Scrubber Mitt For Bathing

Abstract

A novel scrubber mitt for bathing is provided having a series of pockets for hand and soap, composed essentially of an open-mesh, non-absorbent, non-woven nylon fabric. Because it is made of open-mesh fabric, the mitt provides for free access of water to the soap, promotes lathering, and retains water satisfactorily by capillary attraction when wetted. Because it is non-absorbent it can be dried, at least to a non-dripping condition, by two or three sharp shakes. Because it is non-woven it cannot fray marginally. Because it is of nylon, it is an effective cleanser, is extremely durable, and has a pleasant, stimulating, not too soft and not too rough feeling when applied with moderate pressure to the skin.

Description

This invention relates to scrubber mitts for bathing, being designed, like other bath mitts, to receive and retain a bar of soap for use in scrubbing the body.

Many scrubber mitts for bathing have been proposed, but none of them has gained any pronounced degree of popularity. Some of them have been made of rubber which is slippery and uncomfortable when wet. Some of them have been made of terry cloth which is too soft, which drips if not thoroughly wrung out, and which takes a relatively long time to dry. Some are made of soft, spongy material. Some are of woven fabric. Any woven fabric frays badly in marginal areas. Some are too soft. Some are too hard. Some do not have the desired cleansing characteristics. Some fail to provide a pleasant stimulating effect when applied to the skin. Some drip when hung up. Some become slimy or mildewy. Some are capable only of right hand use.

It is the primary purpose of the present invention to provide a scrubber mitt for bathing which eliminates all the faults and drawbacks mentioned above, and provides in their place all the features mentioned or implied as desirable.

To these ends, it is a primary feature that the mitt is essentially of non-absorbent, non-woven, open-mesh, nylon.

It is a further feature that the mitt is marginally sewn in such a way that the bound margins do not abrade, scratch or otherwise irritate the skin and are, like the rest of the mitt, non-absorbent.

It is a feature that the mitt can be freed of detached soap particles and of suds by a few swipes of the mitt in the bathtub water, or by being held briefly under the shower.

It is a still further feature that the mitt can be readily shaken to a substantially dry, non-dripping condition by two or three sharp shakes. It can then be hung on the wall or on the bathroom door without producing progressive discoloration of the wall or door, and when so hung it will be presentable in appearance so that it can be lived with with pride and admiration, rather than distaste.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the drawing forming part of this specification,

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a completed mitt constituting a practical and advantageous embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a detail view of a fragment of the open-mesh, non-woven, non-absorbent material of which all illustrated forms of the mitt are made;

FIG. 3 is a view showing a single piece of blanked-out, doubled-over mitt material;

FIG. 4 is an end view looking into the mitt from the open end thereof;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing how an elastic tape is associated with several thicknesses of a nylon strip before being stitched to the material of the strip, preparatory to the application of the resulting, composite strip to a wrist portion of the mitt; and

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a nearly completed mitt, showing the margins connected by a preliminary line of marginal stitching before being turned inside out and completed by further stitching as shown in FIG. 1.

The mitt 10 of FIG. 1 is composed chiefly, and almost entirely, of open-mesh, non-woven, non-absorbent, mono-filament nylon 12, which, illustratively, is a 12-mesh fabric; that is to say, the diameter of the inscribed circle of any one of the tiny hexagons measures substantially one-twelfth inch. This material was not invented by me, and is abundantly available on the market at the present time. It was not, however, devised specifically for use in scrubber mitts, and its many unique advantages when used in scrubber mitts have been perceived and utilized only by me. So far as I know, it has not been used in a scrubber mitt prior to my invention.

The dimension of one-twelfth inch is cited, of course, as characterizing the particular fabric used in the illustrative mitt. It is susceptible of variation within considerable limits, so long as the openings are small enough to hold particles of water by capillary attraction, and large enough to afford free access of water to a soap cake (not shown) contained in the mitt.

One of four double thickness blanks 18 of which the mitt 10 is formed is shown in FIG. 3, one corner of the upper layer 18a being broken away to reveal the underlying layer 18b.

The wrist portion of the blank is shown as the lower end in FIG. 3, and it is at that end that the blank is folded to make it of double thickness. Each blank 18 has a thumb receiving portion 20 and a finger and hand receiving portion 22.

Before proceeding further with a description of how the blanks 18 are united with one another, it is desired to set forth the structure of an elastic wrist band 23, which is united with the blanks 18 at the same operation which joins the blanks with one another. This band is composed of a strip of non-absorbent, elastic tape 24 and a strip 26 of the same nylon material of which the blanks 18 are composed.

In FIG. 5 the strip 26, though unitary in structure, may be regarded as composed of six longitudinally extending zones a, b, c, d, e, and f, all of an equal width exceeding somewhat the width of the tape 24. The tape 24 is shown as centered on the zone b.

