I have done numerous stories on bathroom towels with retro style. I usually focus on the towels’ design. But anyone who has ever used and washed a bath towel a gazillion times knows that how the towel wears — or doesn’t — is even more important, in terms of making it a household favorite, not to mention a wise expenditure. We’ve had plenty of pretty towels start to unravel, or get pilly, or rough, way too soon. I am most definitely not the princess & the pea, so this doesn’t tend to bother me. But, other family members are *sensitive* types. Which means they are constantly, and annoyingly, wanting to try other towels every year or so. This is expensive! Towels should last a lot longer than a year! So now we get to the recommendation:
The recommendation: Simply Vera Vera Wang Simply Soft towels… but…
BUT, UPDATE Oct. 23 — The family now has washed the towels and bad news, some of the towels did not hold their color. They got that blotchy rusty look in spots. Dear Husband went online and found complaints. Although, there also seems to be info that these spots are caused by face care products. For this reason — and for other key reasons — recommendation: WITHDRAWN.
Where to find the best bath towels: Buy them vintage on etsy.com or ebay or at estate sales or thrift shops
Read through all the comments and maybe like me, you will come to the conclusion that the best value in bath towels is to buy them VINTAGE. That’s right. The bath towels made in th 50s, 60s, 70s — maybe even into the 80s — seem to have been much better made. They last forever. They may be “thinner” than the plush towels today — but *plushy comfort* aside, they seem to be more absorbent. They don’t pill… again, they seem to last on and on.
Where to find them: Search etsy.com — where I usually can find a good selection, including New Old Stock. Check ebay, too. These sellers probably found these towels at estate sales and thrift shops like Goodwill or the Salvation Army. Also check with family — parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles — they might have extras (including New Old Stock they never opened) that they would be happy to give you, once you admired them.
Deb says
Many of the comments aren’t about towels purchased TODAY. Most towels now are “Made in India”. I have to buy new ones now and after purchasing 2 sets, one from Target and one from Sears, both sets have fallen apart… unstitched on the ends… within 2 months time. I was able to return them to Target. Sears wouldn’t take them back. So now I’m on the hunt for better made towels, but it seems all reviews say the same… unstitching occurs. I haven’t been able to find any Made in the USA, except one from Walmart and they were not soft at all. I cannot afford Macy’s. Are the ones made in Turkey or China any good? The sets I had in the past lasted many many years, but today’s merchandise is all imported and crap. I don’t know what I am going to do. I currently have borrowed 4 towels from my parents until I find something.
pam kueber says
Check etsy.com — lots of towels there including on occasion, New Old Stock!
Deb says
I saw that site listed and will, but I also want to check return policy because I currently have $50 of worthless towels at home. I have really had a bad time with this. The first set pilled and left dust for months as well and return any that do that again. Thank you for the tip!!!
Olde Tom says
Just went through my closet. I found a small variety of hand towels that were used over the years. All but two were made from 1980 to about 1995 by Cannon Mills. Even found a “bachelor hand towel” hiding in the back. The lone survivor from my grandmother’s gift mentioned earlier. Yeah the varied brown toned stripes look dated, but brought back a flood of memories.
I have a few “Car wash cloths” that were Made in USA. Very badly abused getting a little stained doing their jobs, but work wonderfully and still in good condition.
Only two are from overseas. A wash cloth that feels very slimy. Made in Pakistan by Calaphon. It is about two years old and very disliked by the family. Too nice to discard, so it is kept to wash our dog.
The other was a very large beach towel bought while on vacation that is about five years old. Surprisingly decent quality, being it was Made in China. It is the towel that we use to dry our greyhound after a walk in the rain or after baths. She also likes to use it like a blanket on cold winter nights.
Speaking of dogs, I read a blog where someone mentioned donating old towels to animal shelters. What a great idea!
Olde Tom says
Just thought to add that the new “1888 Mills” Made in USA towels that I’m going to buy might last me long enough until my grave.
I have mixed feelings about buying them from Walmart. On one hand, I’m disgusted since that company single handed forced the old Cannon Mills demise by buying overseas instead of buying from them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannon_Mills
On one hand it is great that they might have seen the errors of their ways and start promoting “Made in USA” again.
Guess I’ll head over these websites to get instead…
http://www.towelsbygus.com/collections/american-made-towels/products/hotel-collection-cotton-bath-towel
http://madeinusaforever.com/mabatomainus.html
Highly recommend that you invest in good quality! Well worth the price!
