# Sponge being non-craftable is intended?
**URL:** https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/sponge-being-non-craftable-is-intended/21331
**Category:** The Drawing Board
**Created:** [September 14, 2019, 11:01am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/sponge-being-non-craftable-is-intended/21331 "2019-09-14T11:01:36Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Tamior](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Tamior)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2019, 11:01am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/sponge-being-non-craftable-is-intended/21331/1 "2019-09-14T11:01:37Z")
I really enjoy playing with low item spawn rates worlds where you have to rely on crafting heavily.
However, ever since you need a sponge to wash most items, crafting metagame became really weird.
Am I missing some way of obtaining a sponge or something? That is, other than just finding one randomly. Because a sponge (of all things) not being craftable and being essentially a bottleneck feels really bizarre.
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### Author:  [@mlangsdorf](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/mlangsdorf)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2019, 11:52am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/sponge-being-non-craftable-is-intended/21331/2 "2019-09-14T11:52:08Z")
How do you make sponges in the real world? I know they used to be dead sea sponges, but I don’t even know what modern synthetic sponges are made from or how.
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### Author:  [@MutaMan](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/MutaMan)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2019, 11:54am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/sponge-being-non-craftable-is-intended/21331/3 "2019-09-14T11:54:35Z")
If you see here you’ll find that making sponges is quite an involved process:
> **[How to Make Cellulose Sponges](https://sciencing.com/how-to-make-cellulose-sponges-13640005.html)**
>
> Cellulose sponges are a type of artificial sponge created as a cheaper alternative to expensive natural sponges. The manufacture of cellulose sponges is a type of viscose manufacturing. The same raw materials and very similar processing steps are...
If it were up to me I’d make it so that you can find sponges underwater as a band-aid solution, but if a crafting recipe had to be made according to the page provided it’d probably involve:
1. Chemistry set
2. Vacuum sealer
3. Cutting tool
4. Cotton or hemp(weed)
5. Lye
6. Water
7. Charcoal
8. Sulfur
9. Bleach
And would take several hours.
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### Author:  [@Tamior](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Tamior)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2019, 12:02pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/sponge-being-non-craftable-is-intended/21331/4 "2019-09-14T12:02:13Z")
Depends of the type of a sponge, I guess, but if you can make piece of plastic into a bottle with nothing but a fire and a universal mold, surely you can turn another piece of plastic or fabric into something approximating a sponge.
An any rate, if we want it to be more realistic, we can make washing board without a proper sponge consume rags as makeshift one-time sponges.
P. S. The main problem is not the sponge per se, it’s the fact that under current implementation you can’t, for example, clean a piece of tinted glass with just some detergent, water and a piece of cloth.
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### Author:  [@anothersimulacrum](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/anothersimulacrum)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2019, 2:46pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/sponge-being-non-craftable-is-intended/21331/5 "2019-09-14T14:46:24Z")
As far as I know, there is no reason that there is not a makeshift alternative to the sponge other than the fact that nobody has made one yet. [Why don’t you](https://github.com/CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA/wiki/Guide-to-adding-new-content-to-CDDA-for-first-time-contributors)?
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### Author:  [@Profugo\_Barbatus](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Profugo_Barbatus)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2019, 4:15pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/sponge-being-non-craftable-is-intended/21331/6 "2019-09-14T16:15:50Z")
It doesn’t even have to be a sponge specifically y’all never used a ‘washcloth’? its in the name 😛
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### Author:  [@Trigon](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Trigon)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2019, 5:38pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/sponge-being-non-craftable-is-intended/21331/7 "2019-09-14T17:38:26Z")
There are also [Loofahs](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luffa), but I don’t think they would grow well in New England. Plus growing a plant _just_ to have a sponge seems really involved and entirely not worth the effort.
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### Author:  [@Malkeus](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Malkeus)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2019, 5:51pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/sponge-being-non-craftable-is-intended/21331/8 "2019-09-14T17:51:29Z")
I did a quick search, there are many alternatives to sponges. Of particular note is the Tawashi from the edo period, which appears to be a lot of leather? strips tied together in a bundle.
> **[Tawashi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tawashi)**
>
> A tawashi (たわし or 束子, lit., a bundle) is a scrubbing brush for wet cleaning, of a style that is popular in Japan. Traditionally, tawashis were made of a hemp palm. In Japan, sponges used for rubbing and washing are now treated as forms of tawashi.
> A metallic tawashi (金属たわし, kinzoku tawashi) is made of metal; steel, stainless steel, and brass are frequent choices. They may be used in removing scorching and rust.
> Several synthetic polymers are frequently seen:
The one I refer too is pictured on this page, near the bottom
Take your pick, mix up a believable recipe and submit it to Github. If it’s not too ridiculous, it’ll make it in.
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### Author:  [@\_k1](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/_k1)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2019, 1:30am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/sponge-being-non-craftable-is-intended/21331/9 "2019-09-15T01:30:42Z")
hog-mane brush should suffice
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### Author:  [@sketchesofpayne](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/sketchesofpayne)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2019, 7:23am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/sponge-being-non-craftable-is-intended/21331/10 "2019-09-15T07:23:06Z")
It just occurred to me that there are no paper towels in the game. Those are the ‘duct tape’ of cleaning products. They could also function like a disposable mop item as well as a sponge. If not paper towels, perhaps the uses of paper material could be expanded?