Towels

What kind of towels?

I love beach towels from Land's End - huge and indestructible!

Fancy "don't actually use" hand towels - Pickets in Seagrove.

Bath towels - whatever is on sale.

I love the ones I get from The Company Store.
They have sales some times too. They don't get that worn out, faded look either.

I love the Martha Stewart Thirsty Turkish Towels at KMart....but is Martha done with KMart? I obviously haven't towel shopped in a while. I just collect the ones I find in Hummie after a day at the beach....thanks, Kitlit and Swafia! You have great taste in beach towels.

I just collect the ones I find in Hummie after a day at the beach....thanks, Kitlit and Swafia! You have great taste in beach towels.

I thought I recognized those towels you were drying the dogs off with... :scratch:

I forgot the name of the latest ones I bought, but used to buy Ralph Lauren and still have a bunch of those. Talk about indestructible and thirsty.

Try ebay, though. I've had great success there lately. My beach towels are a conglomerate of left behinds, finds and those great towels from AquaTerra (was that the name of the place that never broke ground near Alys Beach?).

I used to buy the West Point-Pepperell and the WestPoint-Stevens towels (Grand Patrician), but they have gone bye-bye, along with the value of my many shares of stock in that company that I inherited from my father.

Now I like big fluffy Ralph Lauren towels and also Charter Club towels. Just white or ivory. Our architect didn't want us to have towel bars in the GA house because he said that one should never use a towel more than once. So we bought a boatload of Charter Club white towels. That was cool when daughter needed a nanny who was a full-time housekeeper as well. But now I am the maid -- I do the laundry myself (once a month max, if possible LOL), so we use towel bars. ;-)

I used to buy the West Point-Pepperell and the WestPoint-Stevens towels (Grand Patrician), but they have gone bye-bye, along with the value of my many shares of stock in that company that I inherited from my father.

Now I like big fluffy Ralph Lauren towels and also Charter Club towels. Just white or ivory. Our architect didn't want us to have towel bars in the GA house because he said that one should never use a towel more than once. So we bought a boatload of Charter Club white towels. That was cool when daughter needed a nanny who was a full-time housekeeper as well. But now I am the maid -- I do the laundry myself (once a month max, if possible LOL), so we use towel bars. ;-)

Oh, BR. God luv ya.

funny Mango.

do you iron towels?

I likey!!!

One of my favorite science fiction and comedic series is the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Here is what the Hitchhiker's Guide has to say about towels...

A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar
hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap
it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta;
you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V,
inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars
which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a
miniraft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand
combat; wrap it around you head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the
gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mind-bogglingly stupid
animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you--daft as a
brush, but very very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as
a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it it it still
seems to be clean enough.
More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some
reason, if a strag (strag means a non-hitchhiker) discovers that a
hitchhiker has a towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is
also in possession of a toothbrush, washcloth, soap, tin of biscuits,
flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet-weather gear, space
suit, etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitchhiker
any of these or a dozen other items that the hitchhiker might have
"accidentally" lost. What the strag will think is that any man who can
hitch the length and breadth of the Galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle
against terrible odds, win through and still know where his towel is, is
clearly a man to be reckoned with.

One of my favorite science fiction and comedic series is the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Here is what the Hitchhiker's Guide has to say about towels...

A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar
hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap
it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta;
you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V,
inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars
which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a
miniraft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand
combat; wrap it around you head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the
gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mind-bogglingly stupid
animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you--daft as a
brush, but very very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as
a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it it it still
seems to be clean enough.
More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some
reason, if a strag (strag means a non-hitchhiker) discovers that a
hitchhiker has a towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is
also in possession of a toothbrush, washcloth, soap, tin of biscuits,
flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet-weather gear, space
suit, etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitchhiker
any of these or a dozen other items that the hitchhiker might have
"accidentally" lost. What the strag will think is that any man who can
hitch the length and breadth of the Galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle
against terrible odds, win through and still know where his towel is, is
clearly a man to be reckoned with.

FAbulous~~~

Is there is a straggett? However, I might be in between. I have a toothbrush, wash cloth, soap, flask....and, that's about it. Sweet Pea is a biscuit eater, so I'll have to ask for someone to share.....and as far as wet weather gear, it's probably better to seek cover, under the towel....been done before. I covet a space suit. ;-)

DtI--I love it!!

LuLu--you drunk?

I love the ones I get from The Company Store.
They have sales some times too. They don't get that worn out, faded look either.

what an awesome thread! who knew towels were so interesting?

I love everyone's suggestions. JR - I'll take a look. DD - I need all new towels. I started to replace all my different towels with a basic fluffy white - bought a few of the whites to try them out. They are fine, but I think I need to shop around a bit first.

my absolute favorite towels are the smallish, not too thick or fluffy, old and really worn, kind of thin but not threadbare, all faded out. they are just so easy and comfy to me.. they don't look so good though. so they end up as cleaning rags.

Consumer Reports is your friend when shopping for towels. Be aware that many towel manufacturers spray chemicals on the towels before hitting the store shelves, making the towels feel soft and cozy. That chemical supposedly washes off in a couple of washes, and guess what -- no more soft and cozy.

