There are some products that change your life in a big, dramatic way — a new phone, a car, a piece of furniture that transforms a room. And then there are products that change your life in a small, weird, deeply satisfying way that you end up telling everyone about even though they did not ask.
The Korean towel — specifically the 이태리타올 (Italy towel) — is firmly in the second category. It is a small, rough, brightly colored washcloth that costs about two dollars, and it has genuinely, no-exaggeration changed how I shower. I know that sounds absurd. Stay with me.
I first heard about the Korean towel while going down a rabbit hole about Korean bathroom culture (because when you are learning Korean, every cultural detail becomes a potential three-hour research session). The Italy towel kept coming up — in Korean beauty forums, in expat blogs, in “things you must buy in Korea” lists. So I ordered a pack off Amazon, tried it, and immediately understood why an entire country swears by this thing.
What Is a Korean Towel? The Italy Towel Explained
The Korean towel I am talking about is formally called an 이태리타올 (italitaol), which literally translates to “Italy towel.” It is a small rectangular washcloth — roughly the size of a standard washcloth but thinner — made from viscose rayon fabric. The texture is noticeably rough, almost like very fine sandpaper. They come in bright colors: green, pink, yellow, and orange are the most common.
Unlike a regular washcloth or loofah, the Korean towel is specifically designed for physical exfoliation — meaning it mechanically removes dead skin cells from the surface of your body through friction. No chemicals, no acids, no fancy enzymes. Just a rough cloth and some elbow grease.
The results are… visible. And by visible, I mean you will see actual rolls of gray dead skin coming off your body. The first time it happens, you will have a brief existential crisis about how you have been walking around with all that dead skin on you this whole time. Then you will feel your newly smooth skin and immediately forgive yourself.
Why Is It Called an “Italy Towel”? The Surprising Origin Story
This is one of my favorite random cultural facts. The Korean towel is called an Italy towel because the viscose rayon fabric it is made from was originally imported from Italy. In the 1960s, a Korean businessman named Kim Pil-gon discovered this particular type of fabric during a trip to Italy and realized it would be perfect for the scrubbing and exfoliation that was already part of Korean bathhouse culture.
He brought the fabric back to Korea and started manufacturing the towels in Busan. The factory he founded — the Busan factory that first produced these towels — essentially created an entire product category. Before the Italy towel, Koreans used other methods for exfoliation at bathhouses, but this specific fabric was so effective that it became the universal standard practically overnight.
Today, the Italy towel is as ubiquitous in Korean households as a toothbrush. Every family has a stack of them. Every jjimjilbang (Korean bathhouse) provides them. They are so culturally ingrained that most Koreans would find it strange to hear that people in other countries do not use them. It is just… how you exfoliate. Obviously.
The name stuck even though the fabric is now manufactured domestically in Korea. “Italy towel” is just what it is called, and at this point, trying to rename it would be like trying to rename a Band-Aid. It is the Italy towel. Everyone knows what you mean.
How to Use a Korean Towel: The Right Way to Scrub
Using a Korean towel is not complicated, but there is a right way to do it that makes a huge difference in the results. Here is the method I have settled on after some trial and error:
Step 1: Soak in hot water first. This is the most important step and the one that people skip when they try the Korean towel for the first time and are disappointed. You need to soak your body in warm-to-hot water for at least 10 to 15 minutes before scrubbing. A hot bath is ideal. A long hot shower works too. The goal is to soften your skin and loosen the dead skin cells so the towel can do its job. If you try to scrub on dry or barely-wet skin, you will just irritate yourself without getting the satisfying results.
Step 2: Wet the towel and wring it out. You want the Korean towel damp but not soaking wet. Too much water reduces the friction, which reduces the exfoliation. Wring it out so it is just slightly moist.
Step 3: Scrub in long, firm strokes. Wrap the towel around your hand (or fold it into a manageable size) and scrub in one direction using firm, even pressure. Arms and legs work great in long downward strokes. Torso and back in broad sweeping motions. Do not scrub in circles — long strokes are more effective at rolling the dead skin off.
Step 4: Watch the magic happen. After a few strokes, you will start to see little gray or brownish rolls of dead skin forming on your skin. This is called 때 (ttae) in Korean — it is the dead skin and grime that has been sitting on the surface. The more you scrub, the more comes off. Focus on areas that tend to accumulate more dead skin: elbows, knees, ankles, the back of your neck, and your shoulders.
