By John DeFore

While scientists make news with super-towels designed to repair eco-disasters, consumers may be happy to note that their more humble domestic clean-up needs aren’t being ignored.

A young company called Twist has popped up in Whole Foods and smaller grocery/pharmacy chains offering a line of cleaning goods with a green streak that can replace tree-depleting paper towels. Some parts of the line look familiar, some don’t, but all boast of 100% biodegradability and are made with a process in which, according to company materials, “99.97% of all waste is reused in production.”

The Naked Sponge, at the familiar end of the spectrum, is dye-free and made with 100% cellulose; its scouring sibling grafts a second layer of loofah to the basic sponge.

More exotic are two “Euro sponges” that resemble products that evidently are widely used overseas but have yet to catch on in the United States: The bigger of the pair, a seven-by-eight inch Sponge Cloth, goes beyond smart green manufacturing processes, suggesting ways users might change their cleaning habits for the better: It hopes at least to some extent to replace the paper towel in the mop-up and drying department. While it wouldn’t be the tool of choice for an emergency red-wine spill in the living room — you use it to mop-and-wring, so it’s best when you’re near a sink — it works well in many other instances, and it isn’t hard to believe the company’s argument that “one Euro Sponge Cloth outlasts 17 rolls of paper towels”…especially considering the cloth can be cleaned in a dishwasher when it gets skunky.

At $3.99 for a three-pack, the sponge cloth would be a bargain if it only replaced a couple of rolls of Brawny.

Up next for Twist is an actual non-sponge towel, due in the coming weeks, made of bamboo and corn.

Copyright © 2008 | Distributed by Noofangle Media