A good bath towel belongs in almost any home, small bathroom or big, one person living alone or a family of six sharing a single shower schedule. The only households that should think twice are the ones who buy on looks alone and keep the towels folded on a shelf for guests, because a towel that never gets wet is just expensive shelf decoration. If you want it to actually dry a body after a shower, you want to think about more than the color.
These work hardest in the rooms you would expect, the main bathroom, the kids' bathroom where towels get dropped on the floor more than hung, and the laundry room where they land in a heap before getting washed again. They are a year round thing, not a seasonal one, though a thicker towel feels like a small kindness in winter and a lighter waffle weave earns its place in summer when you do not want to wrap up in something heavy after a hot day. What separates a towel that lasts from one that falls apart by the second winter comes down to a few plain things. Good cotton, long staple if you can find it, feels different right away, it has some weight without being stiff, and it keeps that softness wash after wash instead of going thin and scratchy. Check the hem, a flat, tightly stitched double hem holds up far longer than a thin rolled edge that starts fraying within a month. The loops should be dense and even, not sparse patches that show the backing cloth underneath, because that is where the toweling actually does its job. A good one also has some heft to it when wet, it should still feel absorbent instead of just sliding water around the surface. Cheaper towels often look fine folded in a shop display and then feel like wiping yourself with a damp dish rag after three washes, which is not a small difference when you are trying to dry off before the bathroom gets cold.
When you are standing in a shop or the day a delivery arrives, run your hand across it before anything else. Pull gently on a loop or two to see if it is secure. Check the hems are straight and stitched all the way around, not just tacked at the corners. Look at the weight listed if there is one, and compare it against how it actually feels in your hand, because the number on a label and the feel in your hand do not always agree. Smell it too, a towel that smells faintly chemical straight out of the packaging usually needs several washes before it is pleasant against skin.
The first thing to check is always the hem, run your fingers along it before you even feel the pile.
Aisha's pickBamboo Bath Towels From Brands You Know and a Few You Won’t
Aisha's pickLarge Bath Towels for a Bathroom Refresh Without a Refit
Aisha's pickWhite Bath Towels That Make a Small Bathroom Work
Aisha's pickBath Towels That Make a Small Bathroom Work
Aisha's pickLarge Cotton Bath Towels That Look Good Up Close
Aisha's pickBath Towels for Bathroom That Look Better in Real Life
Aisha's pickLuxury Bath Towels We’d Put in Our Own Bathroom
Aisha's pickBath Towels That Fit Into Real Life
Aisha's pickNo Fuss Luxury Bath TowelsAlso worth a lookCotton TowelsCotton towels have a reputation for being the safe, sensible choice, the kind of thing nobody gets excited…See the collections →
Aisha's pickBath Towels for Bathroom You’ll Keep for Years
Aisha's pickLuxury Cotton Bath Towels That Won’t Date in a Year
Aisha's pickBlue Bath Towels That Make a Small Bathroom Work
Aisha's pickPlush Bath Towels That Are Easy to Keep Clean
Aisha's pickBlue Bath Towels That Look Good Next to Old Tiles
Aisha's pickPlush Bath Towels That Stand Up to Steam
Aisha's pickCoral Bath Towels That Are Easy to Keep Clean
Aisha's pickQuick Dry Bath Towels That Look Good Next to Old Tiles
Aisha's pickCotton Bath Towels We’d Put in Our Own BathroomAlso worth a lookHand TowelsThe thing nobody tells you about hand towels is that you'll know within a month which ones were…See the collections →
Aisha's pickQuick Dry Bath Towels We’d Put in Our Own Bathroom
Aisha's pickCotton Bath Towels for Bathroom That Fit Into Real Life
Aisha's pickSmall Bath Towels for a Bathroom Refresh Without a Refit
Aisha's pickCotton Bath Towels That Make a Small Bathroom Work
Aisha's pickSmall Bath Towels Picked by People Who Care Too Much
Aisha's pickExtra Large Bath Towels for Making a House Feel Like Yours
Aisha's pickStriped Bath Towels That Stand Up to Steam
Aisha's pickExtra Large Bath Towels That Won’t Let You Down
Aisha's pickStriped Bath Towels We’d Put in Our Own BathroomAlso worth a lookKitchen TowelsThe one thing worth knowing before you buy kitchen towels is that absorbency and looks are almost always in tension, so pick the job first.See the collections →
Aisha's pickAbsorbent Bath Towels That Make a Small Bathroom Work
Aisha's pickExtra Large Cotton Bath Towels That Stand Up to Steam
Aisha's pickSuper Soft Bath Towels That Are Easy to Keep Clean
Aisha's pickAbsorbent Bath Towels for a Bathroom Refresh Without a Refit
Aisha's pickHotel Bath Towels That Stand Up to Steam
Aisha's pickSuper Soft Bath Towels for a Bathroom Refresh Without a Refit
Aisha's pickBamboo Bath Towels We’d Put in Our Own Bathroom
Aisha's pickLarge Bath Towels That Are Easy to Keep Clean
