March 15, 2025

Jerga: The Sustainable Cleaning Cloth

We grew up in a Mexican household of 5 girls and spent weekends and summers cleaning while other kids were at camp. Like many in our culture, our mama would wake us on the weekends with cumbias playing loudly on a speaker. We knew what this meant, it was time to wake up and prepare for a morning of cleaning. We would find our mama with her arsenal of cleaning supplies, including her trapitos.

Jerga, a sustainable cleaning cloth known as a trapito, was a staple in our casita used by our mama, tias, and abuelita. We grew up going to Mexico and seeing jerga in restaurants and mercados. If you grew up in a Mexican household, chances are you've seen jerga in action. Jerga is a multiuse cleaning cloth used to wipe your feet at the entrance of your house or wipe down counters during your weekly cleaning sessions. But what makes it so special?

The Rich History of Jerga in Mexican Culture

Jerga is a traditional artisanal textile exclusively crafted in Mexico. These humble cleaning cloths carry a rich cultural legacy. It originated in colonial Mexico. Jerga’s origins lie in the ingenuity of weavers who repurposed leftover short cotton fibers from textile production.

Cotton that would have otherwise ended up in landfills was repurposed into highly absorbent and durable cotton, known as jerga cleaning cloths. It's an iconic cleaning textile found in most Mexican homes. It’s fast drying, very absorbent, and long-lasting, making it the perfect cleaning cloth.

yellow cotton cleaning cloth known as jerga

While these trapitios might seem humble, they’re actually very special. They represent our artistry, creativity, and resilience.

Enter VOLVERde - The Story Behind Our Trapitos

We created VOLVERde to be a sustainable lifestyle marketplace inspired by our cultura. We set out to create these custom trapitios that remind us of our childhood and all the hours we spent cleaning. We grew up using these trapitos and continue to see them everywhere when we go to Mexico. They are so common you wouldn’t even think they are special, but we decided to change that. We saw the beauty of these trapitos.

At VOLVERde, we’re all about sustainability and empowering other mujeres, so we partnered with Megan Banias, a Filipina American designer, artist, and owner of Chicago for Keeps. She makes the most beautiful embroidered pieces and gives back to Chicago non-profits with every purchase. Not only is she super talented but she has such a bubbly personality. She’s got the most contagious laugh and is a real joy to be around. After meeting her at a POP-UP in Chicago, we reached out to her with the idea, and she was immediately on board. We sent her the designs we had in mind, we agreed on pricing, and the timeline. Like with all of our partners, we honored her stated prices. We believe haggling with artisans is unethical and not how we run VOLVERde.

The phrases on the trapitos are all sayings we heard growing up or lyrics to our favourite cleaning music. We wanted to make these classic cleaning trapitos extraordinary and a homage to our childhood. We still remember the first time we saw our trapitios. It was love at first sight. Megan put so much attention to detail in the serging so they don’t fray and in the backing so that the embroidery lasts.

We then had multiple photo sessions with another talented mujer, Karina, our photographer. The result is simply stunning, and our community has been loving them. A huge thank you to all the women who share their talents to make this crazy dream a reality.