FAQs

An African net sponge is a long, woven mesh cloth used in the shower — a strip of open-weave fabric, not a round puff. The open weave builds lather quickly, rinses clean, and air-dries in a few hours instead of staying damp overnight. The length is the point: you hold one end in each hand and work it across your back without a strap or a handle. Ours is woven from nylon in a double layer that starts lightly textured and softens with use, and every pack contains two nets.

A round loofah is a dense puff. It holds a lot of lather and feels soft from the first use, but it stays wet longer because the fibers are packed tight, and it's too short to reach your back. An African net is longer and far more open: it rinses cleaner, dries in a few hours, and reaches where a puff can't. It also feels firmer for the first week or two — the mesh softens as the fibers relax. Many people keep both: the loofah for everyday lather, the net for the back and shoulders.

Silver ion fiber is a textile fiber with silver ions embedded in it — the same fiber family used in towels, sportswear and bedding. In our bath tools it is built into the fabric itself rather than applied as a surface coating, so it is part of the product for its whole life and does not wash off. What that means in practice: the fiber is made so the tool stays fresh between uses and resists odor. That is a property of the material, not something you apply or reapply.

Worth saying plainly, because it does come up: the base of the mesh is polyethylene (PE) — the same material most shower loofahs are made from — and there is no separate coating layer sitting on top of it. The silver is compounded into the fiber before the yarn is formed, which is why it runs through the whole mesh rather than resting on the surface.

All three are fiber families used across textiles, and all three are built into the yarn rather than coated on top.

· Silver ion fiber carries silver ions inside the fiber. It's the most widely used of the three — you'll find it in towels, sportswear and bedding.
· Copper ion fiber does the same with copper ions. It's what goes into our gloves and fingerless gloves — a nylon fabric with the copper ion fiber compounded into the yarn rather than coated on top.
· Activated charcoal fiber is made with activated charcoal compounded into the fiber, which is why the yarn is black all the way through rather than only on the surface.

For you, the practical difference is where each one is used and how the finished fabric feels: silver ion and copper ion go into the tools that sit against your skin, charcoal into the darker, firmer-textured scrub. All three are made so the product stays fresh between uses.

The color is dyed into the yarn rather than printed on the surface, so there's no layer to crack or peel. As with any dyed textile, some color release in the first wash or two is normal. How long a color stays vivid depends mostly on how you treat it: cool water, no bleach, no fabric softener, and air-drying instead of a hot dryer. With the two-tone nets, the pattern is woven from two colored yarns, so it's part of the structure and can't rub off.

The body of every round loofah we sell is polyethylene (PE) mesh — the same base material used for most shower loofahs and bath puffs. On our silver ion and charcoal loofahs, that same mesh is the carrier for something else: silver ion or activated charcoal is compounded into the fiber before the yarn is formed, rather than sprayed or dipped on as a surface coating. That is why the material runs through the whole mesh instead of sitting on top of it, and why it does not wash off with use. The loofah itself stays fresh between showers and the mesh keeps its shape. Rinse it after each use and hang it by the loop to dry. Our African nets are a different construction — they are woven from nylon, not PE mesh — and the Japanese exfoliating shower towel is a tightly woven PET fabric rather than a mesh. See 1.1 above.

Our copper ion exfoliating gloves come in three sizes — Small, Medium and Large — in two colorways, and every pack contains two pairs. The fabric has some give, especially once it's wet, so the sizes overlap slightly. Flat measurements: the palm width runs 4.3 in (S), 4.7 in (M) and 5.1 in (L). Sizing is based on palm width; if you're between two sizes, most people are happier going up. Full measurements in the next answer.

Measure across the widest part of your palm, just below the knuckles, and compare it with the glove's flat width below — the fabric stretches, so a glove that measures about the same as your palm will fit snugly and cling once it's damp. Flat measurements of each size (glove laid flat; allow a millimetre or two of hand-measured tolerance):

Small — 4.3 in wide (110 mm) × 4.7 in long (120 mm), including the cuff
Medium — 4.7 in wide (120 mm) × 5.1 in long (130 mm), including the cuff
Large — 5.1 in wide (130 mm) × 5.5 in long (140 mm), including the cuff

All three sizes share the same ribbed cuff opening (about 3.1 in / 80 mm), so the real difference is in the palm and hand. Gloves that are too tight are harder to get on when your hands are wet and wear out faster at the seams; gloves that are slightly loose still work well, because the fabric clings once it's damp. If you're between sizes, size up.

Both are made from the same copper ion fabric and both come two pairs to a pack — the difference is coverage. The regular pair covers the fingers, which gives you a firmer, more even scrub across the whole hand. The fingerless pair stops before the fingertips, so your fingers stay free while you wash.

Yes — reaching your back is what the length is for. Hold one end of the net in each hand and draw it across your back in a gentle back-and-forth motion, letting the mesh glide rather than pressing hard. Because the weave is open, the pressure stays even instead of bunching up. For your shoulders, gather the net into one hand and work in small circles. For arms and legs, fold it in half and pull it taut. Start with light pressure for the first few uses — the mesh softens as the fibers relax.

