New towels......

I have rather poor quality, 'cheap and cheerful' hand towels from Dunelm - a false economy as it happens. The best towels I've ever had are the bath sheets I bought about 15 years ago from TKMax. You need to be there at the right time though.

I've given in! Just ordered two lovely bathsheets...... I think I used to fit a bath towel.

My swimming towel and a small face towel were ones I bought in Leeds market on a visit to relations in 1969, and they're still going strong. I would like to treat myself to a new bath towel as a M&S one (of a considerable age) is ripping apart, but after reading that cotton takes an incredible amount of both water and pesticides during cultivation, I have decided that it will have to be organic cotton. It does seem that if you go organic you don't get bright colours, but you can't have everything, I suppose!

No, the few new towels we have bought don't seem to be as good. Also, they are softer but seem to feel sort of clammy very quickly. I think they really need to be 100% good quality cotton to work properly.

I had one towel from my gran as well. It has just been cut into squares for household cloths. She died in 1989 and she had had it for 10-15 years, so I reckon it was over 50 years old when it wore out. It was a lovely pale turquoise (known I believe as Eau di Nil), really thick but not too soft. Non of the replacements I have bought seem to be as good.

When my grandmother died I helped my aunt to clear out her house, and took all her old towels. I remembered them from when I was a child, which was why I wanted them. They were stripey, in shades of pink, cream and mink (she always called her bathroom pink and mink). So as hers were older than mine, hers became the ones that were used for dogs, DD's hair experiments etc. They are still going strong, as car condensation wipers, flannels and kitchen cloths. DD has the bath sheets, as they just wouldn't die. So they must be easily 40 years old.

I treated myself to new Christie bath sheets in duck egg ( so bland and tasteful) when we had the bathroom and shower room redone. Now I have spare bath sheets in teal and also black. Last time that happened I took the spares to the charity shop. They told me that old towels are popular with dog owners for drying wet pets. So perhaps I am not being profligate but helping worthy causes

Iron towels I never realised some people did this. A bit too late to start now fortunately.

DH buys new towels every couple of years, my towels are yonks old. I would rather spend the money on other things.

What I love about these conversations is that they reassure me that I am "normal"
I have a couple of towels that are over forty years old and I can remember the excitement of Mum buying them for us. I have a whole load of towels my sister threw out (7 years ago) that I kept - we have lots of visitors and so I almost justify having a giant stash of towels.
I keep meaning to cut up old ones to use as kitchen hand towels - if I can make time to disinter the sewing machine from a cupboard.
After years of not having a towel of my very own i.e. I use any of them, I did buy myself a lovely (cheap IKEA) one with stags heads on, which lasted about a week before my Lastborn and a friend had a hair-dying session in the bathroom. For some reason they couldn't tell the difference between MY NEW TOWEL and ALL THE OLD ONES!!
Sigh.

Maybe I will buy myself a new white towel and discard all the ones with holes. tears and bald patches. And bleached bits.

Airing cupboard! I have never heard of it called a hot press.

Yes, my hot press is also airing cupboard

About 30 years ago I`d been collecting vouchers off the side of Big D teabag boxes, one of the things I got free with them was a bright yellow Christies towel, and it`s still going strong.

DH loves his threadbare 40 year old one, he takes it swimming and won't let me throw it out!

I used to send old ones withDS to rugby matches. He would manage to bring back the right colour, but wrong towel!

Apologies to all those mums who sent their dear offspring with a lovely fluffy towel only to find a grotty one returned in its place! x

Will look at Dunelm and try to avoid 'Put in basket' button .....

I like fluffy handtowels but thin bathsheets. Got some nice ones from Ashica - they have no pile, but are made of a linen mix - very absorbent.

DH dislikes anything but threadbare towels too - in fact his are collapsing!!

Towels and accessories that is, not suite

loopylou I have lime green ones in the bathroom mine are good old Dunelm's though.
We have a white suite and the room is fully tiled in pale cream, I fancy bright red next time.

I think I am probably on my own in not liking thick fluffy towels. I keep the old thinning ones just for me. I like Christie towels, but when we had our en-suite redone last year I bought some new bathrobes and towels from Dunelm and very good they are too. They have a really good range of colours.

I think a hot press is another name for an airing cupboard.

I only replace towels when they become threadbare and turn into cleaning cloths! We recently had some new towels from Aldi. DH bought them as they were on special offer, and I wish he hadn't. Maybe they just need more washing but they are thick and not terribly absorbent. He does all the shopping, I just wish he would consult me when buying household items.

We like a bath sheet so I usually buy two bathsheets (1 each) and four hand towels so they can be changed more frequently.

Old hand towels get regulated to the utility room then out to the garage. Some of those must be 35 years old!
Large old ones go to the dogs' home.

What is a hot press?
I don't iron my towels although I know someone who did.

I covet some lovely turquoise ones and matching bath mats.
I have so many towels though

I do like a thinnish towel to dry properly around the ears.

When thinking colour scheme for the bathroom I buy 5 matching for the towel rail and to rotate. All others that don't match are used for showers/baths and are kept in the hot press. Older ones in the hot press are for cleaning the bath etc.
Nice snowy white ones of various sizes are kept for guests and I usually set 3 towels on their bed.