A good bath towel needs to be many things: absorbent, soft to the touch, quick-drying and long-lasting, standing up to machine washing and everyday wear and tear. The options can seem endless (standard, Turkish, monogrammed, waffle-weave) and tricky to assess when shopping online versus having them in hand.That’s why we did the sleuthing and scouring (and machine washing) for you, interviewing experts and researching the market to narrow down 10 top options to test out ourselves. 

The Frontgate Resort Collection Organic Bath Towel is our overall favorite, in large part for its plush feel and demonstrated durability, and we recommend three others you can also feel good about buying: the Lands’ End Premium Supima Cotton 6-piece Bath Towel Set, the Hawkins Waffle Towel and the Matouk Auberge Towel.

If you’d like to read how we vetted and tested these towels and which experts we consulted, scroll down for more detail.

This plush towel scored well in nearly every category. It’s soft, absorbent, plush and made with organic Turkish cotton.

Frontgate is known primarily for its outdoor furniture and home decor, so it surprised us that the Resort Collection Organic Bath Towels took the top spot. This one hits nearly every mark you would want in a towel. Our experts recommended we look for quality cotton, such as Turkish cotton; this one’s Turkish cotton felt exceptionally soft after three showers and five machine washes—important to note because some manufacturers add a softening finish so that the towels feel soft in the store, but will wear off after one wash.  The Frontgate towel also had no loose threads or pulled loops at any point. 

Compared to the others we tested, it didn’t absorb as much water in our tests, but it dried us off well after a shower. We also appreciated its denser feel, but there’s a tradeoff: Because it is on the thicker side, it takes longer to dry. It shrank only a negligible amount after washing and still felt sizable enough (a little over 29 by 54 inches) for most people to wrap around themselves comfortably. We also like that this towel can be personalized, with 16 monogramming options and five different colors. 

Another plus: It’s made of organic cotton. While most of the options that made our testing list are Oeko-Tex 100 certified, meaning the towel is free of certain harmful chemicals, Frontgate’s also has Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and Better Cotton Initiative certifications, both of which focus on sustainability and socially responsible manufacturing.

These towels are the sweet spot between quality and price. Their made with high quality Supima cotton which is soft and absorbent. You’ll want to buy these in a set to get the best value.

I have tested many Lands’ End products over the years, and they consistently perform well and are durable. These towels followed suit. They are made of Supima cotton, another type recommended by our expertsIt’s grown in the U.S. and is a longer fiber than standard cotton, which gives it a more luxurious feel. The Lands’ End towels’ cotton is then combed, a manufacturing process that makes the cotton feel even softer, and we noticed the difference: This towel felt soft yet not as dense as some of the others we tried out. 

This is also among the towels that shrank the least in our testing, and even after shrinking, it was one of the larger bath towels on our list, at 30 by 56 inches. It felt adequately absorbent; soaking up water after my shower without pushing it around on my body. And it held up fine throughout five washes—without shrinking significantly or looking worn out. At about $30 each, these aren’t the least expensive towels on our list, but because they performed significantly better than our lowest-price option, they offer the best value.

These lightweight waffle-weave towels dry quickly and look elegant folded, rolled or on a rack.

Previously reserved for kitchen towels, the waffle weave is now many people’s favorites for bathrooms too. The texture gives the towels an interesting structured look and an airy feel, and the style continues to grow in popularity, according to all of the experts we spoke with. 

The Hawkins version was the fastest-drying of all the towels we tested, including the non-textured towels, which is not surprising as waffle-weave fabric tends to dry faster than traditional cotton. It makes it ideal for particularly humid bathrooms or people who take frequent showers and find their current towels never completely dry or smell musty. 

Don’t be fooled by the thin fabric, lack of cotton loops and not-so-plush feel. This made us skeptical of the towel’s drying ability, but we were pleasantly surprised post-shower—it did a quality job of absorbing water. At 59 inches, it was also one of the longest waffle-weave towels we evaluated, and wrapping up in it would have felt luxurious if not for the fact that it was slightly misshapen along the edges after we washed it. This isn’t abnormal for this type of towels—waffle weaves have a stretchy nature that can lead to some unevenness from regular use—and, as a whole, its elevated look and drying performance outweighed the minor imperfection.

Stylish design meets functional performance with this towel from Matouk, that soaks up every last drop of water and looks nearly new after multiple washes. The personalized embossed initial and minimal edge binding give this towel a modern luxe look.

