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mrsalvo

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Needing to buy some new bath and hand towels. I've been looking around for good quality, something that is not likely to wear out or fray at the edges after 5 washes. I prefer light colored or white so I can bleach when necessary. Does anyone have any recommendations as to where to buy really good towels that will hold up over time? The old saying "you get what you pay for" rang true the last time I bought towels, they didn't even make it through 3 washes and they fell apart. These would be for everyday use. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
 
Sam's Club has fantastic bath towels at a good price in the Atlanta area.  Not sure if they are offered in your area.  They are kinda pricey but it is obvious they would last for a very long time.

 

If you are looking to save money and get good towels...Walmart has the Better Homes and Garden brand towels that are in my opinion very good for the price.  I was in the mood to get mix matched bath towels and bought 12 in different dark colors.  I decided to buy 3 of the "Mainstay" brand (also at Walmart)  to see how they compared.  I would say after about 20 "Sanitary Washes" the Better Homes and Garden towels are great.  They have not even began to fade in color.  The "Mainstay" brand have not faded but seem to be getting "thinner".  I think most of the dryer lint that I get is from the Mainstay brand. 

 

New towels and sheets are fun!
 
This wouldn't be AW.org if someone didn't suggest th

...but you might think about heading to the thrift store, and finding some nice, older towels that were US made AND were made to last longer than a paper towel. I've gotten really good service out of such towels--some have easily outlasted a brand new towel. Although I will say I've never bought anything better than a new Target house brand towel.
 
On further thought

Although I will admit that I have gotten good use out of a couple of Target towels, which I think I got about 2008. One is still intact, and the other does have a hole (which may or may not be the towel's fault. I think the spot was weakened by something else, and the Shredmore probably didn't help). Both were fairly cheap--not rock bottom, but far from the most expensive towel in the store.

Then, again, I haven't been as happy with Target quality the last 5 years as I once was.

I am also now wondering what sort of towels the school provided my jr. high PE classes. I wasn't as conscious of towel quality then, but, as I think back, those things seemed indestructible. I very seldom saw one with any wear whatever. Of course, they were tiny, and only slightly softer than sandpaper.
 
My longest lasting towels

within the past few years have been Target Home brand, and "bloom". Both made in India.
Moderately priced, about 8 dollars each.
Before that, I bought bamboo/cotton blend towels, and they also lasted at least two years.
Of course, if you want to spend more, yes Fieldcrest are probably the best.
It's a towel. I don't wear it. I realize they may be part of a bath décor. Buy a few decorator towels then, and only use them for that purpose.
 
quality vs price vs store.....

many questions to answer on something like this......

not always about buying the best, as if there really is one, your just looking to get the best value and longevity for your dollar.....you could shop Macy's and pay a higher price than Walmart for the same item, some people swear one company will make two different products for two separate stores, come back to reality folks!

for the most part, Target and Walmart have decent towels that last, I go for the mid-priced versions, I get three colors, one for each bathroom, but if the white can hold up to hot washes with bleach, you know the rest will do fine....and seem to puff up more after a few washes, plus those first few will produce a heck of a lot of lint in the dryer...

I have bought the super thick expensive towels, these are for looks only, they don't absorb anything off of you....

sizes are based on your needs, or personal size, a standard towel may work for some, others may prefer a bath sheet, which again come in bigger sizes, its a matter of fits you best....

good luck, and keep us posted as to what you select
 
I have the Sam's Club towels Brent mentioned above. They've held up for many, many trips through the washer, are quite thick, and absorb well. Find a friend with a membership and check them out. Price is very reasonable. Mine are white and get bleached regularly.

Don't get the cheap ones bundled together that say 'hotel quality'. They are pretty thin and smaller compared to the good ones.

frigilux++8-23-2016-08-04-29.jpg
 
I recently bought some bleachable towels from Sears/Kmart online.  They are Cannon...but I don't care what they say, they still faded out and have lighter patches on them.  Doesn't really matter.  I just got tired of all white.  I'll eventually run these through a White Out wash and they will lighten out as far as they will go.  But the quality of the towels is really good.  Not too thick, not too thin.
 
another vote for JCPenney, if they are on sale, some very good prices and quality. They have been using towels and sales on them as a loss leader to bring people into the store.
 
I used to by all of my towels from JCPenny.  We had an outlet store near me and the prices were dirt cheap!  I was so sad when it closed.

 

 
 
Use Breeze detergent and you can get towels for free. Canon towels were packed in boxes of Breeze detergent in the 1950's and 60's. The quality was awful and so was the detergent, or at least that was what my mom thought and said only not in those terms exactly. Gary
 
I bought two sets of Macy's brand best towels 3 yrs. ago. They are very disappointing. I colors have faded quite a bit from their original colors and there are many areas where there are long pieces of the terry cloth loops that peridically need to be cut off. I won't be buying Macy's towels again. However, about 20 years ago we bought 5 sets of towels from Target, their best Target brand at the time. We are still using 4 of these sets. There have worn like iron and faded very little considering they've had 20+ years of laundering. I would gladly buy Target brand towels again.

Two years ago we had a $100 gift certificate for Restoration Hardware. You can't get much for $100 at RH, so we purchased a set of their towels. While they are very thick and heavy weight, but they don't dry you off very well, they are so heavy its difficult to get them to balance unless I use a low speed spin and they began to fade very quickly. We put them in the back of the linen closet and we don't use them at all anymore.

Also, I find it curious that almost without exception, the laundering label on almost all new towels recommends washing them in COLD water! Serioulsy, how the hell do you get bath towels really clean in cold water? Maybe thats why I've had poor performance from the newer towels I've purchased, because I always wash them In hot water, and I intend to continue to do so.
Eddie
 
Cold water wash...

Eddie,

 

I bet most people follow that advice.  YUCK!

 

 
 
Yes

So many have been brain-washed into believing cold water washing of laundry is just as effective as hot or warm. If that's so why aren't we being told the same as to washing our dishes? When was the last time you hand washed dishes in cold water? And automatic dish washers are still made to use hot water to effectively clean dishes.
 
I have some cool towels from Target, but they aren't great quality. IKEA used to have sandpaper bath towels. My Bloomingdale's and Marshall Field's towels have held up pretty well, obviously both are Macy's now.
 
that thought always gets me....

you buy an HE machine, and wash in cold or dubbed cooler temps.....WHY?

what is the most your going to use, even on HOT only, 2 or 3 gallons?....the rest is all cold rinses......

I was thrilled to get an HE FLer, washing in HOT didn't drain my tank, or cost a fortune to heat that little bit of water....even better, was a WARM/WARM option....

better cleaning, no mold/mildew issues, not to mention less detergent/softener needed....less chance of bearing/seal failure

I have to ask, who's saving more, cold washes, or replacement/repair of your machine?

but that's my 2 cents....
 

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