MASSIVE UNIQUE UNCUT HONEYCOMB GREEK SEA SPONGE 22 Start Price GBP 19.99 Current Price GBP 19.99 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Monday, December 01, 2008 End Time Monday, December 08, 2008 Location CAMBRIDGE, Cambridgeshire See more about 'MASSIVE UNIQUE UNCUT HONEYCOMB GREEK SEA SPONGE 22' Description       SUPER  OFFER FROM OUR SHOP. UNIQUE SPONGE please check our shop for more offers and Giant Sponges   NEW ARRIVALS - FRESLY FISHED FROM WARM DEEP WATERS OF KALYMNOS EXCEPTIONAL SIZE NATURAL FORM & SHAPE - uncut spherical HURRY UP!!!DO NOT MISS IT GIANT -TOP QUALITY - HONEYCOMB EXTRA SOFT UNIQUE SPHERICAL EXTRA DURABLE EXCELLENT FOR BATH. This sponge is naturally formed shape and is not cut in size   Excellent gift for your Friends / Family.         XL GIANT MASSIVE BEAUTIFUL  BATH UNCUT BROWN SPHERICAL GENUINE REAL HONEYCOMB EXTRA SOFT GREEK SEA SPONGE. HEIGHT /DIAMETER:23cm , Max CIRCUMFERENCE :58cm excellent for bath expands when wet 26cm to 28cm in DIAMETER and 62cm to 66cm in max circumference   UNIQUE SPONGE for the REAL SPONGE LOVERS   OUR PRICES AND QUALITY ARE EXTREMELY COMPATITIVE     THE WATERS AROUND THE GREEK ISLANDS ARE VERY SUITABLE FOR THE SPONGES TO GROW BECAUSE OF THEIR HIGH TEMPERATURE. THIS IS THE REASON THAT THE BEST QUALITY OF SEA SPONGES  ARE FOUND IN THE GREEK SEAS.   ·        100 % Absorbent ·        Very Durable ·        Soft in texture ·        100 % Biodegradable ·        Hypo – allergenic Very low PH   Excellent for personal hygiene, bathing, face and body hygiene and general toiletry.    Unique and indispensable for baby skin care.   Our Sea Sponges are highly absorbent, softly textured and are suitable for the most sensitive of skin.   OUR SEA SPONGES ARE SOFT AS A SILK AND AVAILABLE IN ALL THE SIZES NO TWO SPONGES ARE EVER THE SAME WE BRING OUR NATURAL SPONGES DIRECTLY FROM GREECE - THE BEST QUALITY SEA SPONGES!!! Real genuine sponge from the clean, warm natural Greek Seas.  Crafted by traditional local Greek island Craftsmen.    We bring in England from our country (Greece) only top quality sea sponges. All our sponges are new and carefully chosen personally by us, from local Greek producers. We collaborate with world’s leading Greek professionals in natural Greek sea sponges   of Kalymnos and Halkis islands. Each sponge we sell is handled individually. Because of the nature of the sponges and the fact that no two sponges are the same, there is no any modern method or any automatic machine that can help in their processing. All sponges are processed by hand. Having excellent relationship with our producers we can guarantee best quality  and  almost every size and type of genuine natural Greek sponges. Greece is the second major Mediterranean sponge producer and traditionally the centre of the Mediterranean sponge fishing industry.     Our sponges are of the species “Hippospongia Communis” (Mediterranean Honey Comb) Woolsponge or Sheepwool  and Fina Sponges (Silky Grass). Their Greek name is Kapadikos and Matapas respectively.   We have sponges in different size and shapes always with the same Best Greek Sea Sponges’s quality. Nothing beats the luxury of a Greek natural sea sponge.        THE DEEP AND HOT SEAWATERS AROUND THE GREEK ISLANDS  ARE VERY SUITABLE FOR THE TOP QUALITY SEA SPONGES TO GROW.   The use of Greek sea sponges is one of the most natural and caring ways to cleanse, massage, exfoliate and take cere of our skin.   The Greek sea sponges are highly absorbent, softly textured, hypo-allergic, of low ph and suitable for the most sensitive of skins. Few words about the uses and applications of the natural sea sponges. Natural Sea Sponges can be used for a multitude of purposes: ·        Application and removal of make up and cosmetics, ·        Deep cleansing and general skin care, ·         Massaging to stimulate the circulatory system and revitalise the skin, ·        Baby bathing and skin care, ·        Skin hygiene and care for teenagers, ·        For a luxurious bath and shower experience, ·        For Pet hygiene, horse ‘brushing’, etc, ·        Decoration for ponds and aquariums, ·        Proffesional use in painting, pottery, ceramics, etc,   In brief our natural sea sponges are: ·        100 % Absorbent ·      Soft in texture ·      Non abrasive ·      Biodegradable and 100% environment friendly ·      Hypo – allergenic  Very low in PH Odourless and self cleaning Non staining        Sea sponges are more durable and last longer than synthetic sponges  because they are more resistant to abrasion. In addition, natural sea sponges are  better for bathing and cleaning because they soak up and hold more water without dripping. Notice: Sometimes you may notice few white seaweeds in our sponges which is sign that our sponges are Genuine Natural and very ‘fresh’. We sell both bleached and unbleached sea sponges. Unbleached sponges have not been treated chemically.     