At first glance, we loved the Matouk Auberge towel, a favorite of Griffin’s, for its chic style—the elegant piping, a large initial emblazoned at the end. Monogramming is nothing new, but this version’s embossed lettering stands out because it’s clean and modern, and doesn’t feel rough like sewn-in embroidery.  

In our testing, the Matouk Auberge was also superior in performance. Unlike some of the other stylish versions we dried off with after showering, this one felt ultra-absorbent, like it was getting every last drop of water. It’s one of the largest bath towels we tested (30 by 60-inches) and shrank a typical amount, measuring 27 by 57-inches after washing. And while it’s not the softest of those we tried out, is it one of the thickest, with a dense pile that doesn’t look shaggy, the way lower-quality towels can. It held up extremely well after washing and drying too, continuing to look practically brand-new.

The Pottery Barn Dream towel is one of the most distinctive towels we tested, with a fiber content blend of cotton, modal and silk rather than 100% cotton like most towels. This material gives the towel a plush and cozy feel, similar to that of a fleece you might wear in the winter. It scored well for dry time and absorbency, but we ruled it out because it looked slightly clumpy after multiple washes. 

Brooklinen’s towel was the thickest in the bunch, and like the Matouk Auberge, it reminded us of one you might be given at a high-end spa. That density makes this towel highly absorbent, but on the flip side, it takes longer to dry; Matouk’s won out in this aspect. Additionally, after washing and drying it, we noticed one yarn had come loose, lowering our confidence this towel would hold up in the long run. While we’ve owned these towels in the past without issue, between the drying time and yarn pull, Matouk edged these out but the Brooklinen Super-Plush is still a good pick if you want a plush towel and don’t have concerns about the long dry time or humidity issues in your bathroom. It’s also worth noting that if something does go wrong, Brooklinen has a 365-day return policy. 

These towels from Amazon earned numerous rave reviews on the site and are the least expensive ones we tested. You can buy a six-piece set for under $35. We found them absorbent and quick-drying compared to other towels, but they felt thin and substandard versus the others. The site’s description states these are made of Turkish cotton, but they didn’t feel nearly as soft as the other Turkish cotton towels we tried out. The bottom line: They’ll do the job if you don’t want to spend a lot, but only adequately.

As the name implies, this towel has a ribbed design, which gives it a unique look from traditional towels. It stood out for its plush feel and was one of the fastest-drying we tested.  The one deal-breaker was that, post-shower, it didn’t get us as dry as we would have liked. And while we didn’t love the towel’s airy quality—it felt like drying off with cotton fluff—this is a personal preference, and some people may find it appealing.

You may recognize the Baina towel from its iconic checkerboard print. This one wasn’t quite as soft as other towels we tried—a disappointment, particularly considering its high price—but it does offer a dense pile that’s absorbent and holds up to machine-washing. 

Over the years I’ve tested and reviewed hundreds of towels, as well as other textile products including sheets, comforters and pillows. I have written extensively about products for a variety of national lifestyle publications. 

Prior to this, I worked at a textiles company developing and leading quality assurance efforts for home products like bath mats and towels. I’ve also worked at Nike, developing materials and ensuring they met high-quality standards. I have a degree in apparel and textile design and mechanical engineering. One might say I’m obsessed with fabric.   

For expert advice on what to look for in a towel, along with trends in styles and materials, we consulted two interior designers: Anthony D’Argenzio, founder and creative director of Zio and Sons studio in Hudson, N.Y., and Elaine Griffin, founder of Elaine Griffin At Home in Brunswick Georgia. Additionally, we interviewed Kathryn Reiley, Ph.D., adjunct professor, whose specialities include textiles and consumer behavior, in the College of Design at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul.

In order to choose which towels to test, we searched online, paying special attention to those that are popular among consumers and have multiple good reviews. We also considered our own brand favorites and towels that made other top lists. 

After speaking with two interior designers and one professor to get their suggestions on what to look for in a towel and what’s trending, we narrowed down, based on our textile knowledge and the experts’ advice. We ruled out towels and brands with poor user reviews and ones that we know perform poorly based on our previous testing experience with home textiles.  

We then pinpointed categories readers would be interested in, such as organic, lower-price options and on-trend textured styles like waffle weave and ribbed. We also took price into consideration, aiming for a range to suit different budgets. 

That still left a lot of good contenders, so we narrowed down further by selecting those made of high-quality materials and with more to offer than a basic version; a claim to be quick-drying or a monogramming option, for example. In the end, we landed on 10 towels to test and rated them in the following areas: 

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