Step 5: Rinse and moisturize. Once you have scrubbed to your satisfaction (you will know — your skin will feel noticeably smoother), rinse off thoroughly and apply a good moisturizer or body oil while your skin is still damp. Your freshly exfoliated skin will absorb products much better than before, so this is the perfect time to lock in hydration.
A word of caution: do not overdo it. Once or twice a week is plenty. Your skin needs time to regenerate between sessions. And be gentle on sensitive areas — the Korean towel is aggressive, and you do not need to scrub your face or any delicate skin with it. Save the Italy towel for your body.
The Satisfying (and Slightly Gross) Truth About Dead Skin Removal
I need to be real with you: the first time you use a Korean towel properly, you will be mildly horrified. The amount of dead skin that comes off a human body that showers daily is… humbling. You will look at those little gray rolls on your arm and think, “I walked around like this? In public? Near other people?”
But here is the thing — everybody has dead skin buildup. It is a completely normal biological process. Your skin is constantly regenerating, shedding old cells and producing new ones. Most cleansing methods (regular washcloths, body wash, even loofahs) do not remove all of it. It accumulates. The Korean towel just happens to be extremely effective at getting it all off.
After the initial shock wears off, the feeling of your skin afterward is genuinely incredible. Smooth in a way that lotion alone never achieves. Soft. Almost like new skin — because in a way, it is. You have removed the dull, dead layer and exposed the fresh skin underneath.
Korean bathhouses actually offer professional scrub services (때밀이, ttaemiri) where an attendant scrubs your entire body with an Italy towel. People rave about how their skin feels afterward — like a full-body reset. It is one of the experiences I am most looking forward to when I eventually make it to Korea. (South Korea is very high on my travel list, right up there with Kenya and Portugal.)
Korean Bath Towels vs. American Towels: The Size Difference
While we are on the topic of Korean towels, I should mention that the Italian exfoliating towel is not the only towel difference between Korea and the US. Korean bath towels in general tend to be smaller and thinner than what Americans are used to.
A standard American bath towel is big, plush, and thick — basically a wearable blanket. Korean bath towels are more like what we would call a hand towel or a thin bath sheet. They are often made of lightweight cotton or microfiber and are designed to be wrung out and dried quickly rather than to wrap around you like a cocoon.
This makes sense in the context of Korean bathroom culture. In a wet bathroom where everything gets damp, you want towels that dry fast and do not take up a lot of space. Thick, plush American-style towels would take forever to dry in a humid bathroom environment and would be impractical to store in typically smaller Korean apartments.
At jjimjilbangs, the provided towels are notoriously small and thin — almost comically so by American standards. But they serve their purpose: quick-dry, easy to carry around the facility, and disposable enough that the bathhouse can launder thousands of them daily.
It is another one of those small cultural details that you would never think about unless someone pointed it out. What counts as a “normal” towel is genuinely different depending on where you grew up.
Where to Buy a Korean Towel in the US
The good news: you do not need to fly to Korea to get your hands on an Italy towel. They are surprisingly easy to find in the US. Here are the places I have found them:
Amazon — Search for “Korean Italy towel” or “Korean exfoliating towel.” You will find multipacks for around five to eight dollars (usually 4-8 towels per pack). The most popular brands are the ones from Korean manufacturers that produce them in the classic viscose rayon fabric. Look for the ones that feel genuinely rough — if the reviews say “softer than expected,” that is not what you want.
Korean grocery stores — If you have an H Mart, Lotte, or any Korean grocery store near you, check their health and beauty aisle. They almost always carry Italy towels, often at a lower price than online. This is where I bought my first pack.
Asian beauty stores — Stores that specialize in Korean or Asian beauty products (both online and brick-and-mortar) frequently stock them. They might be labeled as “Korean exfoliating mitt” or “Asian bath towel” for a Western audience, but it is the same product.
When buying, make sure you are getting the traditional viscose rayon fabric. Some Western imitations use softer materials that do not exfoliate nearly as well. The real thing should feel distinctly rough and slightly scratchy when dry. That roughness is the whole point.
I keep a small stack of them in my bathroom now, and I replace them every month or two. At a couple of dollars for a multipack, they are one of the most affordable upgrades to a shower routine that exists. Honestly, of all the Korean products and habits I have adopted during this language-and-culture learning journey of mine, the Korean towel might be the one I recommend most often. It is simple, it is cheap, it works, and it will make you wonder how you ever lived without it.
Go get yourself an Italy towel. Your skin will thank you. And then you will text your friends about it. And then they will text their friends about it. That is just how it works with this little Korean towel. It converts everyone.