Oshibori give out towels made of non-woven cloth or paper, which are generally used once and then disposed of. Paper ones sometimes contain a sterilizing agent such as alcohol or stabilized chlorine dioxide. Paper o-shibori, unlike cloth o-shibori, can be folded and put into a very thin plastic wrapping, for inclusion with packaged products such as bentō lunch boxes in convenience stores. An oshibori can be moistened with hot water at an appropriate temperature or steam to make a hot oshibori, or placed damp into a refrigerator to make a cold oshibori suitable for use in summer. Restaurants usually use an
Oshibori 2004. The word oshibori comes from the Japanese word , meaning "to wring", with the honorific prefix "o-", which is added to several types of nouns, including many nouns related to washing or food; onigiri/omusubi (お握り and お結び) "rice ball" follows the same pattern – see honorific prefix usage. In Japanese script, the word oshibori is normally written in hiragana (おしぼり), seldom using kanji (お絞り or 御絞り). Oshibori are also known as "o-tefuki"; "tefuki" refers to ordinary handkerchiefs, and these derive from the Japanese (hand) and , to wipe. In mājan parlors, the words "atsushibo" and "tsumeshibo", from the Japanese