BTW, we NEVER use fabric softener! Low to Medium heat while they dry, about 30-45 mins. Who cares how long it may take tumbling around when your doing something else such as watching a movie on TV. Tumbling uses less electricity than the electric heaters. Low heat, less shrinkage!
We have also found that if you go to a laundry mat with a large diameter dryer, they take about half of the time to dry!
Olde Tom says
I have been told by my grandmother back in 1985 that I should buy quality stuff such as bath towels Made in USA. She was noticing that junk overseas was not durable at all. She even gave me her old sets to get me started when I moved out on my own. Admittedly, being young and dumb, I abused these gifts. Since they didn’t wear out and looked very dated, I donated them. Now I look back in fondness as she died in 1990 of the care that she has shown me with her sage advice and thoughtful gift. I delayed buying towels until 1992 when I bought JPStevens, Made in USA, from Bed & Bath. Since I couldn’t afford much, I just bought ONE each for my wife & I. It is now 2013 and we are still using these exact same towels! Yes, you read that right, THE SAME TWO TOWELS USED DAILY FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS! These two started out as “Beach towels” but ended up being used as bath towels since nothing else seemed to last at for more than a year or two.
These two started to get a little frayed recently, and the color has faded but are wonderfully soft and absorbent! Any other towels that we had bought through the years to add to our linen closet simply didn’t hold up. So when I was ready to buy “Made in USA” towels again, I couldn’t find them anywhere! Now I see that the “1888 Mills” is selling at a few places, I am definitely buying several for my house as well as for my child’s “hope chest”!
Melanie Simons-St-John says
Try nandina akhera bamboo towels
Sarah says
Oops, with some kind of product with alcohol in it***
Sarah says
Just a little tip… if you wash your body or face with some sort of alcohol in it, even some shampoos, DO NOT use your brand new COLORED towels. Have a junky towel lying around whenever you wash your hair or face. What I find is that this is one of the reasons why your towels become blotchy and bleached. Proactiv has ruined many towels, so if I don’t already use something old, I use something white.
spring says
Instead of buying more and more towels you can take two simple steps.
Here are two little tips all the way from Israel.
1. Do not use fabric softener when washing towels (or clothes for that matter, it contributes nothing to the clothes).
It’s just another way to get money out of consumers’ pockets.
Try a few times without softener and you will notice that voila, your clothes are still soft without it.
Fabric softeners make towels lose their fluffiness over time.
In addition, fabric softener is just one more thing that adds to the pollution of the environment. So why use it ?
2. Every now and then wash your towels with 1 cup of natural apple cider vinegar. It keeps them fluffy and eliminates smells.
By the way, apple cider vinegar is good for many other house hold chores. Do a little google search.
Wishing you all a wonderful day.
Shalom from Israel.
Chris says
Who knew the search for affordable quality towels would be so exhausting! Years ago, I demoted towels to the camping supply box and have recently retrieved them since they look, feel, and perform better than towels I have purchased in recent years. Royal Velvet, Martex, and Cannon towels decades later still look and perform well.
I heard the Hotel collection at Macys was worth the cost, but a former sales person told me Macys pushes Hotel because they make the most money on them. He told me Charter Club is superior and of course, they cost less. I have yet to make a choice.
Martha Stewart’s towels, I’ve heard from friends, shed and unravel.
I think I will start combing through the estate sales. Somewhere a woman “held back” a set of quality towels to use for “good.” Maybe one of us will be lucky enough to discover her treasure.
pam kueber says
Chris, it’s not too hard to find vintage. I show them on my blog whenever I see them on ebay. Also watch etsy, and estate sales. They are out there.
Barbara Kightlinger says
My Favorite Towel which I bought over 20 years ago and still holding up is Martex Algodon 100% cotton made in USA. Got them at Mervyn’s and they are still thick and don’t leave lint on your body. I hate that.
I recently bought Linden Street and Pure Perfection brand at JC Pennys to try them out. They both left lint on body and I took them back. Penny’s is very good at letting you bring back items. I had purchased two shower curtains from their catalog which I liked and decided to try the towels. I was going to try the American Living Hamilton Towels (last type they have) if that don’t work I’ m on to try to find the Martex Algodon again. I have a feeling they don’t make them anymore and you can’t find anything made in the USA anymore either. What is our country coming to, this is why so many American’s are out of work. I live in AZ and Mervyn’s is gone, Target is still there but don’t know if they carry Martex. Towel hunting really is a pain.