Rinse it well, shake the water out, and hang it by its loop. That order matters more than any product you can buy — what makes a shower tool go musty is sitting damp in a closed caddy or flat on a shelf, and the issue is drying, not the tool. An open-weave net dries in a few hours; a dense puff can stay damp overnight. Once a week, a quick rinse in warm water with a drop of dish soap is plenty. Skip the washing machine and the dryer — heat breaks the mesh down.

Most people replace a shower tool every two to three months. Swap it sooner if the mesh starts to fray, if it stays damp longer than it used to, or if it still smells after washing. Ours works out to about $6.50 per net, which is why we think of it as a replace-often tool rather than something to keep for years.

Yes — wash them in a mesh bag on a cold, gentle cycle and let them air-dry. Skip bleach, fabric softener and the dryer. Heat and harsh detergent are what break this type of fiber down fastest, and fabric softener coats the yarn so the fabric stops holding water properly. If you'd rather not use a machine, hand-washing in warm water with a little dish soap works just as well.

We don't recommend the net for your face. The weave is designed for the body — it's firmer and the panels are large, which is more texture than facial skin needs. If you want something finer for face and neck, our Japanese exfoliating shower towel has a much tighter, smoother weave. Whichever you use, keep the pressure light and let the fabric do the work.

Start with light pressure — the mesh softens noticeably after a few uses, and the first week is the firmest it will ever feel. Use it with your usual body wash, keep your strokes slow, and let the open weave do the work instead of pressing hard. If you know you prefer a finer texture, the Japanese exfoliating shower towel is smoother than the net, and the silver ion loofah is softer from the first use.

We ship from our own warehouse in New Jersey, so there's no international wait and no customs paperwork. Most orders are delivered within 4–8 business days of being placed. Orders are usually picked and packed the same or next business day — during peak or promotional periods that can take up to 3–5 business days, so allow a little extra if you're ordering close to a holiday. You'll get an order confirmation by email right away, and a tracking link as soon as your parcel leaves the warehouse. Standard Shipping is the only service we currently offer, and it covers the United States.

Standard shipping is a flat $6.00, and it's free on US orders over $35 — calculated after discounts and before tax. That "after discounts" part matters: if a discount code brings your subtotal under $35, shipping is added back at checkout. So if you're close to the threshold, adding one item often costs less than paying the flat rate. Sales tax is calculated at checkout based on your shipping address.

Right now we ship within the United States only, so we're unable to take orders shipping to other countries. We're focused on getting US delivery fast and dependable before we look at anywhere else.

Tracking links sometimes sit still for 24–48 hours after your shipping confirmation — that's normal, and your parcel is usually still moving. If it hasn't updated after a few business days, email support@colorpoems.com with your order number. If tracking says delivered but you can't find the package, check with neighbours and your building's mailroom first — carriers occasionally mark a package delivered before it reaches your door. If it's genuinely lost in transit, contact us within 7 days of the delivery confirmation and we'll take it up with the carrier for you.

Orders are usually packed the same or next business day, so the window is short but usually workable. If your order hasn't shipped yet, email support@colorpoems.com with your order number and what you'd like to change or cancel, and we'll take care of it before the label is printed. Once it has shipped we can't redirect or recall it in transit — you can refuse the delivery, or return it unused within 30 days under the standard return terms.

We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal.

You have 30 days from delivery to request a return. Because these are personal care items, we can only accept returns that are unused, unopened and in their original packaging — anything opened, washed or exposed to water can't be restocked and can't be taken back. Email support@colorpoems.com with your order number and your reason, and wait for our reply before shipping anything back; unauthorised returns can't be processed. Once we receive and inspect the item, approved refunds go to your original payment method within 3–5 business days. Free gifts included with an order and final sale products aren't returnable.

Shipping costs: if you've simply changed your mind, the original shipping charge isn't refunded and return shipping is at your cost. If your order arrived damaged, defective or incorrect, we refund everything you paid — including the original shipping — and cover the cost of sending it back.

If something arrives damaged, defective, or isn't what you ordered, email support@colorpoems.com within 7 days of delivery with your order number and photos of the issue. We'll arrange a replacement. This is the one case where our hygiene rule works in your favour — because the item arrived faulty, it doesn't need to be unused or unopened for us to help.

We do — COLORPOEM is made by the same family factory that has been producing bath and personal care tools for other brands for over a decade. We're not a store reselling someone else's catalogue: the nets, loofahs and gloves are made on our own lines, and we buy the raw fiber ourselves. We started our own brand because we wanted to sell products we could stand behind by name, rather than under someone else's label.

Our products are made in our own factory in China and shipped to our warehouse in New Jersey, which is where your order ships from. That's why delivery runs 4–8 business days instead of two to three weeks — and why we can control the fiber specification ourselves instead of buying whatever a trading company offers us that month.

Yes. We've been a contract manufacturer for bath and personal care brands for over a decade, so wholesale pricing, custom colorways and private label are all things we already do. There's more detail on our wholesale page, and if you tell us what you're looking for we'll come back with minimums and lead times.