While beach days are all about relaxing, getting everything there can sometimes feel like the hardest part. Between umbrellas, portable speakers, coolers, chairs and sunscreen, beach gear adds up quickly.
Towels in particular tend to take up a lot of room in your beach bag. That’s where Turkish towels come in. A high-quality Turkish towel is an easy alternative to your traditional beach towel that’s lightweight, absorbent and easier to pack.
Beyond the beach, Turkish towels are also great options for your everyday bath towels thanks to their soft feel and quick-drying fabric.
With so many options on the market, we decided to put both bath and beach Turkish towels to the test to determine the best of the best. We also reached out to three textiles experts to pick their brain on what Turkish towels are, why they’re special and why they should be in your collection.
Best overall for bath$81.75$109.00
What are Turkish towels?
Turkish towels are also known as Fouta, Hammam or Peshtemal towels, and have become increasingly popular over the years because they’re lightweight, extra soft, dry quickly and absorb just as much water as traditional towels while taking up way less room.
“Fouta towels are lightweight and versatile towels, originally worn as sarongs or used as towels in Turkish bathhouses and spas,” Karin Sun, textile expert and founder of Crane & Canopy, previously told us. “They are traditionally crafted from linen or 100% Turkish cotton, as Turkey is known for producing some of the highest quality cotton products in the world.”
Best overall Turkish towels
For beach:
Sand Cloud Turkish Beach Towel
Absorbency: 4.5/5 | Softness: 5/5 | Drying time: 4/5 | Durability: 5/5 | Overall average score: 4.63/5
Absorbency: This towel’s water absorption is strong and reliable, allowing it to pull moisture off the skin quickly with minimal effort. It performs at a high level across both light and heavier drying use, making it a dependable option for after-shower routines or beach use.
Softness: This is where this towel truly excels. It has a noticeably luxurious, smooth feel that stands out immediately. This was the clear winner when it came to softness. The ultimate test was how it felt after going through the washing machine and dryer — it retained its plush, high-end feel even after laundering.
Drying time: While it dried relatively quickly, it wasn’t the fastest in the group. It releases moisture reasonably well when hung up to air dry and doesn’t stay damp for long, but it prioritizes comfort and softness slightly more than ultra-fast drying performance.
Durability: This towel earned a perfect score in this department. With the towel holding up very well after multiple washes, it maintains its structure, softness and overall integrity without noticeable wear, making it feel like a long-term staple rather than a short-term option.
For bath:
Editor’s note: This towel was previously tested by another editor for our Ranked bath towels story. The following scores and experiences are from that editor.
Absorbency: 4/5 | Softness: 4.25/5| Drying time: 4.25/5 | Durability:5/5 | Overall average score: 4.38/5
Absorbency: Truly, not many complaints in this department. It did a solid job getting me dry rather quickly. I think it moved some water around my skin just a little bit, rather than absorbing it right away, but it still performed well.
Softness: This one delivers a tougher kind of softness. It’s by no means, not soft, but it doesn’t have the luxurious feel that I’m looking for when it comes to the best of the best. I think the words “super-plush” in the name is a bit misleading, but the brand is spot on when it says extra-thick. I also love how heavy this feels when I wrap it around myself post-shower, making it feel like I’m getting a warm, weighted hug. That earns it extra points, for sure.
Drying time: I think it only needed a good 15 to 20 minutes to go from post-shower kind of wet to almost completely dry. And that’s even after I used it to wring out my medium-length hair.
Durability: I expect to have this towel in my rotation for quite some time. When the brand talks about this towel being “spa quality,” I think they are referring to how well it’s made. This is the type of towel I expect to see and use in a professional setting, and I figure they choose ones that don’t need to be replaced often.
More Turkish beach towels, tested by the author
Best for travel:
Absorbency: 3.5/5 | Softness: 4.5/5 | Drying time: 4.5/5 | Durability: 5/5 | Overall average score: 4.38/5
Absorbency: Water absorption is moderate, requiring a few passes to fully remove moisture. While it isn’t the most aggressive at soaking up water, it performs reliably for everyday drying and light post-shower use.
Softness: Softness is a clear highlight. It has a smooth, lightweight feel that is immediately comfortable against the skin, offering a more refined texture than many traditional flat-woven towels. It also maintains its softness well after washing.
Drying time: Drying performance is excellent, especially for travel scenarios. It releases moisture quickly after use and dries fast when hung, making it highly practical for packing, gym bags, or repeated use on the go.
Durability: Durability is great despite its lightweight construction. It holds up very well through repeated washing and continued use, maintaining both structure and overall quality with minimal wear over time.
Best oversized beach towel:
Absorbency: 4/5 | Softness: 4.5/5 | Drying time: 4/5 | Durability: 5/5 | Overall average score: 4.38/5
Absorbency: Water absorption is reliable and effective, allowing the towel to quickly pull moisture from the skin without needing repeated passes. It performs consistently well for both post-shower use and beach settings.
Softness: Softness is initially excellent, with a plush and comfortable feel that stands out right away. After washing and drying, it does lose a bit of that initial softness, settling into a slightly more textured but still comfortable hand feel. Even with that shift, it remains pleasant against the skin, especially given its larger size.
Drying Time: Performance here is steady and practical for a towel of this size. It doesn’t retain excessive moisture and hangs dry at a reasonable pace, making it suitable for regular use.