At stage I the entire width of the strip is shown laid out flat. At stage II the zone a has been folded to overlie the tape 24 and the zone b, while the zones e and f have been folded to overlie zones d and c, respectively. At stage III, d and e have been folded over f and c, and at stage IV, c, f, e and d have been folded over a and b. The final sequence from top to bottom is c, f, e, d, a, tape 24 and b. The chief function of the strip 26 is to cover up and conceal the tape 24. The tape 24 may, if desired, be rendered inconspicuous by coloring it the same color as the nylon blanks 18 which form the mitt. The strip 26 also serves, however, as a protector for the tape. Additionally, it limits the extent to which the tape can be stretched.

The tape 24, stretched to a length exceeding its relaxed length by about fifty per cent is tacked at intervals to the folded strip 26 and, with the band held taut, a line of stitching 28, using mono-filament polyester thread is run along substantially the common center line of the band and tape to unite them to one another.

A folded piece of the band 23, equal in length, when fully extended, to approximately twice the width of the wrist portion of a blank 18, is assembled as shown in FIG. 6 with four of the blanks 18. Four of the double thickness blanks 18 are stacked in exact registration, with the band disposed between the second and third blanks of the stack and extending widthwise of the blanks, under tension, as seen in FIG. 6.

The blanks are then stitched to one another along the line of stitching 28 with polyester mono-filament thread, completely around the peripheries of the blanks with the exception of the folded edges at the wrist ends of the blanks. The stitching not only unites the blanks to one another, but it passes through a doubled thickness of the band 23 at each side margin of the blank.

When this operation has been completed, the mitt is turned inside out, placing what have been the two inside blanks on the outside and what have been the two outside blanks on the inside. This also places the raw edges of the blanks on the inside of the mitt where they cannot scrape or abrade the skin of the user. The turning of the mitt places the band 23 on the outside where it encircles the wrist portion of the mitt, contracting it onto the wrist of the wearer and serving to retain it in place. There are five thicknesses of material outside the tape 24.

The band 23, when made and applied as described, not only serves to tighten the wrist portion of the mitt upon the wrist of the wearer, but it serves also as a hanger loop for the mitt when the mitt is not in use.

When the mitt has been turned it is stitched marginally by a line of stitching 29. This stitching passes through all layers of the blanks including the inturned borders. The inturned borders serve thus to reinforce the marginal portions and to take strain off of the stitching 28.

The resulting mitt has a central pocket and two side pockets, all open at the wrist.

A bar of soap can be placed in any one of the three pockets, and either of the remaining pockets can be used as a hand receiving pocket, the pocket used depending upon whether the right hand or the left hand is to be inserted.

If the soap is inserted in the central pocket, the right hand may be inserted in one side pocket for soaping the left side of the body, and the mitt may then be transferred to the other hand, using the other side pocket for receiving the left hand for soaping the right side of the body. For scrubbing the body without using the soap contained idly in the mitt, the mitt may be used in the reverse manner, the back of each hand being turned toward the soap when inserting each hand in the appropriate side pocket.

It is always possible, of course, to return the soap to a soap tray, and then to use the mitt for scrubbing. In that case two, four or six layers of the mitt material may be interposed between the hand and the body surface being scrubbed.

As an alternative to the placing of the soap in the middle pocket, the hand may be placed in that pocket and the soap may be placed in a side pocket. The soap will then have to be transferred from one side pocket to the other when switching from right handed to left handed use. For scrubbing without soap by either hand, the soap may be put aside as mentioned above.

The point should be noted that the mitt promotes lathering, thereby making available rather hard-to-lather soap in hard water. Not only does the open-mesh fabric expose the soap freely to water, but it also tends to indent the soap, making it rough and thereby increasing its surface area. Still further, it abrades the soap to some extent, loosening tiny soap particles. These tiny particles are not necessarily free to escape directly, but if they are going to escape at all, they must work their way out through two or more layers of mitt material.

The mitt, when shaken out and hung up, dries so quickly that it can be put into a suitcase in a very short time. It can, therefore, be taken along and used when touring, if desired.

The utility of the mitt is not restricted to bathing. Because of the improved lathering of soap when used with the mitt, the mitt may be used with advantage for dishwashing, cleaning Teflon cookware, etc. The mitt, therefore, provides a means for eliminating detergents, thereby contributing to the solution of an important ecological problem.

I have described what I believe to be the best embodiment of my invention. What I desire to cover by letters patent is set forth in the following claims.

Claims

I claim:

1. A scrubber mitt for bathing, consisting chiefly of a series of superposed layers of non-woven, non-absorbent, open-mesh, nylon fabric, shaped and united to provide a wrist opening, and at least a central hand pocket, and two accessible, alternatively usable side pockets for soap, the latter located, respectively, at opposite sides of the central pocket, said side pockets adapting the mitt for right hand or for left hand use, all of said layers having their raw edges which border the pockets turned inward, and being united along the margins containing said inturned edges, by stitching.

2. A scrubber mitt for bathing as set forth in claim 1 in which the mitt consists chiefly of identical, double-thickness blanks which are folded along the wrist receiving extremities of the blanks so that folded edges only will be exposed to contact with the wrists.

3. A scrubber mitt for bathing as set forth in claim 1 in which the thread used for stitching throughout is a non-absorbent, mono-filament polyester thread.