Soak first, scrub wet skin before any soap, then wash and moisturise. Our step-by-step kese mitt guide covers technique, the grey rolls, how often to exfoliate by skin type, face use, when to skip it and mitt care.
To use a kese mitt, soften your skin in a warm shower or bath for 10–15 minutes, then rub the damp, squeezed-out mitt over wet skin in long, firm but comfortable strokes before any soap touches your body. Rinse off the loosened skin, wash with soap or foam, and moisturise while you are still slightly damp. For normal skin, once a week is a good rhythm and twice a week is the upper limit; dry or sensitive skin needs less, and your face needs its own softer mitt.
We have made kese mitts in İzmir since 2006. This guide covers how hard to press, what the grey rolls are, how often is too often and when to skip the kese.
What is a kese mitt?
A kese (say "keh-seh"), also sold as a kese glove or Turkish exfoliating mitt, is the woven mitt of the Turkish hammam. Its slightly rough, grippy weave lifts softened surface skin as you rub it over wet skin, with no scrub grains or acids.
We make them in raw cocoon silk, plant-based silk (a viscose fibre made from plant cellulose), viscose and viscose–polyester, as body mitts, face mitts and back scrubbers: see our Turkish exfoliating gloves. Still weighing a kese against a Moroccan kessa, a Korean Italy towel, a loofah or a dry brush? Read our comparison of kese, kessa, Italy towel and loofah.
How to use a kese mitt, step by step
In a traditional Turkish hammam you sweat first, then comes the kese, then a rinse with poured water, and only then the soap and foam wash. The steps below keep that order at home.
- Soak. Spend 10–15 minutes in a warm shower or bath, or a steamy bathroom, until your skin feels soft. Keep the water warm rather than hot, and the soak shorter if your skin is dry.
- Wet the mitt and squeeze it out. Soak it in warm water, then squeeze it until it is damp but not dripping: a dripping mitt slides, a damp one grips. Rinse a new mitt before first use.
- Test the pressure on your forearm. A few strokes should feel firm but comfortable and leave the skin pink at most. If it stings or burns, press more lightly or switch to a softer mitt.
- Use long strokes and a few passes. Work in long, straight strokes, as in the hammam; small circles are fine on elbows and knees. Pass over each area a few times and move on: the whole scrub takes only minutes, and reworking one patch is how irritation starts.
- Follow an order. Arms and shoulders first, then the chest and stomach with lighter pressure, the sides, and the legs from thigh to ankle. Don't press harder on bony areas such as elbows and knees (see the note on dark patches below). Skip the face (it gets its own mitt), nipples, genitals and any scratched or irritated skin.
- Do your back. Hold a long strap such as our 100% viscose back scrubber by both ends and draw it across your back like a towel, or ask someone to help.
- Rinse. Wash the loosened skin away with warm water; in the hammam it is poured from a bowl.
- Wash. Only now comes the soap. In the hammam an olive or laurel oil bar is worked into foam with a cotton foaming bag, but any mild soap will do; our handmade olive and laurel oil soaps follow a traditional recipe.
- Moisturise. Pat dry, then apply a fragrance-free cream or lotion within a few minutes, while your skin is still damp, as dermatologists generally advise.
Wet or dry, with soap or without?
During the scrub: wet skin, a damp mitt, no soap. Soap, gel and oil leave a slippery film, so the mitt glides instead of gripping; save them for afterwards. A kese is not a dry brush: the hammam method relies on soaked, softened skin, and rubbing dry skin only adds friction. Skip body scrubs too, since granules plus a grippy mitt are more abrasion than you need.
In Morocco the kessa is usually paired with black soap, a different tradition with its own sequence. For the full routine with foam, bowl and towel, follow our Turkish hammam ritual at home.
What are the grey rolls, and why do some people see none?
On well-soaked skin, small grey rolls appear after a few strokes. They are thought to be mostly loosened dead skin from the outermost layer, which the body sheds anyway, rolled up with skin oil, sweat, product residue and sometimes a little lint from the mitt. Turkish speakers casually call them "kir", literally "dirt", but they are not a sign that you were unclean: people who shower every day see them too.
Seeing few or no rolls usually has a simple cause:
- The skin was not soaked long enough to soften.
- Soap, oil or lotion residue is making the mitt slide.
- You exfoliated recently, so there is little left to remove.
- The mitt is very soft: silk grips more gently than a firmer viscose weave, so it lifts less at a time.
Do not chase the rolls. Pressing harder or re-scrubbing a spot to "get more out" is the fastest route to red, stinging skin, and the number of rolls says nothing about how clean or healthy your skin is.
How often should you use a kese mitt?
Cleveland Clinic advises exfoliating no more than once or twice a week. The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) adds that the harsher the method, the less often you should use it, and that dry, sensitive or acne-prone skin may do better with just a washcloth and a mild chemical exfoliant. A hammam-style kese is thorough, so start at once a week and treat twice as the ceiling rather than the goal.
| Skin type | Body | Face (soft face mitt only) | Mitt to start with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | Once a week, twice at most | Less often than the body | Viscose or plant-based silk |
| Dry | Less than once a week, short soak, light pressure | Rarely, or skip it | Raw cocoon silk or plant-based silk |
| Oily | Once a week, twice at most | Up to once a week if there are no breakouts | Viscose or viscose–polyester |
| Sensitive or reactive | Occasionally at most, after a forearm test | Skip it | Raw cocoon silk, lightest pressure |
| Eczema, psoriasis or rosacea | Don't use it; ask a dermatologist | Don't use it | None |
A monthly hammam visit is a long-standing Turkish habit: a cultural rhythm rather than medical advice, and a reminder that a kese need not be frequent. Skin is often drier in winter and in heated rooms, so leave longer gaps then.