Few words for the supremacy of natural sea sponges compared to plastic ones. Sea sponges are more durable and last longer than synthetic sponges because they are more resistant to abrasion. In addition, natural sea sponges are better for bathing and cleaning because they soak up and hold more water without dripping. Natural sponges are self-cleaning through their intricate system of canals.  They are softer, clean better and will not peel off like the synthetic sponges while being used. Natural sponges will not stain or retain odors. Natural sea sponges respect the enviroment, they do not leave polluting residuals and are 100% bio-degradable. Synthetic sponges, on the contrary, are made of cellulose polymers (plastic). The synthetic sponges are processed from materials such as nylon or rubber, which generate as much pollution in their processing as in their residues. The cleaner we keep our oceans, the more sponges people can harvest. Be an educated consumer and help eliminate synthetic production, which causes pollutants.   FEW WORDS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE NATURAL GREEK SEA SPONGES   The history of the Greek sea sponges goes many centuries back in time. We find descriptions and references of their uses in the writings of Aristotle, Plato and even Homer's works of  Iliad and Odyssey!!.   Since ancient times the Greeks knew and used the sea sponges as the best natural products for personal hygiene and body skin care.   The Romans also, well known for their famous baths, appreciated immensely the soft quality and the hygienic properties of the natural sea sponges. They made extensive use of natural sea sponges in their everyday personal hygiene and bathroom habits.   The Greek Islands with SIMI, CHALKI and KALYMNOS in the lead have been the most famous and active places for ‘fishing’ and trading the best natural sea sponges all over the world.   Greek ‘SKIN DIVERS’ from many islands would literally 'plough' across  the Greek deep and hot sea waters to collect the best and well known worldwide Greek sea sponges.     It seems that in KALYMNOS the sponge 'fishing' (called 'spogaleeia') started some 300 years ago and the first Kalymnian  divers used to dive with no special protective equipment (‘SKIN DIVERS’).   At that time the divers would 'plunge' into the sea from a small boat with few crew. The diver would carry with him a cylinder shaped glass lense to help him view the sea bed and spot the sponges.   To help him go down fast the ‘skin diver’ would hold in his arms a heavy stone (15 Kgr) called 'skandalopetra'!   The diver would cut clean the sponge from  the sea floor, put it in a net (called 'dihty') and bring it up to the boat.   In each diving (called 'voutia') the diver would remain 3-5 minutes underwater and he would reach up to 30 meters deep.     At the beginning of the 19th century Kalymnos and other Greek islands saw a boom of their sponge industry thanks to a new diving standard diving suit called 'skafandron'.   With 'skafandro' the Greek divers could dive deeper (70 meters) and stay much longer underwater.   So the divers soon discovered the better quality and bigger sponges that lived at deeper and hotter waters.   Larger ships with more crew (called 'spogoalieftika') started sailing the Aegean Sea (Pelagos) and sailed across the Mediterranean sea as far as Libya and Egypt, Lebanon and Syria.   These sails could last long time and crew and divers could miss their families for up to 6 months. This is the reason that each island developed their customs to celebrate the time all the ships would leave the little ports full of dreams and aspirations for a ‘good catch' and receive them back, few months later full of sponges and desires to meet with their beloved people parents, wives, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, lovers, friends, etc.   Along with the business boom and the good money the standard diving suit brought to the islands, the divers had to pay deathly tolls by the name of 'divers' disease'.   That disease was caused by the 'quick decompression' and the production of ‘air bubbles’ in the divers’s blood. The 'disease' often caused serious paralysis and very often through a confined life ended in early death.   It is estimated that the first year the standard diving suit was used almost half of the divers were affected and either became paralyzed or died. The numbers recorded show that in total 10.000 divers died and 20.000 were paralyzed permanently.    At the beginning of the 20th century the use of the standard diving suit had to be abandoned and many Greek divers moved to other countries, as far as Florida, to look for new opportunities and sponge diving.   