Wettex - The Original Swedish Dishcloth

Wettex is the original Swedish dishcloth — the reusable, biodegradable cellulose-and-cotton cloth that started an entire product category in 1949 and is still manufactured today at the same factory in Norrköping, Sweden.

How it started

Curt Lindquist was a civil engineer who, by the mid-1930s, was already experimenting with cellulose-based sausage casings at his father's workshop. During the Second World War, natural casings became scarce, and Kooperativa Förbundet (KF) took a serious interest in his cellulose alternative. KF's factory in Norrköping began producing it, the venture succeeded, and by 1942 a 33-year-old Lindquist was running the show as CEO of KF-owned Celloplast.

His inventing streak didn't stop there. In 1949, working from the same cellulose know-how, Lindquist ground a sponge through his family's kitchen meat grinder, looking for something as absorbent as a sponge but as easy to wring out as a towel. What came out was a greyish mass with remarkable absorbency. His wife, Margareta, named the resulting cloth "Wettex" — a contraction of "wet textile." AB Termator registered the Wettex trademark in 1951, and Celloplast patented the manufacturing process ("Method of Continuously Producing Absorbent Material") in 1953. In 1970, the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences awarded Lindquist its gold medal, largely in recognition of the Wettex cloth.

One lesser-known chapter: NASA once took an interest in the material as spacecraft insulation, because it pulled moisture away so effectively. Lindquist reportedly worked through the night to match the exact shade of grey NASA had requested, and later received word that "your cloth is in space." It only flew once — the material was also quite flammable, which ruled out repeat trips. Lindquist was also involved in developing the plastic shopping bag. Wettex caught on fast at home: the Swedish public nicknamed it "Mirakelsvampduken" — the miracle sponge cloth — and by the 1960s it was sold in more than 50 countries. In 1954 alone, the American Sponge and Chamois Company sold 800,000 Wettex cloths in the U.S. Lindquist never spent heavily on advertising, trusting the cloth's performance to sell itself.

Wettex today

Since 1990, Wettex has been manufactured by Freudenberg, a global company operating in roughly 60 countries with about 50,000 employees. The Norrköping facility — the original Wettex factory — produces around 8 million square meters of Wettex and Vileda sponge cloth every year, with thousands of meters coming off the line daily, and the two Wettex factories combined turn out well over 200 million cloths annually. The factory keeps getting modernized: in recent years Freudenberg partnered with ABB to upgrade the plant's power and automation systems, part of an ongoing push to improve energy efficiency and reduce production downtime.

How it's actually made

The cloth starts as a mix of renewable materials — paper, viscose (wood cellulose), and cotton. Glauber's salt (sodium sulfate) is mixed in during production and later washed back out, leaving behind the tiny pockets that give Wettex its absorbency. The mass is extruded, steamed, and baked in an oven, patterns are printed on, and the sheets are cut to size — a recipe for the cotton-to-cellulose ratio that's still guarded at the Swedish factory today. It's a genuinely specialized process: only two factories in the world are equipped to produce this specific type of sponge cloth — the original plant in Norrköping, Sweden, and a licensed facility in Germany.

What sets genuine Wettex apart from knockoffs

Because "Wettex" became the generic name for this whole category of cloth across Scandinavia and Europe, the name gets used loosely — including on products that have nothing to do with the original Swedish manufacturer. As one concrete example, a listing on Walmart's marketplace is currently titled "The Original Chinese Wettex Dishcloth" — a product made in China, using the Wettex name, despite genuine Wettex being manufactured exclusively in Sweden (and under license in Germany). We're not saying every dishcloth made elsewhere is low quality — but if you're specifically trying to buy the original, made-in-Sweden product, the name alone won't guarantee that.

A few ways to tell the difference:

• Country of manufacture. Genuine Wettex is made in Sweden, or under Wettex's own license in Germany — not simply labeled with the Wettex name while being produced somewhere unrelated to the original manufacturer.
• Material composition. Authentic Wettex is roughly 70% cellulose and 30% cotton, made through the extrusion-and-baking process described above. Imitations often use a different ratio or a cheaper, less durable cellulose blend.
• Who you buy it from. We carry authentic Wettex, manufactured in Norrköping, Sweden — every product on this site states that directly. Our Original 10-Pack and Nordic Selection 10-Pack are our two most popular starting points if you want to see the difference for yourself.

Quick facts

• Invented in 1949 by Curt Lindquist (1908–1988), a civil engineer in Norrköping, Sweden
• Trademarked in 1951, patented in 1953, and honored with the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences' gold medal in 1970
• Sold in 50+ countries by the 1960s; 800,000 cloths sold in the U.S. in 1954 alone
• Manufactured by Freudenberg since 1990
• Well over 200 million Wettex cloths produced annually, across just two factories worldwide: Norrköping, Sweden, and a licensed plant in Germany
• 70% cellulose, 30% cotton — 100% biodegradable
• One cloth absorbs up to 15x its own weight and typically replaces 15–17 rolls of paper towels over its life

Want the full story on how a Swedish dishcloth works and how to use one? Read what a Swedish dishcloth is and how to get the most out of yours. Curious how Wettex compares to Skoy and Full Circle? See our honest brand comparison.

Ready to try the original? Shop genuine Wettex, made in Sweden, starting with the 3-Pack if you just want to try it out.

Wettex® is a registered trademark and the exclusive property of Freudenberg GmbH.