Signs you are overdoing it
- Redness that lasts for hours instead of fading soon after the shower
- Stinging when moisturiser or water touches the skin
- Tightness, itching or new flaking
- A shiny, raw-looking or scratched surface
If you notice any of these, stop until your skin has fully recovered, then go gentler and less often. In a small study published in Contact Dermatitis, a single scrub with a rough cloth disturbed the barrier of forearm skin; the effect peaked on the second day and then returned to normal. That is a good reason to leave several days between sessions.
Doctors have described brown patches over bony areas in people who rubbed their skin hard for years with nylon cloths, rough towels or horsehair gloves, a condition called friction melanosis. The AAD also notes that harsh exfoliation can leave dark spots on darker skin tones. A kese does not lighten skin; gentle and occasional is the safer habit.
Can you use a kese mitt on your face?
Yes, if your skin tolerates it, but never with your body mitt. Use a separate, smaller face mitt in a softer fibre, such as our raw cocoon silk face mitt, and a fraction of the pressure you use on your legs.
- Soften the skin first, for example at the end of a warm shower.
- Wet the face mitt and squeeze it until it is just damp.
- With very light pressure, make small movements over the forehead, nose, cheeks and chin.
- Keep away from the eye area and lips, and from any spots or irritated patches.
- Rinse, cleanse as usual and moisturise; during the day, use your usual sun protection.
Skip facial kese entirely if you have rosacea (the AAD advises against rubbing, scrubbing or exfoliating rosacea-prone skin) or active acne, which scrubbing can make worse. If you use prescription retinoids, retinol or benzoyl peroxide, the AAD notes that extra exfoliation can increase dryness and breakouts, so ask your dermatologist first.
When not to use a kese mitt
Skip the kese, or ask a dermatologist first, if any of these apply:
- Sunburn, or skin peeling after sun exposure.
- Broken or irritated skin: cuts, scratches, grazes, rashes or insect bites.
- Eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, vitiligo or lichen planus, even when the skin looks calm. In psoriasis, vitiligo and lichen planus, injury to the skin can trigger new patches on previously clear areas, which doctors call the Koebner phenomenon.
- Freshly shaved skin. Cleveland Clinic advises keeping loofahs off newly shaved skin for a few days, as bacteria can enter tiny nicks; treat a kese the same way and plan it before a shave, not after.
- After waxing, laser hair removal, peels or other clinic treatments. Follow your practitioner's aftercare timing.
- Mature or very thin skin. The AAD recommends a soft washcloth over scrubbing tools for older skin; if you use a kese at all, choose raw silk and minimal pressure.
- Diabetes, pregnancy or any condition affecting your skin or circulation. Check with your doctor first.
- Children. We do not recommend kese mitts for children's skin.
How to clean and dry your kese
A kese spends its life wet, so drying matters most. A 1994 study in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology found that loofah sponges can harbour bacteria, and its authors advised regular cleaning for other exfoliating tools too.
- Rinse the mitt thoroughly after every use and gently squeeze out the water rather than twisting it hard; viscose is weaker when wet.
- Hang it to air-dry outside the shower, somewhere ventilated and away from direct sunlight and humidity.
- When a rinse is not enough, hand wash it with mild soap. Do not machine wash or tumble dry.
- Never use bleach or boiling water; silk in particular is a protein fibre that bleach damages.
- Keep one mitt per person, and separate mitts for face and body.
- Replace it when the weave loosens or flattens, it stops gripping, or it smells musty even after washing. There is no fixed lifespan; fibre and use decide.
Silk, plant-based silk or viscose: which mitt should you choose?
- Raw cocoon silk is the gentlest: a matte, slightly crisp natural fibre and the usual starting point for the face and neck and for dry or sensitive skin, as in our 100% raw Turkish cocoon silk mitt.
- Plant-based silk is a soft viscose weave that sits between raw silk and classic viscose in feel, as in our plant-based silk exfoliating glove.
- Viscose and viscose–polyester give the classic, firmer grip for the body, from soft-touch and sensitive versions to a triple-layer weave.
Labels can be confusing: "plant silk", "vegan silk" and "bamboo silk" are usually viscose, not silk. Both are legitimate fibres; the problem is only when one is sold as the other. Our guide to telling real silk kese from viscose shows how to check, and the kese glove buyer's guide compares silk, plant silk and viscose.
The easiest way to find your texture is to try one. Our online sample shop sells single kese mitts in silk, plant-based silk and viscose with no account needed: pay by card, and your order ships within 1–3 business days of payment.
Buying for a shop, spa or hotel? Send a wholesale quote request; the price of your samples is deducted from your first wholesale order.
Sources
This guide is general information, not medical advice; if you have a skin condition, ask a dermatologist.
- American Academy of Dermatology: exfoliation at home, rosacea, acne, keratosis pilaris, mature skin
- Cleveland Clinic: dry skin in winter, loofah hygiene, Koebner phenomenon
- Contact Dermatitis (2002): skin barrier after scrubbing
- International Journal of Dermatology (2004) and European Journal of Dermatology (2001): friction melanosis
- Journal of Clinical Microbiology (1994): bacteria in loofah sponges
- International Journal of Intangible Heritage (2022): the Turkish bath tradition in Gaziantep