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My wife wants new bath towels for Christmas. So, what are the softest, most durable, nicest towels I can get without breaking the bank? What do you have and how would you rate them?

Towels made with bamboo among the fibers are soft, soak up moisture beautifully and dry quickly. The fibers also accept colors from dyes beautifully, so the colors of the towels can be gorgeous.

You should always know where your towel is.

We've always loved the Fieldcrest Royal Velvet towels, especially the extra large (long) bath sheets, as opposed to bath towels. Unfortunately, Fieldcrest is out of business and has been for years. I just bought some Duke Blue towels at Costco. They are very thick and cushy, especially compared to our xx years old Royal Velvets, some of which were purchased in 1977 and are still in use. I think the bath towels (not bath sheets, so they are only ~56" long) were only $8 each - definitely not breaking the bank with these. The hand towels and wash cloths were sold as a set of 2 and were slightly less than the bath towel.

I'll second the bamboo suggestion. I'm having problems finding them. We gave my nephew some towels from Target that he says are ridiculously soft. It was one of the Target brands.

Go to LandsEnd.com and order a set of towels for your wife. Get them monogrammed with her initials. She will love you.

bjornolf wrote:My wife wants new bath towels for Christmas. So, what are the softest, most durable, nicest towels I can get without breaking the bank? What do you have and how would you rate them?

Bounty X-tra Soft Super Rolls. They are on sale now at my grocery store. Great deal and super soft, absorbant towels!

-EJ

P.S. Actually, good question. I don't know. I've had some really soft bath towels but they did not absorb moisture or bodily fluids very well. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

DukieInKansas wrote:I'll second the bamboo suggestion. I'm having problems finding them. We gave my nephew some towels from Target that he says are ridiculously soft. It was one of the Target brands.

DinK and DevinBlDress are absolutely correctumundo. The bamboo towels age well, too, after many drying runs.

To keep your towels absorbent, NEVER use fabric softener on them.

CathyCA wrote:Go to LandsEnd.com and order a set of towels for your wife. Get them monogrammed with her initials. She will love you.

Second. We've had Lands End towels for years and have been impressed. My wife also bought a buncha towels from JC Penney during one of the "white sales" many years ago and they have been soft and durable (NOT Do-able- ), too.

CathyCA wrote:To keep your towels absorbent, NEVER use fabric softener on them.

ARRRRRGH!!! NOW you tell us this! Is it just one brand of softener to avoid, or do they all do the same thing chemically?
PAGING Arkie!!

Lavabe wrote:

CathyCA wrote:To keep your towels absorbent, NEVER use fabric softener on them.

ARRRRRGH!!! NOW you tell us this! Is it just one brand of softener to avoid, or do they all do the same thing chemically?
PAGING Arkie!!

They coat the towel with a waxy substance that actually repels water rather than absorbing it.

The best way to get your towels soft is to put no more than 4 towels in a load. Use your regular detergent and add some Biz to the load, too. If you have hard water, you might want to soften it with a little Calgon. You might even want to put the towels through an extra rinse. Then, put the towels in the dryer and make sure they get "extra dry." Never ever fold a towel that isn't completely dry. If your towels don't get completely dry, you can hang them on hangers or towel bars, unfolded, until they get completely dry. When the towels are completely dry, you can fold them and put them away. (All of this avoids that disgusting moldy odor that so many people have in their towels.)

Your towels will be super absorbent, and you won't freeze your patootie off in the bathroom when you're drying off.

Lavabe wrote:

CathyCA wrote:To keep your towels absorbent, NEVER use fabric softener on them.

ARRRRRGH!!! NOW you tell us this! Is it just one brand of softener to avoid, or do they all do the same thing chemically?
PAGING Arkie!!

I believe that Cathy covered the answer quite well. All fabric softeners do the same thing. I'll defer to her on the washing instructions and am going to try them myself. Thanks, Cathy!

There are also these little spikey balls you can buy at WalMart and other places. You throw them in the drier with the towels instead of a drier sheet, and they work really well too.

As for the bamboo towels, we saw some in the Herrington catalog, if you're interested. http://www.herringtoncatalog.com/bamboo-towels.html Problem is, the wifey REALLY wants Hunter green (that was our old towels' colors), and apparently that color isn't "in" this year, so it's a real pain to find it.

bjornolf wrote:There are also these little spikey balls you can buy at WalMart and other places. You throw them in the drier with the towels instead of a drier sheet, and they work really well too.

As for the bamboo towels, we saw some in the Herrington catalog, if you're interested. http://www.herringtoncatalog.com/bamboo-towels.html Problem is, the wifey REALLY wants Hunter green (that was our old towels' colors), and apparently that color isn't "in" this year, so it's a real pain to find it.

Take a look at these towels which can be ordered from Bed Bath & Beyond. They are 75% cotton, 25% bamboo. The color called Cactus is very close to Hunter Green. http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product ... SKU=119827

Devil in the Blue Dress wrote:Take a look at these towels which can be ordered from Bed Bath & Beyond. They are 75% cotton, 25% bamboo. The color called Cactus is very close to Hunter Green. http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product ... SKU=119827

I have these towels and love them.

TillyGalore wrote:

Devil in the Blue Dress wrote:Take a look at these towels which can be ordered from Bed Bath & Beyond. They are 75% cotton, 25% bamboo. The color called Cactus is very close to Hunter Green. http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product ... SKU=119827

I have these towels and love them.

SWEET! Thanks. I'll look into those!

bjornolf wrote:

TillyGalore wrote:

Devil in the Blue Dress wrote:Take a look at these towels which can be ordered from Bed Bath & Beyond. They are 75% cotton, 25% bamboo. The color called Cactus is very close to Hunter Green. http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product ... SKU=119827

I have these towels and love them.

SWEET! Thanks. I'll look into those!

We aim to please.

Devil in the Blue Dress wrote:

bjornolf wrote:

TillyGalore wrote:Take a look at these towels which can be ordered from Bed Bath & Beyond. They are 75% cotton, 25% bamboo. The color called Cactus is very close to Hunter Green. http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product ... SKU=119827

I have these towels and love them.

SWEET! Thanks. I'll look into those!

We aim to please.

But they don't have Duke Blue, only that "other" color blue

I think light colors are just "in" this year. We got a very nice set of Navy ones a few years back that have faded to a nice Duke blue. ;) It's all about what's "in". What I don't get is why some places need two different shades of light green but don't have any dark green. Plus, they CALL it light blue, but look at the enlarged image of towels that color. It's nowhere near Carolina blue. It's kind of a slate blue gray color.