At that time safer diving equipment was appearing in the market produced by Nicolas Toth in Florida.   In the fifties sponge 'fishing' went down and for reasons not well known the sponges were affected and disappeared almost to extinction. Today there are only few islanders who 'sponge fish' around the Greek seas and this is the reason that the top quality, famous Greek sponges are scarced and difficult to find.       But what is the real nature of sea sponges?   Believe it or not the sea sponges belong to the animal kingdom!   They are ANIMALS (invertebrate)!!   Sea sponges are of course of the simplest form of multi-cellular animals. They live in deep seas attaching themselves to the sea bottom and in locations rich of food for them.   They grow in different shapes, colours and sizes. Sometimes they grow into 'apartments buildings' accommodating many individual sponges.   Sponges belong to the class of Phylum Porifera which denotes that their 'body' is covered by numerous pores. These multi-numbered pores are very important for the life of the sponge and they must be kept freely open for them to 'breath' properly.   This is why the sea sponges are very vulnerable to sea oil pollution when their surface is covered with a fine film of oil, the pores get  blocked and the sponge can't 'breath'.   Tte sea sponges are classified into four major groups or categories.   1. The Calcarea group, which are marine sponges with a skeleton that contains calcium carbonate    2. The Sclerospongiae group which is the ‘complicated’ part of the groups.   They are made of thin silia and a soft sponging skeleton that surrounds a stronger central calcerous skeleton.   3. The Dermospongia group that contains the few freshwater cousins and are made up of soft protein material.   4. The Hexactinellida group that lives in the deep seas and is the group that gets all the human interest.   They have skeleton made of silica and they grow in a variety of beautiful colours. Because of the silica they are often called the glass sponges (silica is a substance used to make glass).   Sponges found in the Mediterannean Sea are considered of the best quality, followed by the Red Sea sponges and the West Indian sponges. Sponges of lower quality can be found throughout the world’s seas and also in freshwaters. The sponges are of high quality when their skeleton is composed of a soft, flexible, yet durable substance (the sponging tissue) and at the same time they contain no hard spicules.   The natural soft bath sponge, is actually the skeleton of these living sponges. The living tissue is dried, washed and bleached resulting in the soft, smooth, flexible, absorbent sponge that many of us enjoy to use in our bathrooms (and households).   The natural sponge's properties and characteristics, such as soft firmness, high absorption, long endurance, complete absence of harmful static electricity and its natural bio-structure, ensure that sponges will always be the product of choice for their uses.   It is true though that modern chemical technology has improved the quality of synthetic sponges and the 'plastic' sponges are trying to make up for the scarcity of the natural sponges and close the gap between offer and demand.                           Sponges today find many uses and applications:   -         Body and face skin care (bathing, applying and removing make-up, cleansing, etc.)   -         Baby skin care and bathing   -         Delicate art, pottery, pocelain, leather and wood workings restorations   Today sponges have found their way into the medical laboratories because bio-scientists and doctors are intrested in a chemical contained in the sponges, which seems to have the power to kill cancerogenous cells in humans!     100% NATURAL Please check out my ''about me''page Check out my other items!       Customer Service   We check our email 'many times a day' and 7 days a week. We aim to answer all your emails fully and as soon as possible.  Shipping We aim to ship within 24 hours from receipt of your payment via Paypal. If your payment is made by cheque  we ship within 24 hours from date of clearance.   Returns  In any case you are not fully satisfied with our products, we are happy to accept the return of your purchase, within 7 days from delivery. The  items must be returned, at the Buyer's expense and in their original state and packaging.  A full refund of the purchase price less any shipping charges will be paid on receipt.  Refunds may be made by cheque.    PLEASE NOTE - If an item is returned without a proper protective packaging and gets damaged as a result, the item will not be refunded.                             On 01-Dec-08 at 14:19:43 GMT, seller added the following information: Use the FREE Counters 1 million sellers do - Vendio! Place a Bid!