As many of you know, I use a pouf, like the one pictured above, in the shower. I don’t use bar soap and have been using body wash and a pouf to wash my body (including my genitals) for many, many years. For the most part, I have found poufs to be durable and well-constructed. I never really looked at them in detail but everyone seemed to be constructed in the same manner. The pouf material appeared to be stitched together in the middle to hold it into the ball shape. I’ve used poufs for months at a time, probably way longer than I should have but that was a testament to their durability. Other than the shape being slightly stretched out, they were long-lasting products.
This all changed when I replaced a pouf several weeks ago. Not a week into using it, it unraveled on me, into a long, useless string of pouf material. When I looked closely, the material had not been stitched together in center but rather, just loosely tied together to form a ball. I couldn’t figure out how to get it back into a ball shape that would stay together. Every time I tried, it would always fall apart again. I decided to trash this one and just buy another one. Lo and behold, the same thing happened to the replacement pouf. I again bought another pouf but this time from a different store. My luck was no better, it also fell apart on me.
I get the feeling whoever is making these things fundamentally changed the manufacturing process very recently. Without the stitching, they fall apart very easily now. I wonder if I can find the old style poufs anymore. This feels somewhat reminiscent of when Elaine went looking for sponges.