Linen bath towels- tell me more

[Hilltopmom]

In a thread awhile ago discussing Turkish towels, linen ones came up.

I’m intrigued by this- I hate wet smelly towels.

Who uses them here? Favorite ones?

thanks 

[skimomma]

I am all ears!  I have some in a cart but just cannot seem to commit to the steep cost.

[Carol in Cal.]

The thing about linen is that it is extremely absorbent so a thin linen cloth can absorb a lot of water, but since it is thin it also tends to dry quickly.

What people don’t understand about linen is that if you iron it, a lot of that absorbency is lost until you wash it again.  This is because structurally linen is basically a bunch of little tubes.  Think, straws, loosely wound together and then woven into fabric.  Ironing squishes the center holes in the little straws, so there is much less of the capillary action and physical space for liquid to be absorbed with and into.  

Incidentally, if you iron creates into linen, which a lot of people do to get crisply folded linen napkins, for example, you will eventually create holes along the fold lines.  It’s like creasing straws—they are a bit flexible, but creasing them would break them.

[J-rap]

Can someone recommend a particular brand of this type of towel?

[skimomma]

3 hours ago, Carol in Cal. said:

The thing about linen is that it is extremely absorbent so a thin linen cloth can absorb a lot of water, but since it is thin it also tends to dry quickly.

What people don’t understand about linen is that if you iron it, a lot of that absorbency is lost until you wash it again.  This is because structurally linen is basically a bunch of little tubes.  Think, straws, loosely wound together and then woven into fabric.  Ironing squishes the center holes in the little straws, so there is much less of the capillary action and physical space for liquid to be absorbed with and into.  

Incidentally, if you iron creates into linen, which a lot of people do to get crisply folded linen napkins, for example, you will eventually create holes along the fold lines.  It’s like creasing straws—they are a bit flexible, but creasing them would break them.

What is this "ironing" thing you speak of?  

This will absolutely not be a problem for me!  Ha ha!

[Kareni]

7 hours ago, J-rap said:

Can someone recommend a particular brand of this type of towel?

This was posted on another thread.

On 12/6/2021 at 9:58 AM, Corraleno said:

I have flat-weave towels that are similar to Turkish towels except made of linen and without fringe. I bought them from this seller on Etsy, although there are tons of other people on there selling linen towels. They're not cheap, but they're extremely absorbent, dry super quickly, and I expect the ones I have to last my lifetime (if not longer). I've read that linen is naturally anti-bacterial; I don't know if there's any science behind that, but it's true that my linen towels never stink — not even when DS leaves a damp towel in a crumpled heap on his floor for several days. I will never go back to terry cloth towels, and it kind of amazes me that they ever became the standard when they get smelly and ratty so quickly and aren't nearly as absorbent as Turkish and linen towels.

Regards,

Kareni

[Corraleno]

The seller that I bought my towels from several years ago is the one I posted in the previous thread (that Kareni linked above), but the shop had a different name when I bought them and they no longer have the same towels that I bought. 

This seller has the exact towels I bought, and she also has 31K+ sales and 5-star reviews, so I'd be happy to buy from her if I wanted more towels to match mine. [ETA: I just ordered an XL bath sheet from this seller for my 6'7" son, so I'll let you know what I think when I get it.)

There are tons of other sellers on etsy now that sell linen towels, many of them in Eastern Europe (which is where my towels came from). I'd just look closely at the texture in the seller's photos, and make sure they don't look too much like burlap. Mine are a heavyweight material (like thicker than a linen sheet) but also a fairly loose weave, so they're super absorbent and dry fast. What Carol mentioned about not ironing linen is really interesting, because I've bought inexpensive linen dish towels off Amazon that seem to have been heavily pressed and they are stiff and not very absorbent compared to the bath towels. I haven't had any problem with pilling or lint with the towels. If you're unsure about spending the money, maybe you can order a smallish towel to see if you like it, and then order a set if you do?

This is a photo of the exact fabric of the towels I have, to give you an idea of the texture:

Edited December 18, 2021 by Corraleno

[Hilltopmom]

Thank you!!

As historical re enactors, I have linen clothing that I do sometimes use to dry off with at events 😂 

I think I’ll try one of those you linked, thank you!