The 4 Best Bath Towels

Material: 100% Turkish Cotton | Included: 2 Wash Cloths, 2 Hand Towels, 2 Bath Towels

The Hammam Linen 100% Cotton 6-Piece Set features all the desirable traits of the ideal bath towel set — cozy, soft, absorbent, and also quick-drying. These towels showed no wear during our test period, which bodes well for their long-term durability. The fibers are shaggy and soft but not so thick that the towel feels heavy; we appreciated the airiness of the lightweight, thin material. The washcloths and hand towels dried our hands without leaving a drop, and had no trouble absorbing water off bathroom counters. Their ability to dry quickly is a huge plus, especially with frequently used hand towels. These perform and feel like a much more costly set, so we were pleasantly surprised by their affordable price tag.

Though the Hammam set was the fastest drying set we encountered, it did not receive the highest marks in the softness metric. Instead, these towels shine as all-around performers, providing reasonable softness and comfort while absorbing water with ease and drying quickly. The tradeoff for the supremely comfortable, soft-as-a-cloud towel sets is that most of them took much longer to dry than these.

Material: 100% Cotton | Included: 2 Wash Cloths, 2 Hand Towels, 2 Bath Towels

The Amazon Basics 6-Piece Fade-Resistant Towel Set is the ultimate budget option. They're not outstanding in any particular metric, but they get the job done for an affordable price. These come in a plethora of set configurations and color options; bath sheets, bath towels, washcloths, or hand towels — any combination seems available. Additionally, the Amazon Basics towels were fairly absorbent compared to some of the more luxurious options out there.

The downside to this set is the towels' overall feel, which was underwhelming to our tactile senses. They also did not soften up with laundering; in fact, they became stiffer and even a bit rough out of the wash. We found towels made with either Turkish or Egyptian cotton much softer. If comfort is not your top priority, these towels work well at absorbing water and are entirely functional. This set is our recommendation for those on the tightest of budgets.

Material: 100% Turkish Cotton | Included: 2 Wash Cloths, 2 Hand Towels, 2 Bath Towels

Don't be fooled by the name of this towel set — the American Soft Linen 6-Piece Set is actually made with 100% Turkish cotton, and it shows. Although not our favorite (due to slower drying times and lower absorption rates), the American Soft Linen set is incredibly comfortable and soft while still showing respectable absorption capabilities. This towel set earned a place as one of our top picks because it has some of the softest towels we tested, and it's a great overall option.

Unfortunately, these towels take quite a while to dry. We hung them out in the dry desert air for 90 minutes, and at the end of their time on the line, they were still a bit damp. Compared to other towels of similar material and size, this set held onto water longer than we'd have liked. Also, these towels showed a few minor signs of unraveling early in the testing process.

Material: 100% Turkish Cotton | Included: 4 Bath Towels

Nothing compares to the softness that the Chakir Turkish Linens Luxury 100% Cotton Premium Towels delivered in our tests. Wrapping yourself up in one of these towels is like being hugged by a teddy bear or swaddled in a blanket as an infant. This towel set is seemingly unbeatable in terms of comfort and softness. The tight-knit threads and thick weave provide a cozy, dense, borderline blanket-like feel. This towel can't be beaten after a hot bath on a self-care day or on those cold days when you need some extra plushness.

Of course, all this plush, cozy goodness must come with a downside — you can't win them all, right? A much longer drying time is the drawback to such a thick, warm towel. During our 90-minute drying test, the Chakir Linens towels were still quite damp, especially compared to lighter-weight towels in this review. Another small issue with this set is that it only comes in a 4-piece option that excludes hand towels or washcloths.

Material: 100% Turkish Cotton | Included: 2 Wash Cloths, 2 Hand Towels, 2 Bath Towels

Though it didn't receive any awards, this set deserves a notable mention due to its overall high scores across the board. The Cotton Paradise 6-piece Turkish Set is up there with the best Turkish cotton towels in this review. These towels' absorption rates, softness, and relatively fast drying time make them a great option, but their best attributes are, by and large, their comfort and softness.