Consumer Reports is your friend when shopping for towels. Be aware that many towel manufacturers spray chemicals on the towels before hitting the store shelves, making the towels feel soft and cozy. That chemical supposedly washes off in a couple of washes, and guess what -- no more soft and cozy.

yes, I've experienced this a number of times with new towels. so what to do? you gotta add some more chemicals via Downey softener added to the wash - just a tad will do. really.

yes, I've experienced this a number of times with new towels. so what to do? you gotta add some more chemicals via Downey softener added to the wash - just a tad will do. really.

No, no, no. That doesn't work. Fabric softeners will indeed add a softness, but they also add a water repellent, making the towels not absorb the water. You can counter that by adding vinegar to the wash, but that also will take away any softness which the fabric softener adds, thus defeating the purpose of the softener.

Instead, you can simply avoid buying any of those trash towels (I believe Ralph Lauren was on that list too) which have the chemical added. I would think that Consumer Reports would carry a list of the best towels, and maybe even publish which ones to avoid. ;-)

Wow. Who knew a towel discussion could be so informative?
SJ/Toots--I too have experienced the lack of fluffiness on new towels after a couple of washes. And the whole fabric softener thing making them oh so less absorbent is maddening. I will check out Consumer Reports for sure. Thanks, SJ.

I use fabric softener on my bath towels (I use one for my hair and one for me, so absorbency is a non-issue) so they are snuggly, but not on my kitchen or cleaning towels so they absorb more.

If consumer reports doesn't have it, here are some tips to towel shopping per GoodHousekeeping.com:

Towel shopping is a tactile endeavor, but little can be determined by touch alone. Here are tips for finding high-quality towels — and avoiding softness scams.

• Don't judge a towel by its in-store softness. Most manufacturers add softeners to the finish so towels will feel nice and velvety in the store. After a few washings, you may end up with a rougher towel than you had bargained for.

• For enduring coziness, check the tag for 100% combed cotton. Cotton fibers naturally attract water, and can hold almost 25 times its weight in the liquid. Combed cotton ensures that the shorter threads have been removed, keeping the towel strong and preventing pilling.
• Inspect the stitch for thick, tightly packed loops. The denser the loops, the more absorbent your towel will be. If you can see the base of the towel, it's bunk.
• Don't just twiddle the towel on the shelf — pick it up! A high-quality towel will feel heavier than it looks, proving that it's packing more volume for absorbency.
• Double-turned edges with double stitching are the key to durability. This reinforcement reduces fraying, which will give your towels a long, thirsty life.

Also from Good Housekeeping:Towel reviews and recommendations
Kohl's Sonoma brand ($11.99 for a bath towel): In GH Research Institute tests, this towel earned a perfect score for fade resistance, and the fabric looked the nicest at the end of the test.

Niki Home D?cor Classics from walmart.com ($22.96 for a set of six: two bath towels, hand towels, and washcloths): Even after undergoing rigorous testing, this towel looked good as new.

Lands' End Super Supima Cotton ($16): In GH Research Institute tests, the catalog choice kept "almost like new" appearance after 25 washes.

JC Penney Home ($7.99): This budget beauty kept its size and shape after repeated laundry cycles.

... and some towel care from goodhousekeeping.com:

• Read the care label before you wash. Machine wash on the hottest temperature-setting recommended, with similar colors.
• If it says no chlorine bleach, don't use it! Even some white towels have a finish that should not be bleached. Bleach may weaken the fibers over time and make towels less absorbent.
• Forget the fabric softener. Although everyone loves snuggly towels, dryer sheets and liquid softener add a coating that inhibits absorption.
• Maintain fullness organically by fluffing, or shaking out, washed towels before placing in the dryer and fluffing again upon removal.
• If your towels are pilling, try a lint roller or wrap tape around your hand (sticky side up) and press over the towels to lift the balls. Also be sure to clean the lint filter in your dryer after every use. Heloise's hint: Place a large piece of nylon netting in the dryer along with the towels. The netting will tumble against them, causing the fuzz balls to fall off.

No fabric softener.....eva!

So why do towels get dirty if they are used only to dry off water from a freshly cleaned body? Makes me wonder if those fancy soaps and bath products are really doing the job.

I use fabric softener on my bath towels (I use one for my hair and one for me, so absorbency is a non-issue) so they are snuggly, but not on my kitchen or cleaning towels so they absorb more.

I would NEVER wash towels, sheets, and nearly anything without softener! I love that stuff. but I don't use much due to chemical content. I have never had a problem with absorbency - but I have bought some pretty plush towels that seemed like they would be wonderful but just were not - not absorbent, and just too heavy for easy use, at least for me. They go live in the guest bath closet. sorry guests.

I adore liquid softener. but I was once told by the guy who fixed my dryer that the sheets cause build up somewhere in the dryer and is the number one cause of problems that he deals with. that wasn't my problem then because I never use them.

Dryer sheets are bad for your dryer?

I know it goobies up the vent filter, so I scrub it with my toothbrush before I throw it out to improve performance.