When there is a shortage of water or it is not suitable for a person to take a stand bath, you can use a wet cloth or sponge, or you can wash by splashing water on your body. Sponge baths are usually carried out in hospitals, involving one person using a sponge to wash another person while the person being washed is lying on the bed.

Sponge is a tool or cleaning aid made of soft porous material. Sponges are often used to clean impermeable surfaces, especially to absorb water and aqueous solutions.

Originally made of natural sponge, now the most common is made of synthetic materials.

The earliest references to sponges for sanitation can be traced back to ancient Greece. Before the competition, the Olympic contestants take a sponge sponge with olive oil or perfume. In the Greek poet Homer's Odyssey, the God Hephaestus washed his hands, face and chest with a sea sponge, and the servants of Odysseus palace washed the table with a sea sponge after the suitors in Penelope ate there. The Greek philosophers Aristotle and Plato also mentioned the sea sponge in their works under the background of science and history. The ancient Greeks also used sea sponges tied to sticks as toilet paper and washed it with sea water.

Ancient Romans also widely used sea sponges for sanitation and other purposes. The belief that sponges have therapeutic properties has led them to be used in medicine to clean wounds and treat diseases.

Throughout history, sponge has been used by women as a cotton stopper [to be quoted], but it is still cheaper and more environmentally friendly than fiber sponge. However, the researchers do not recommend the use of sponge as tampons because they may contain dirt and microorganisms, especially if disinfection is not good.

In the New Testament, a Roman soldier provides Jesus Christ with a sponge dipped in vinegar and a spear dipped in vinegar (some say "stick") for Jesus to drink when he is crucified, which is a mockery.

Only when the polyester inventions in 1941 and the commercial production of polyurethane foam in 1952 were made, can synthetic sponge be produced.