Admittedly, furoshiki comes from a time that would probably have seemed rather foreign to you: if you were walking around today's Tokyo 500 years ago, you would have seen houses with paper walls, for example. Would you feel comfortable in a house like this in the cold winter? Probably not!
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But it is precisely from this time that a tradition comes that seems more relevant than ever: all people in Japan at that time liked to visit public bathhouses, and there they always had a square cloth with them: a furoshiki.
People back then used it as a bath towel (“furoshiki” means “bath towel”) to store their clothes.
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Today, furoshiki is making a new round as a sustainable alternative to wrapping paper: 20% of trees alone are felled for paper, and packaging takes up a large chunk of that. Not to mention the complex folding and gluing...
With this simple cloth you can forget all that and instead pack everything from boxes to bottles easily and sustainably in less than 1 minute!
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Curious how it works? Check out our furoshiki instructions here .
That would be cool enough, but what many people don't know: a square cloth like this can do so much more! Here are 10 ideas for how you (and your kids) can still use a furoshiki:
- Warming cloths: Your children's birthday cake won't burn their hands. Or leave the cloth folded on the table to be the next coaster!
- Bag: A few knots and maybe a bamboo ring or a stick and you have a chic bag for shopping or a picnic.
- Bath towel: the classic from the old days, still works today!
- Scarf: Whether you want to freshen up your outfit for a date or your kids want to dress up as a cowboy: a patterned scarf looks great!
- Tablecloth: doesn't the barbecue party buffet look much better with a little color? I thought to myself!
- Headscarf: If the sun is shining outside and you've forgotten your cap, your furoshiki won't let you down!
- Headband: Whether elegant or hastily thrown together, with a rolled furoshiki your hair won't hang around your face while working, doing crafts or in your free time.
- Hand puppet: Do you want to put on a puppet show with your children but don't have any puppets? No problem, a furoshiki can become an improvised hand puppet. And if you add a few spoons, wire or clothespins, you can quickly turn them into bright characters!
- Wall Art: Also simple but nonetheless stylish.
- Super Man Cape: If your kids want to go high, just tie the furoshiki on them and let them race through a garden parkour or the playground as superheroes!
You see, there are no limits to your creativity.
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Fancy your own furoshiki? Then click here to order a copy in your preferred pattern today. Have fun with it!
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Guest article by Nicole Heymann Copywriting: Nicole brings sustainable topics to life with advertising texts and stories. In her free time, she enjoys discovering foreign cultures and creative uses for everyday objects, such as a furoshiki. https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-heymann/
