Best Product’s Melanie Yates included Cariloha bath towels in her article “10 Best Bath Towels for a Spa-Like Upgrade that You Deserve”. She specifically highlights Cariloha as being the best bath towel made of eco-friendly viscose from bamboo. Best Products receives more than 1.1 million unique monthly visitors with syndication to MSN and MSN Canada.
10 Best Bath Towels for a Spa-Like Upgrade that You Deserve
By Melanie Yates
We weigh in on their absorbency, softness, quick-drying ability, and durability.
Bath towels are everyday necessities that you’re likely to have in your bathroom rotation for years to come, so why skimp on quality?
Whether you’re looking for the softest towels that money can buy or just a few basic sets on the cheap, there are plenty of high-quality towels on the market within virtually any budget.
What to Consider
The main thing to consider when shopping for new bath towels is that there will be some change in texture over time. Still, a well-made towel is crafted to withstand daily use and frequent washing, maintaining a soft feel and pleasing texture that can last for years.
Following the care instructions on your towel’s tag can help prolong its cushy feel, and there are also a few clever tips and tricks out there to help keep them feeling fluffy. But even with a lot of care, no towel stays as silky-soft as its first use forever. When your towels begin to start losing their softness and absorbency, that’s when you’ll know that it’s time to replace them.
This is why testing bath towels in-house and critiquing their feel and performance first-hand is so important to us. A super soft towel that drastically deteriorates in feel and quality after just a few washes is not one that’s worth spending your money on. All of the towels on this list were evaluated after at least 3 weeks of use based on the same general criteria:
Absorbency: Do you feel thoroughly dried off after using it?
Softness: Does the towel feel more plush or rough?
Weight: Does the towel have a light or heavy pile?
Durability: Does the towel maintain its original feel after several washes?
We also noted how a towel’s GSM (grams per square meter) impacted its softness, weight, and overall performance. A high GSM of 620 or above denotes a fluffier and denser towel, though it might (but not always) be heavier and take longer to dry. A GSM below 620 might be rougher in texture, but also more lightweight and quicker to dry.
After weeks of toweling off, laundering, and toweling off again, we’ve compiled our list of the 10 best bath towels that have exceptional softness, absorbency, and durability. These bath linens of all budgets will help you clean up nicely.
Best Bamboo Towel
Cariloha’s Bamboo Towels are so soft, they’re almost silky. Woven from bamboo-derived viscose, they have a smoother feel than your average terrycloth towel.
The towel’s 600 GSM weight is certainly plush, but not heavy at all. The material feels gentle on the skin, and though the towel isn’t exceptionally absorbent, it does dry quickly. Unfortunately, we did find through testing that multiple washes impacted the silkiness, and they began to roughen up after close to 2 months of regular use.
The Cariloha Bamboo Towels are available in a set for $49 and come in six different colors.
Because there’s a lot of towel terminology to take in, allow us to demystify some of the most key textile terms before you start adding-to-cart:
WHAT DOES THE TOWEL’S GSM NUMBER MEAN?
The GSM denotes the grams per meter of a material. If you’re looking for the fluffiest towels possible, then you may want to hone in on picks that have a GSM of 620 or more. The higher the number, the more dense the material, so you’ll get that nice and soft feel, though the towel itself may be heavier and take longer to dry.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BATH TOWEL AND A BATH SHEET?
Bath sheets are simply larger bath towels, and are used to towel off post-shower in exactly the same way. Folks who find that an average-sized 56×30-inch bath towel is a little too small may be more comfortable using a larger 70×40-inch bath sheet. Just keep in mind that because they have slightly more material, bath sheets also tend to be a little more expensive than bath towels.
WHAT ARE THOSE LITTLE BLEACH SPOTS THAT SHOW UP ON TOWELS AFTER WASHING THEM?
Certain ingredients in skincare products (like benzoyl peroxide) have a tendency to leave spots on colored linens. If you suspect this may be an issue when buying top-of-the-line towels, opt for white to be on the safe side.
Read more from Best Products here.