. I plan to pick up a few more because I change them daily, as you should. Moist cloths can harbour bacteria and you don’t end up spreading bacteria over your face.
Daily, after using, I rinse them out and hang them up to dry. When they’re dry, I toss them into the laundry basket. At the end of the week, or mid-week, depending on when I do my laundry, I launder them with the rest of my laundry and they’re good to go for the coming week.
How often do you use them?
I use them once a day, in the evening. In the mornings, I use a lighter face wash but in the evenings, after the rigours of the day, I bring out the heavy artillery.
So, I choose to use a face cloth then as part of my first step of cleansing, to remove my cleansing balm. If you don’t use a cleansing balm, I read you can also use a face cloth to remove your cleansing oil or cleansing milk or foaming cleanser. But it is used in the the first step of your cleansing. You are double cleansing right? 😛
Can you use a face cloth twice a day?
Erm… overkill methinks! You run the risk of over exfoliation. You could I suppose, if you had a lot of time in the mornings but I don’t double cleanse in the morning and I just think it too much. So, it’s just an evening routine for me.

How do you use a face cloth to cleanse your face?
Here’s how I do it:-
- I massage a cleansing balm/any cleanser all over my face. This takes a while, for the texture to lighten up and I usually have a little facial massage.
- Then, I wet the face cloth with warm water from my shower. I’m careful not to use water that’s too hot, so it’s the same temperature for my bath.
- Squeeze out the water and gently, with firm pressure, wipe off the balm.
- Rinse and repeat on the other side of your face, or as many times as necessary to clean your skin.
Once it’s clean, I like to run the cloth over my face again, just to be sure it’s all clean. I do follow up with a face wash thereafter, as part of a double cleansing routine. In fact, I’m now operating on a triple cleanse haha! But it works!
What are the benefits of using a face cloth?
Well I can tell you what are the benefits I’ve experienced.
Cleaner skin, because a face cloth will grab and wick off the dirt from your skin more effectively than your hands and running water.
Brighter skin, because it will gently exfoliate your skin when you rub it over your face, as the texture of the cloth will remove dead skin cells from the surface of the skin.
Clearer and smoother skin, because this daily gentle exfoliation means you don’t get clogged pores, or flaky skin so easily.
As I said, I’ve been doing this for over a month, every evening and I love it! Remember when we talked about beauty gadgets that are collecting dust around our houses? Remember how some of you mentioned the Clarisonic is one of them? I said the same thing. Mine is no longer used because I can’t use it daily. It is just far too harsh.
Using a face cloth, I get similar or even better results than using the Clarisonic or any other face washing gadget, at a tiny little fraction of the cost. Best of all, anyone with any type of skin can use this tip and it barely costs you anything to try. You might even reap the benefits!
What should I be aware of when using a face cloth?
There are a few things you should be aware of:-
- Don’t use hot water. It is bad for your skin as it can dry it out and make it red and irritated.
- Don’t scrub your face too hard. You aren’t scrubbing the floor. Use firm but gentle pressure so you don’t irritate your skin.
- Don’t pull your skin. Well, not unless you want more lines!
- Use a new, clean face cloth every time. No laziness allowed. If you don’t, just think of how much bacteria you’re spreading on your face with a recycled cloth and you should drop it quite quickly.
There you have it. I love this so much I actually look forward to my evening routine. It seems like a lot of hassle but it isn’t. Nothing was ever achieved without a little hard work 😉
My skin looks and feels better, clearer and healthier and I get all the benefits of using a Clarisonic or any face washing tool, without using one. Just a piece of cloth. Perfect by me! 😀
Do you or have you used a face cloth/wash cloth as part of your cleansing routine? Do you have tips to share?
I remembered my grannies would use a face towel when washing their faces, and I should have twigged back then. It took me a while to get round to learning something that my grannies already knew, but hey! Better late than never I say! 😀 Would you try this? 😀
Paris B
Does it work as effective if i use cold water to wet the flannel? I’m living in renthouse and unfortunately no water heater for me. Love your blog!
Hi Shahira, it depends on what product you are using on your face. If you live in Malaysia (or Asia where it’s generally warm) then using the water from the tap is fine. It may not melt a cleansing balm as effectively, so you may have to go over your skin a few times to get it properly clean (don’t be rough although you might be tempted to!)
I stopped using one after using all my life. Ive noticed more dullness and laxity since just using my fingertips and liquid siap over the last 2-3 years. Going back to washcloth!
Do you use face clothes as a part of the first cleanse? wont the makeup stain the clothes and what is your wash like? Do you bleach the white wash clothes to rid of the stains?
I usually remove my makeup first with a makeup remover or micellar water. Then I use a face cloth with my cleansing balm. It can sometimes stain, but I rinse it out immediately in the shower. I do not bleach my cloths as I will be using it on my face so when it gets too stained I throw them away.
I make my own flannels by cutting squares from old bath towels and sewing around the edges. Saves money and green too 🙂
Good idea Yvonne 🙂