How to Choose the Best Cotton Bath Towels

Whether you’re taking a long bath or enjoying an invigorating shower, your choice of towels makes all the difference. Luxury cotton bath towels offer a sumptuous feel, quick dry time, and comfort that lasts wash after wash. They also help transform your bathroom into a spa-like retreat. From classic stripes to playful animal illustrations, you’ll find a wide array of styles and colors to suit your home.

When shopping for quality towels, pay attention to the material and construction method, as well as the size and shape. The most luxurious towels are woven from high-quality cotton and made to be incredibly soft, with absorbency at the top of the list. These types of towels tend to be a bit more expensive than the typical bath towel, but they will provide you with years of enjoyment.

Aside from being plush and soft, the best bath towels are woven with a material that resists pilling, fraying, and fading. Look for a tag that says “combed or ring spun,” which means that the cotton has been cleaned and sorted to remove impurities, then twisted or spun into smooth, stronger threads. This type of cotton is often described as “long-staple” or “extra-long staple” (ELS) because it has longer fibers than standard cotton and can be spun more tightly for a softer, stronger fabric.

You should also check the towel’s weight in grams per square meter, or GSM, which indicates how thick and dense the towel is. A higher GSM usually indicates a better-quality towel. When choosing a bath towel, aim for 600 GSM or higher.

During our testing process, we used a number of different cotton bath towels, including those crafted from Egyptian and Turkish cotton. Both types of cotton are highly absorbent, but they have some differences. Egyptian cotton towels have a longer staple length than other cotton and are known for getting softer over time. They are also more resistant to tearing and fading than other types of cotton towels.

On the other hand, Turkish cotton towels have a shorter staple length than Egyptian cotton and have a slightly nubby texture. Despite their rougher appearance, Turkish towels are still very soft and quick-drying. DEIA Living is one of our favorites for its combination of softness, fast dry time, and durability. It’s crafted from OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certified cotton, which is free of harsh chemicals and safe for all members of the family to use.

In our tests, this bath towel was the quickest to dry and held up the best during washing. However, it does release a lot of lint in the dryer after the first few washes, and we found it to be more bulky than some of our other picks. That being said, it’s soft and plush with a sleek, lightweight feel, and it’s available in a larger bath sheet size for more coverage. It also carries Target’s generous return policy and is a great value for the price.