The thing nobody tells you about hand towels is that you'll know within a month which ones were cheap, because they'll already be fraying at the edge while the good ones just get softer. That's the whole test, really. Not how they look on day one hanging over the oven handle, but how they behave on day thirty.
A thin hand towel starts out fine and then goes thin and flat and a little bit sad, and it stops actually drying your hands, it just moves the water around. A good one, heavier cotton, a proper loop weave, gets softer with washing instead of worse, and it keeps its absorbency for years instead of months. Wash them warm, skip the fabric softener because it coats the fibers and that's exactly what kills absorbency, and tumble dry on low if you can, it fluffs the loops back up. When you're buying, check the hem first, a sewn, folded double hem means it won't unravel at the first wash, a single raw edge means it will. Feel the weight in your hand too. If it feels like a napkin, it'll act like one.
On delivery day, check the loops are even and not already pulling, and give it a wash before you use it, new cotton towels need that first rinse to open up and actually absorb anything. Color wise, this is where people get cautious because it's a small item, and I get it, but a small item is exactly where you can be bold without redoing the whole bathroom. A mustard or a deep emerald hand towel against white tile looks intentional, not like a mistake. Where it goes wrong is pairing a loud pattern towel with a loud pattern shower curtain, that's a fight nobody wins, pick one loud thing in the room and let the towel be it or let it be the quiet one. For sizing, a hand towel should be roughly 16 by 28 inches, anything smaller reads more like a guest towel for show, anything bigger starts crowding a small bar. Measure your towel bar or ring before you buy a set, because the classic mistake is buying towels sized for a double bar when you've got a single ring by the sink, and then they hang bunched up and never dry properly between uses, which just breeds mildew smell.
I'd put it next to a bath mat in a close but not matching shade, and a small dish of soap in something with a bit of color too, so the whole sink area feels put together instead of just stocked.
Aisha's pickHand Towels for Bathroom That Look Good Next to Old Tiles
Aisha's pickWhite Hand Towels for Bathroom That Look Good Next to Old Tiles
Aisha's pickAbsorbent Hand Towels With a Soft, Lived In Feel
Aisha's pickHotel Hand Towels With a Soft, Lived In Feel
Aisha's pickWhite Hand Towels That Won’t Date in a Year
Aisha's pickAbsorbent Hand Towels That Make a Room Feel Finished
Aisha's pickGood Large Hand Towels That Don’t Cost a Fortune
Aisha's pickBamboo Hand Towels for Cozy Nights In
Aisha's pickLarge Hand Towels Pulled From Dozens of StoresAlso 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 pickBlack Hand Towels With a Soft, Lived In Feel
Aisha's pickLuxury Cotton Hand Towels That Go With Most Rooms
Aisha's pickBlack Hand Towels for Cozy Nights In
Aisha's pickLuxury Hand Towels That Don’t Pill
Aisha's pickBlue Hand Towels That Keep Their Color Wash After Wash
Aisha's pickThe Luxury Hand Towels Worth Your Cash
Aisha's pickBlue Hand Towels for Cozy Nights In
Aisha's pickMicrofiber Hand Towels for Adding Color Without Painting
Aisha's pickNo Fuss Cotton Hand TowelsAlso worth a lookBath TowelsA 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.See the collections →
Aisha's pickPink Hand Towels Hunted Down So You Don’t Have To
Aisha's pickCotton Hand Towels for Bathroom That Are Easy to Keep Clean
Aisha's pickRed Hand Towels With a Soft, Lived In Feel
Aisha's pickCotton Hand Towels We Swap Around With the Seasons
Aisha's pickSmall Cotton Hand Towels That Look Better in Real Life
Aisha's pickGreen Hand Towels With a Soft, Lived In Feel
Aisha's pickGood Small Hand Towels That Don’t Cost a Fortune
Aisha's pickGreen Hand Towels You’ll Want to Curl Up With
Aisha's pickSmall Hand Towels That Keep Their Color Wash After WashAlso 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 pickHand Towels Pulled From Dozens of Stores
Aisha's pickSuper Soft Hand Towels Worth Knowing About
Aisha's pickHand Towels for Bathroom That Don’t Need Babying
Aisha's pickSuper Soft Hand Towels That Survive the Washing Machine
Aisha's pickHand Towels for Adding Color Without Painting
