‘Thorth’ is the traditional bath towel of Kerala, India. The Malayalam word Thorth literally means ‘something that removes moisture’. This unique property gives Thorth the power to play a revolutionary role in the forthcoming days of water scarcity. Thorth is probably one of the lightest bath towels used anywhere in the world. In Kerala, traditionally, this small piece of cloth has found more than 20 uses beyond its most fundamental one.
Cotton cultivated for textile production is the crop that consumes maximum water, next only to agricultural production. For producing one kilogram of cotton, we need 10,000 litres of water in India on an average. Thorth being a lightweight product requires only 100 gms of cotton on an average whereas a conventional bath towel requires 500 gms of cotton. Shifting from bath towel to Thorth reduces consumption of cotton by 80%, ultimately leading to 80% reduction in water usage for cotton cultivation.
Again, the amount of water required for washing Thorth is negligible when compared to a conventional bath towel. Since both products need frequent washing, there will be a huge difference in the amount of water used. It has been observed that a towel requires approximately 3L of water for merely soaking whereas Thorth needs only 600 ml, and this difference multiplies manifold while washing.