The Cotton Paradise Set is fairly solid across the board. In this sense, these towels are average in every way — neither poor nor outstanding. We noticed this set is just a little thinner than other Turkish cotton options we tested, which detracts from their overall softness.

Material: 100% Premium Long-Staple Combed Cotton | Included: 2 Wash Cloths, 2 Hand Towels, 2 Bath Towels

Before even taking them out of the box, we could tell that the Superior Egyptian Cotton Solid Towel Set came with some seriously fluffy towels because they came in a package double the size of other sets we tested. After unboxing them and using them, we were impressed by their lofty, fluffy, soft material. The Superior towel set is for those who want a spa vibe for their home bathroom.

The tradeoff with such fluffy comfort is a painfully slow dry time. Of all the towels in this review, the Superior Set ranks among the slowest to dry. If you live in a warmer climate, the thick, cushiony feeling will likely be overkill, and a lighter-weight towel is a more viable choice. However, if you're the type who likes to wrap up in a blanket-like towel, you'll benefit from this option. This is especially true when you step out of the shower on a cold winter day.

Material: 100% Cotton | Included: 4 Wash Cloths, 2 Hand Towels, 2 Bath Towels

The White Classic Luxury 8-Piece Set is an average towel set with a few exceptional qualities. For one, it's very affordable, falling in the middle of the pack in terms of price. Second, it is very durable. We saw no signs of shedding or unraveling during our testing period. These towels gave a middle-of-the-road performance in other ways, being somewhat absorbent and taking an average time to dry. Although they weren't entirely dry by the end of our 90-minute test, they came close.

The most notable drawback is the texture. We found this set to be rather rough, scratchy, and less than pleasant on the skin. The discomfort was most noticeable in the bath towels, whereas the washcloths and hand towels tended to stay softer throughout testing. We also found that the rough texture and stiff feel worsened with washing.

Material: 100% Cotton | Included: 2 Wash Cloths, 2 Hand Towels, 2 Bath Towels

Our least favorite model is the Utopia Set. Although these towels fell short in our metric comparisons, they are still fully functional. They came in last place mainly because their texture was a bit off-putting, and they lacked the suppleness of our favorite sets.

These towels took a surprisingly long time to dry, especially considering their thin material. Lastly, they lacked durability — we noticed unraveling seams and stray threads almost immediately after their first use. On the plus side, the Utopia set is reasonably absorbent.

Why Trust GearLab

We kicked off this review with hours of online research, learning the ins and outs of everything towel-related. After serious consideration, we selected 8 bath towel sets to test side-by-side. After dozens of showers and loads of laundry, we felt confident highlighting our favorites for specific uses and features. We wiped down counters with washcloths, patted our faces with hand towels, and dried off after showers with bath towels to assess their absorbency, drying time, and softness levels. Plus, we noted shedding fabrics or unraveling seams to evaluate the durability of each product. After all this effort, we're ready to share the best (and worst) of our findings to help you on your journey to bath towel heaven.

Our bath towel tester Jane Jackson is excited to turn her fine-tuned, product-comparison brain away from outdoor products and apply it to the world of household goods. She has spent almost half a decade assessing the performance of technical fabrics and equipment for in-depth outdoor gear reviews. As a trained historian, Jane is no stranger to research. She applies the same attention to detail on her journey through the universe of bath towel sets as she does to examining primary documents.

Analysis and Test Results

We thoroughly tested and assessed the performance of these towel sets across several categories. We measured how they performed at their primary job of absorbing moisture off wet surfaces and drying out after use while providing comfort and softness. We assessed their softness by asking our testers, housemates, and friends to feel each towel and pick their favorite. We also tested their performance in this metric by using each towel after showering. Next, we washed all the towels in the washing machine and let them air dry to obtain a reliable drying time for each towel. To test absorbency, we wiped the water off a countertop and observed which towels quickly soaked it up and which pushed the water around. Additionally, we considered the overall impact of daily use on the durability of each product and kept an eye on unraveling seams and pilling.

