Anyone know where to buy a Coconut Fiber Brush called a Tawashi

[Matash]

Apparently it is good to brush oil on pans especially cast iron ones

[Politeness]

Matash, the substance that in Japanese is called tawashi is the same as the substance that the Swedes call "luffa" and the English call "loofah."

We have tawashi/loofah in our household, but we find silicone brushes superior for the specific purpose of brushing oil on cast iron. http://www.kuhnrikon.com/products/too...

[monku]

I always thought a Japanese Tawashi was one of those scrubbing pad things old Japanese ladies make.

[tanuki soup]

I think this is a traditional Japanese tawashi. The picture is taken from Amazon Japan. I use one exactly like it to clean my Lodge cast iron skillets. It works great!

(Actually, based on my Amazon Japan search for "たわし" [hope the Japanese hiragana characters display okay], it appears that tawashi refers to almost anything that we would call a scrub brush or scrubbie, be it natural fiber, plastic, sponge, or even metal.)

[monku]

Thanks for the clarification.
I got lot's of those plastic scrubbie things from my Japanese friends which I never use...too cute. Guess I wasn't paying attention when I asked what it was and I thought they said too wash your dishes....when they meant "tawashi" !!!

[tanuki soup]

PS. To answer your question, Amazon US sells them. Just do a search for tawashi. The price is $2.30 + $4.99 shipping. (If you buy a couple of them, the shipping charge won't seem so unreasonable.)

[Stephanie Wong]

I use mine to scrub veggies. Don't have to scrap carrots or peel potatoes as it takes the skin right off if I bear down hard enough. Love it!

Like roycey below, I don't think it'd work well for applying oil to a pan. Have you considered using a bit of paper toweling?

[tanuki soup]

I agree. I use my tawashi (and hot water) to scrub the gunk out my cast iron skillets after cooking. After that, I dry them really well and then use a folded-up paper towel to apply a bit of safflower oil to the inside before hanging them up.

[Matash]

Thanks everyone for your replies That's why I luv Chowhound because everyone shares
info

[roycey]

I bought mine here:
http://www.naturalimport.com/inc/sdet...

But if you're looking for something to brush oil, I don't think it would be a tawashi. It seems to be more for scrubbing than for applying anything. It is great for cast iron though and on other stuff it is really rough but has no risk of scratching since it's coconut fibre.

If you're in Montreal, there are a couple asian grocery stores that sell it apparently. There is one called Hello Market (I think) on Maisonneuve near Atwater, and a great Japanese store that probably has anything japanese you'd ever want, on Sherbrooke in Westmount (near Victoria if I'm not mistaken).

[Matash]

Thanks for info Oh yes I do know that store on Victoria - have not been there in awhle so will take a little trip there

IS THIS SITE FOR MONTREAL AS DOES NOT INDICATE

[roycey]

I just saw Montreal in your profile :)

[Paulustrious]

We used to use those to clean toilets in the UK, in the dark ages before plastic.

[rosetown]

So you're implying one device does all! :)