How to Buy the Best Bath Towel

Here’s a point we’ve made before, and will most likely make again.

That’s because it’s an important one: Guests want three things from their stay with you — a clean room, clean bedding, and clean towels.

But that’s the bare minimum. Of course, your towels should be clean, but they should leave your guests feeling warm, dry and comforted. Here’s some advice on how to buy the best bath towel.

Absorbency, softness and durability

Buying new towels means balancing three factors: absorbency, softness and durability:

• Thicker towels will be more absorbent but take longer to dry. Egyptian cotton or Pima cotton towels are highly absorbent, while towels made from rayon can absorb even more fluid than ones from cotton.
• Again, Pima and Egyptian cotton towels are your best bets in terms of softness. But any towel you buy will lose softness after a few washes.
• In terms of durability, cotton wins again, and two-ply towels are more durable than their one-ply versions. Cotton/polyester blends are also durable, but not as sturdy as towels made of 100 percent cotton.

All of this leads us to make this argument: Any discussion of how to buy the best bath towel should include one of these types of cotton:

1. Egyptian cotton

First grown in South America and imported to Egypt during the 19^th century, this is the highest-quality cotton fiber you can find.

Towels made from Egyptian cotton are made with extra-long fibers and more moisture-absorbing loops per inch than any other towel, giving you the highest possible durability and absorbency. At the same time, the weaving process used to make these towels results in softness that is nearly unparalleled.

2. Turkish cotton

Like Egyptian cotton, Turkish cotton has extra-long fibers for exceptional softness and durability. Depending on how they are woven, these towels can feel even thicker than Egyptian cotton towels.

3. MicroCotton

MicroCotton is the trademarked name of a variety of cotton yarn laced into long loops that gives towels extra absorbency and a luxurious feel. Although lighter than Egyptian cotton towels, towels made from MicroCotton will still absorb quite well, and do not leave lint behind after washing.

The weight of cotton

Towels are weighed using a metric called GSM, or grams per square meter, which refers to the density of the material used to make the towel. The higher the GSM, the thicker the towel.

But while GSM is an important factor in determining towel quality, it’s not the only factor. You should also take into account the type of fiber, finishing and weave. A towel with a higher GSM, but made from lesser fabrics, may not give you the softness or strength you need.

Now that we’ve discussed how to buy the best bath towel, we’ll leave you with some suggestions of which towels you might want to buy.

First up is the Urbane Towel, made from long-stable Turkish cotton and featuring unique ribbed construction to offer an exceptional bathing experience.

If you want your guests to experience the magic of Egyptian cotton, there’s the Performance Towel, crafted from combed long-staple Giza cotton to provide wonderful softness and absorbency.

And then, there are these MicroCotton Color Towels, crafted from very fine cotton with a GSM of 600, and offering your guests soft and comfortable drying.

Of course, these aren’t our only towels, or even our only Egyptian, Turkish and MicroCotton offerings. Visit our product pages to see our full line of towels, and contact our sales team to find out how InnStyle can help make your guests feel at home.