Everything You Need to Know Before You Buy Turkish Towels

History of Turkish Towels

The origins of Turkish towels date to about the 7th century A.D. and entwine with the Turkish bathhouses, known as hammams. The concept of the bathhouse came, most likely, from the Romans, but they became quite popular with the Turkish and Ottoman royalty. Naturally, whatever royalty does eventually becomes ritualized in nearly every culture. Therefore, the use of hammams developed certain ceremonial customs with required accouterments. Among those items was a special towel.

A Turkish towel is a towel made in Turkey on looms with 100% Turkish cotton. Turkish towels were invented in the 17th century in Bursa, Turkey, and used in Turkish bathhouses for centuries. Known to be super absorbent when compared to traditional towels, their tightly woven cotton is typically styled in wide and narrow stripes. 

They also can be called Turkish peshtemal towels. The best Turkish towels are made with tightly woven cotton in a flat woven fabric and look as good in a trendy bath as they do on a dining room table.

Care Instructions Tips

You must wash your Turkish beach towels before you use it. It needs to be washed to become absorbent. You can also soak your towel in cool water overnight. This helps your towel become more absorbent.

Turkish beach towels air dry super quickly, so you can also hang them to dry.

Use a gentle cycle on your washing machine and low heat on the dryer. Avoid fabric softeners and dryer sheets as they gunk up the fibers making them less absorbent. Wool dryer balls are a great alternative and even help dry your towels faster and of course, avoid bleach!

The best option for travel!

Turkish beach towels are made from lightweight cotton so they roll up compactly and reduce bulk in your luggage. And they are quick-drying towels so you’re not lugging around a wet towel. Also, their versatility allows you to use it as a blanket, a scarf, or a wrap too so you can get many uses out of one item.