Also asked, what is a shammy used for in diving?
Shammys are towels, but not the soft, bulky, carpet-like towel generally used after a shower. Shammys are made of rayon or poly-vinyl and can hold up to 10 times their weight in liquid and quickly dry after being rung out. To solve that problem, divers use the shammys to dry off in between dives.
Subsequently, question is, why do divers have a little towel? First of all, it's not a towel—it's a chamois, or “shammy.” The shammy is a super-absorbent piece of cloth that sops up water. Because it is so small, a diver can wring it out after use and know it will be more-or-less dry by the time of the next dive.
Just so, why should you wet the chamois before using it?
Counter-intuitively, chamois works best when slightly damp instead of completely dry. This helps the cloth cling to the surface to absorb as much moisture as possible.
What does a chamois leather do?
Chamois leather is widely used for drying and buffing vehicles, such as cars and vans, after washing. Small pieces of chamois leather (often called "chamois cloth") are commonly used as blending tools by artists drawing with charcoal.