Softness

This metric's results are definitely subjective, so we asked as many folks as possible to try each towel and tell us which ones they liked the most. We also used each towel after washing them and after a shower to get a read on which options felt the best against the skin. Their softness, when damp and dry, was taken into consideration. Weave, materials used, and fabric thickness all influenced this metric.

In general, the towels made with 100% Turkish cotton perform best in this metric. This is because Turkish cotton tends to have a longer staple fiber length, which adds loft and fluffiness to the towel's weave. Our top choice was the Chakir Turkish Linens. This towel is hard to beat for softness and a plush feel. Additionally, we liked the Cotton Paradise 6-Piece Turkish Set and the Hammam Linen set for their high comfort scores.

The Superior Egyptian Cotton Solid Towel Set provides the thickest, cushiest material but has a rougher feel than the Turkish options mentioned above. Both the Amazon Basics 6-Piece Fade-Resistant Set and the White Classic Luxury 8-Piece Set are made with neither Turkish nor Egyptian cotton. These towel sets feel stiffer and less soft than the other products we tested. If a soft, cushy feel is what you're after, we recommend choosing a Turkish Cotton bath towel set.

Drying Time

This metric was conducive to a standardized test where we could obtain solid numbers to rank the towels. This limited variables and personal opinions and allowed the towels to speak for themselves. We washed all 8 towel sets in the same washing machine and hung them to dry on a warm evening in arid Bishop, California. We then assessed the level of dryness of each towel in 30-minute increments. Our results were a bit all over the place and not easily summarized by cotton type. The fastest drying towel was the Hammam Linen 6-Piece Set. This towel was already semi-dry when we removed it from the washing machine and dried almost completely in 1 hour and 30 minutes. Most other towels were not dry by 90 minutes, even those made from thinner-feeling material. The Cotton Paradise Turkish Set was our runner-up in the drying test. This makes sense, as these towels received very similar scores to the Hammam Linens products in our testing.

The thicker towels, which provide softness and cushion, tended to take longer to dry. After 90 minutes on the drying line, many of these towels, like the Chakir Turkish Linens Luxury Towels and the Superior Egyptian Cotton Set, ended up with patches of wetness.

Absorbency

Sometimes when a towel gets water on it, it just beads off rather than absorbing into the material. As towel testers, we find this very annoying. This is certainly not the purpose of a towel. That is why we included this metric in our towel-testing procedures. To test absorbency, we placed a portion of each towel in water to see how well it absorbed. This metric goes hand-in-hand with our drying time metric because any towel that absorbs water must also dry out promptly. The top-scoring towels in the absorbency metric were mostly towels that fall into the “Turkish cotton” category. The Chakir Turkish Linens Luxury towels, as well as the Hammam Linen and Cotton Paradise Turkish Set, all absorbed water at an impressive rate.

Following those top contenders were the American Soft Linen Set and then the White Classic and Pizon sets. Though these two aren't made from Turkish cotton, they still have a soft, supple feel and dry easily.

Durability

We studied each towel set's seams and weave before the first wash, after the first wash, and after multiple uses. We checked to see if any of the towels unraveled or left us with bits of fabric stuck to our skin after drying off from a shower. In general, most of the towels we tested seemed to be well-made and built to last. A stand-out in this metric was the American Soft Linen 6-Piece Set, which seemed to only get better with age.

Some of the less impressive performers in this metric were also some of the plushest, softest towels in the review. The Chakir towels and the Superior Egyptian Cotton towels saw some shedding after the first wash. The Utopia Towel Set also had some shedding issues. Unfortunately, the Chakir towels had a few seams that looked like they were threatening to unravel, as did the Cotton Paradise Set. These unraveling issues are minor and in our experience, tend to resolve after a few washes.

Conclusion

We've done the dirty work to rank these towels according to their performance during our hands-on test period. We hope all of this research and documentation will guide you toward the perfect bath towel set to round out your bathroom accessories. We have used them all, from the softest, spa-like towels to the practical sets that get the job done. Hopefully, our findings will help you on the hunt for the perfect bath towel set.