You may have a stylish bathroom and a luxurious heated towel rail, but if you don’t have quality, absorbent towels to drape over your towel rail it will hardly be a luxury experience. Before you go out and purchase new towels, take a look at our 2022 buyers guide for quality towels. It will make sure small, scratchy towels will be a thing of the past.
Purchasing quality towels
As we highlighted in a recent blog on Luxury bathroom essentials for 2022, along with items such as baths, heated towel rails and floating vanities, you can’t have a luxury bathroom if the towels aren’t luxurious. So here are our top tips on buying towels that will be practical, last a long time and leave you feeling great.
- There is a potential trade-off when choosing good quality towels. If you’re looking for a towel that is soft and absorbs water really well, 100 per cent cotton is a great option. If you want a towel that’s quick drying on your heated towel rail and will last longer, a cotton-poly blend is worth considering.
- If it’s absorbency you are looking for, choose a towel with thick, tightly packed loops. The denser the loop, the more water the towel will hold.
- Look for the GSM (grams per square metre) of the towel you’re considering. Generally, the higher the GSM the higher the quality and the plusher the towel will feel. As a guide, 300 – 400 GSM towels are considered lightweight (i.e. the ones you find in cheap hotels!), 400 – 600 GSM medium and more than 600 heavy.
- You should, of course, feel the towel in the store because towel buying is partly personal. However, don’t be necessarily fooled by softness. That’s because softeners, that will wash out after a few washes, can be added to new towels to make them feel soft.
- When feeling the towel, don’t just pass your hand over it on the shelf. Pick it up to see how heavy it is. The best towels will feel heavier than they look.
- When looking at towels, pay particular attention to the edges. They should be neatly folded and the stitching should be close and secure. This is a sign of quality manufacturing and important as towels with poor edging will fray more.
- Terms such as bamboo, Egyptian, Turkish and organic are used to describe the fabric used in the towels. For example, bamboo is blended with cotton to increase absorbency and durability. Egyptian and Turkish cotton is considered higher quality and generally softer than other fabrics. While organic cotton uses cotton that’s produced free from chemicals.
- Of course you should always consider the colour. Purchase towels that will match or complement the other colours in your bathroom.
- For luxury, buy the largest towels you can afford. There’s nothing more luxurious than wrapping yourself in a large, plush towel after a shower!
Caring for your towels
It’s no good buying quality towels if you don’t care for them. It’s not a matter of just tossing them in the wash. If you care for your towels properly they’ll stay soft and absorbent for many years. Here’s how:
- It’s a good idea to wash your new towels before you use them. This will remove some of the fluff that inevitably falls from new towels. It will also remove some of the softener that is added to many new towels that make towels feel softer but hinder absorbency.
- Wash your towels around once a week.
- Don’t use hot water to wash your towels. A warm-water cycle (around 40 degrees) is best.
- It’s generally best to wash towels separately. You definitely shouldn’t overcrowd them. And, of course, if you have white or light coloured towels, don’t wash them with darker towels.
- Don’t use fabric softeners. They reduce the absorbency of towels.
- Use a gentle washing detergent and only use the suggested amount, never more. Never use bleach or peroxides.
- Drying is somewhat of a contentious issue. Some experts say to use a dryer, others say to use a clothesline, while others say to use a combination. Whichever you choose, don’t dry towels in a hot dryer – a low to medium setting is best – and don’t dry towels in the direct, hot sun.
- What isn’t contentious is the need to completely dry your towels before putting them away.
- You should also dry towels completely in-between use.
Benefits of a heated towel rail
A heated towel rail can also help you care for your quality, absorbent towels. In particular, they will dry towels completely in-between showers and can be used to finish off drying of towels that have been washed.
An important point to make about heated towel rails and towels, is to make sure you buy a model that is large enough for your needs. This is particularly important for large, plush, absorbent towels, which will generally take longer to dry.
Over-stacking a heated towel rail is likely to be inefficient and you may find towels don’t dry between use. Or you may find you need to run your appliance for much longer to dry them.
There are options, however, such as Eskimo’s Heated Towel Rail, that can hold up to four large towels. At only $875, it’s a luxury you can afford!
