The Turkish Towel Revolution




Turkish towels have replaced regular bath towels at our house. Why? Because I got really tired of our bathroom smelling like a locker room at a high school with a plumbing problem. If you are throwing your towels in the machine after each use you are a better woman than I am. Plus I suspect you may not be showering as often as others wish you would.

In Memphis heat and humidity sometimes we take as many as three, yes three, showers a day in summer. Basically, if you step outside your house here in July you need another one. Sometimes I feel like I need another one before I even get out of the bathroom.

You can see why a heavy duty bath towel might struggle to dry in these conditions. Once they are damp they stay damp for a long time. Like until you wash and dry them.


Enter my quest for the Turkish bath towel. I kept hearing about them here and there. The main thing people kept commenting on was how quickly they dry. I did a little research online and placed my order. When they arrived I opened the package and they were beautiful! My husband picked one up and said: "This is a towel?"

I sensed a potential mutiny before I even finished getting them out of the package so I said: "You know how the bathroom smells?"

"Yeah."

"These are going to solve that problem."

Game over. 

Until he took a shower. He came into the kitchen where I was making a fantastic 5-course gourmet meal in full make-up with perfect hair --had you for a second, didn't I? 

"What's with these towels?"

"They are Turkish towels from Istanbul" This is the kind of exotic detail you can use to sell me anything but my husband doesn't care about adventurous textiles. Which doesn't bode well for my desire to actually go to Istanbul. Ticket for one, please. 

                                                                      

Remember when my husband was confused by my caftan revolution? 



Okay, so here's the deal. Turkish towels are not terry cloth. So they don't have all those little loopy things to hold water and it can take a minute to dry off. Imagine using a tablecloth. I'm not saying it's like that, but I'm not saying it's unlike that. Fine. It's exactly like that. But they do dry super quickly and are huge. Plus when I do pack for a trip to Turkey I'm throwing a couple in my bag to wear as scarves. 

More about what I might pack here. 

In my haste to see how they would look hanging in my bathroom, I didn't presoak them in cold water. A few days later when I got around to this it improved the absorbancy. Apparently, the cotton fibers need to bloom.

Here's the link to the towels I actually purchased, pictured. Classic Turkish Peshmetal Towels

Turkish Towel Cheatsheet:

Definitely soak them in cold water as soon as they arrive. 

Always wash in cold water to preserve the shape and color.

Do not use fabric softener on your TT. 

No worries. I think the last time I used fabric softener the royal bride was a redhead. Since getting these towels I have washed them in cold water and they didn't appear to shrink at all. The color also stayed true. And these were at the low end of the price scale. I like them so much I'll probably commit to pricier ones next time.

Have you tried Turkish towels? What did you think? What did your family think? Also, would you like to go to Istanbul?