Crochet Your Own Nylon-Net Scouring Pad for Scratch-Free Cleaning

Cookware often comes out of the dishwasher still crusted if you skip a quick scrub before loading it. A nylon-netting pot scrubber handles that job, and making one requires only the ability to crochet a basic circle; the finished pad scours away stuck-on food residue while leaving even nonstick coatings unharmed. Nylon netting is sold in many colors and styles. Choose a netting whose texture feels somewhat rough and whose hexagonal holes are easy to see; fine, soft tulle netting is not a good substitute for a sturdy scrubber.

Step 1

Spread the yard of netting on a table or the floor, keeping it in the long folded rectangle shape it had when taken off the bolt.

Step 2

Using the ruler, measure strips 1 to 1 1/2 inches wide along the length of the folded rectangle and cut them. Cutting perpendicular to the fabric's end yields the longest strips.

Step 3

Join the strip ends with simple square knots until all the pieces form a single continuous strand, then wind that strand into a ball.

Step 1

Form a slip knot at the free end of the nylon strand, slide the loop onto a medium crochet hook (sizes H to J) and work four chain stitches. Slip-stitch into the first chain to close a circle. As you crochet, the netting strip compresses on its own into a strand roughly the thickness of bulky yarn.

Step 2

Work eight single crochet stitches into the circle, then slip-stitch into the top of the first single crochet to close round one. Chain three.

Step 3

Work two double crochet stitches into every single crochet around, then slip-stitch into the second chain to complete round two. Chain three.

Step 4

Keep enlarging the circle with double or single crochet until it measures 3 to 4 inches across. To increase, work two stitches into the first stitch of the round and one into the second, repeating that pattern to the round's end. On later rounds, work two stitches into one stitch, then one stitch into each of the next two, and repeat. Each round adds one more single stitch to the repeating sequence until the circle reaches the size you want. Finish each round with two chain stitches when single crocheting, or three when double crocheting.

Step 5

To make a double-sided scrubber, reverse the process: reduce the number of single stitches in the repeating sequence by one each round. The shrinking circle turns into a pillowy pad that makes the scrubber more durable. Join each round with a slip-stitch and chain two at the end of every round except the final one.

Step 6

Close the last round with a slip-stitch, then cut the netting yarn with scissors, leaving a 6-inch tail. Use the crochet hook to draw the tail through the final stitch. Weave a few inches of the tail into the scrubber by hooking it and pulling it through earlier stitches, then trim any excess.