Article 02 — Towels
Five things to check on a towel before you pay
A towel is judged wet, but you buy it dry. Five checks that tell you in the shop how it will behave at home.
Every towel feels good in a shop. It is dry and folded, and often coated in softener so it feels like a cloud under your hand. That coating is the first thing that fools a buyer: it sits on the loops and makes them push water about instead of drinking it, until it has been washed out a few times.
So judge a towel by what the softener cannot fake.
What to look for
Weigh it in your hands.
A towel's weight is given in grams to the square metre, GSM. Around 400 is light and dries fast: good for the gym, the kitchen, a humid house. 500 to 600 is the everyday bath towel. Past 700 it is plush, thick, and slow to dry in the monsoon. Heavier is not always better; it is only heavier.
Look closely at the loops.
They should stand close and even, with no bald patches, and spring back when pressed. Pull one gently: a loop that comes out as a long thread with little effort will snag in the wash.
Rub it, then look at your palm.
A little lint from a new towel is normal. A palm covered in fluff means short fibre, and a towel that will go on shedding and thinning.
Ask for a drop of water.
If the shop will let you, put a drop on the pile. On a good towel it disappears into the loops in a second or two. If it sits there as a bead, the towel is coated in softener or silicone, and it will drink properly only after it has been washed a few times.
Turn it over and look at the edges.
The short ends should be turned twice and stitched close, with no raw threads. The long sides should be a firm woven edge. A towel is thrown away at its edge long before its loops wear out.
The words on the label
Combed means the short fibres were combed out before spinning: softer, stronger, less lint. Ring-spun means the yarn was twisted tightly into a smooth, strong thread. Low-twist or zero-twist yarn has little or no twist: loftier and softer, but its loops pull out more easily. Egyptian and Pima name long-fibre Cottons; the name alone promises nothing, so ask how much of the towel is actually that Cotton.
When it comes home
Wash it before you use it, and leave out the fabric softener: softener coats the loops the same way the shop's finish did. A cup of white vinegar in the rinse, now and then, clears what builds up.
Ask the seller
SKYDROTo take to the shop
Five things to check on a towel before you pay
Look for
Ask
Tick them off at the counter — ours, or anyone's.
What we do
Our towels are Combed Cotton at 600 GSM(LO), spun with a low twist(LO), hemmed twice at both ends(LO). Towels are usually washed once before they leave us. Wash one again before you judge it. We dye to the record, so the new towels match. The towels page has every size, and how many a home or a hotel needs.
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