Why Turkish Towels Beat Terry Cloth Towels
At $20 per towel, you might be asking what’s so special about a Turkish towel? Let’s just say the answer is…everything. From how they’re made. Think sustainable. To how they dry. Quickly and with less need for laundering. To who your purchase supports. Aegean cotton growers and family textile weavers who have been at their craft for centuries.
Why we love Turkish towels:
Turkish long‑staple cotton fibers expand when they contact water, drinking it up in a single pass but releasing it quickly while hanging. You get the absorption of a spa towel without the soggy dampness of a Terry cloth towel.
When the time comes to launder Turkish towels, they take up much less space in the washer and much less time in the dryer. Truly, there’s very little reason not to hang your Turkish towels to dry, but you’ll lose us at hand washing. Cold water. Quick wash is our style.
A Turkish towel will get softer and more absorbent the more you use it—you get to skip the fabric softener in the wash. Actually, you must skip the fabric softener. Just say no to fabric softener.
Weighing roughly 8 ounces, a beach sized Turkish towel packs to the size of a paperback—ideal for beach days, yoga class, or any type of travel where you want to pack light.
And, our favorite thing about Turkish towels thanks to being 10 out of 10 bothered by sandy towels, the flat weave means you can brush sand right off of your towel. A few shakes and it’s like you were never at the beach.
Why don’t love Terry Cloth beach and bath towels:
Weighing in at 20 ounces each, Terry cloth towels get bulky quickly, hogging space in bag or closet.
Slow drying. So slow that reusing a Terry towel before the thick loops have fully dried typically leads to trapped moisture, encouraging mildew to grow. No one has time to deal with smelly towels.
Whereas repeated washings make Turkish towels softer and more absorbent, expect the opposite to happen to Terry Cloth towels. Within a few washings, the short cotton fibers of Terry cloth fray, shred and shrink. And this is why people resort to fabric softener to get a comfortable towel. Sounds reasonable until you realize that fabric softeners are just leaving a waxy chemical film on your otherwise rough and stiff towel. Here’s the thing—waxy towels aren’t absorbent. And chemically treated towels just aren’t the vibe for hot girl summer.
Terry cloth towels are so much heavier and heavy fabric takes longer in the washer and dryer, wasting water, electricity, and time. You could air dry Terry Cloth towels to conserve energy but you can’t air dry fabrics that have been treated with fabric softeners. Yup, fabric softeners need high heat to activate. White vinegar helps soften line dried Terry Cloth but trust us, get the Turkish towel and skip the steps and time waiting.
Here’s our final reasoning for choosing Turkish bath and beach towels: Would we wear a Terry Cloth towel out and about or leave one on the couch? Not without having really bad day that can’t be explained. But a Turkish towel makes a cute sarong. Or a big scarf if we’re cold at the beach. Need a light summer throw blanket on movie night? Hello Turkish towel.
Why are Turkish towels better than Terry Cloth towels? Because everything.