Wrapping up in a luxuriously soft towel after a hot bath or shower is one of the best feelings in the world. A cosy selection of towels in the bathroom, is essential for any discerning home to delight both you and any guests. There are many different towelling types available; deciding which is the most luxurious and finding the best quality for your home can be difficult. Abyss & Habidecor are renowned the world over for producing some of the finest towels on the market, here The LuxPad showcases their top luxury towel buying tips to help you know what to look out for…
1. Always choose a 100% Cotton Towel
Whilst there are many other varieties and blends out there, cotton is still the best fibre for towelling as it is exceptional at absorbing water. This wonder material can hold up to 27 times its own weight in liquid and high quality raw materials are the key to luxury towelling.
2. Egyptian Cotton is Best
The climate in Egypt is arguably the best in the world for growing cotton, with intense heat, little rain and nourishing soil creating the perfect growing environment and giving Egyptian cotton the edge over other cotton varieties. The best cotton in the world is produced on the banks of the Nile River and the handpicked cotton retains its original smoothness and gloss throughout the manufacturing process. You should always look for certification of the origin of the cotton from the CEA (Cotton Egypt Association). Many producers claim to be using Egyptian cotton, but only if they have the CEA Certificate can they legally do so.
Abyss & Habidecor SPA towels - 100% Egyptian Cotton
3. Combed ELS Cotton is Better
ELS is the abbreviation for extra long staple fiber, which signifies that the fibers are approximately 3.3-3.7 cm long. This makes for soft and silky yarns which can then be converted into the most luxurious towels. Combing is an extra process in the spinning of the cotton, which removes the short fibers, and is essential to produce the typical silky and strong combed cotton yarn. These towels will dry quicker and last longer and every Abyss & Habidecor towels, robes and bathmats have been crafted using these extra-long fibers.
4. Choose a Towel of at Least 700gsm
Gsm measure the weight of cotton and literally translates to grams per square meter. The gsm of a towel is an excellent indicator of its luxuriousness as the higher the gsm, the thick and fluffier the towel often is. A weight of around 700-750 gsm is the optimum weight of a towel for quick drying and softness of touch but bathmats and robes can far accede this in weight as they are required to be thicker than toweling. As the loop length of these towels is longer than say a 500gsm towel, there will be a greater tendency for the heavier 700+gsm towels to snag or pull. However, these pulls can easily be cut off with scissors without damaging the towel in any way.
5. Choose a Pre-Washed Towel to Avoid Shrinkage.
All Abyss & Habidecor towels are pre-washed before they are shipped out to customers. This pre-wash avoids most of the shrinkage that you get with cotton (which can be up to 8-9%) once you wash them at home, ensuring your luxury towel remains luxurious after every wash.
6. Choose a Towel Dyed Using the Most Modern Dyestuffs.
There have been great strides made in dyeing cotton over the last 30 years. In particular Indanthren dyes, which are more expensive but give a high color fastness to light and chlorine, whilst being metal free and environmentally more acceptable than the more traditional vat dyes. Abyss & Habidecor uses nearly all Indanthren dyes for their 60 standard colour towels, meaning they can offer vibrant colors to match any interior look.
7. Caring for Your Towels
One of the most important aspects of buying luxury toweling is making sure you are aware of the care needed to keep them as good as new. Towels should always be washed separately from garments with zips or buttons to avoid access snagging. An often missed tip for luxury toweling is that softeners and fabric conditioners are not advised when washing towels as it reduces their absorbency and increases their tendency to snag. Try to use mild liquid biodegradable detergents., without optical brightening agents or added bleach. It is also advised to wash towels at 50-60 degrees, with a drying cycle of approximately 50 minutes, at mild temperatures , never too hot.