Durability: One of this towel’s biggest strengths is its long-term resilience. It holds up really nicely after repeated washing, maintaining its structure and overall integrity with no meaningful signs of wear. It feels built for long-term, frequent use.
Most durable:
Absorbency: 4.5/5 | Softness: 4/5 | Drying time: 3.5/5 | Durability: 5/5 | Overall average score: 4.25/5
Absorbency: Water absorption is a clear strength of this towel. It quickly and effectively pulls moisture off the skin, making it feel efficient and reliable even after a single pass. It performs especially well for a thicker, more structured organic cotton towel.
Softness: The texture is comfortable and well-balanced, with a natural cotton feel that leans more textured than plush. It doesn’t push into ultra-luxury softness, but it feels consistent and pleasant during use.
Drying time: Drying time is slightly slower compared to lighter Turkish-style towels. It holds on to some moisture after use, meaning it benefits from good airflow or more hanging time to fully dry out. This is a tradeoff for its heavier, more durable construction.
Durability: Durability is where this towel clearly excels. It feels exceptionally well-constructed and maintains its structure and quality through repeated washes with virtually no visible wear.
Best value:
Absorbency: 4/5 | Softness: 4/5 | Drying time: 4/5 | Durability: 4.5/5 | Overall average score: 4.13/5
Absorbency: This towel’s water absorption is solid and consistent, doing a reliable job of pulling moisture off the skin without requiring excessive effort. It performs in a steady, dependable way that makes it well suited for everyday use.
Softness: The texture is comfortably soft without fully leaning into a luxury feel. It has a natural cotton hand feel that is pleasant against the skin, striking a nice balance between smoothness and structure. While not the plushest option in the lineup, it remains consistently comfortable over time.
Drying time: The drying time is steady and practical. It releases moisture at a reasonable pace when hung up to air dry and doesn’t stay damp for long, making it a reliable option for frequent use or travel.
Durability: Durability is a standout strength, especially for the price. It holds up very well after washing, maintaining its structure and feel with minimal signs of wear.
Best personalizable option:
Absorbency: 3.5/5 | Softness: 2/5 | Drying time: 3.5/5 | Durability: 3.5/5 | Overall average score: 3.13/5
Absorbency: Water absorption is moderate, doing an adequate job of pulling moisture off the skin but requiring a few passes to fully dry. It performs more as a light-use towel rather than a highly efficient post-shower option.
Softness: Initially, the towel felt quite stiff and underwhelming in texture compared to others in the lineup. However, after a wash cycle, it noticeably improved — softening up and becoming more comfortable against the skin. While it still doesn’t reach the plushness of higher-rated towels, the post-wash improvement is significant and worth noting.
Drying Time: This was fairly balanced. It doesn’t hold excessive moisture after use and hangs dry at a reasonable pace, making it practical for travel or casual beach use.
Durability: Durability is acceptable for regular use. The towel holds its structure after washing and handling, and while it doesn’t feel indestructible, it does show improvement in overall feel and usability after being laundered.
Best Turkish bath towels, tested by editors
Most absorbent:
Editor’s note: This towel was previously tested by another editor for our Ranked bath towels story. The following scores and experiences are from that editor.
Absorbency: 4.75/5 | Softness: 3.5/5 | Drying time: 4/5 | Durability:4.75/5 | Overall average score: 4.25/5
Absorbency: While I may not be the biggest fan of this towel’s fabric, I am most impressed by how well it absorbs. If you’re looking for top-notch performance, this towel isn’t messing around. It immediately soaks up water and won’t move it around.
Softness: Admittedly, this towel is not my cup of tea. I love a plush towel, nothing too rough. This one is absolutely on the grittier side; not uncomfortable, per se, just not like you’re getting dried off with something as cozy as your best blanket. You can tell by the feel of it that it’s designed for function, and I recognize that this fabric is absolutely what some people prefer — just not me.
Drying time: Because it has the ability to take in a lot of water, it’s naturally going to take a bit more time to dry — but not much! It may have taken about half an hour before I considered it to be 80% dry.
Durability: Since this towel is super thick, I’d imagined it needs to be specifically constructed to keep the material from fraying. Other than a loose thread in one of the corners, it looks (and feels) like it will last a long time.
Softest:
Editor’s note: This towel was previously tested by another editor for our Ranked bath towels story. The following scores and experiences are from that editor.
Absorbency: 3.5/5 | Softness: 4.75/5 | Drying time: 4.25/5 | Durability: 4.25/5 | Overall average score: 4.19/5
Absorbency: A ribbed material may feel amazing, but it’s not top-notch in terms of absorbency. It will get the job done, but it might take a little while longer than other fabrics and weaves to absorb water and get you completely dry. (Since it feels so nice, I’m willing to overlook it!)
Softness: Coming from a brand that is well known for its cashmere, I’m not surprised by the quality of this bath towel, especially in the softness category. It truly feels luxurious. As a sucker for a ribbed fabric, I can say that it’s a top preference for my own bath towels now. It just feels fantastic on the skin and glides seamlessly when I want to get dry quickly.
Drying time: On the other hand, this option didn’t take long to air dry. The brand says one of its features is a quick-dry fabric, so I’m happy this remained true, rather than staying sopping wet.
Durability: This towel did well after a tumble in the washer and dryer. I had to take care of maybe one or two loose threads (unexpected for having a double hemstitch border), but it maintained its softness and feels like it will hold up well after multiple uses.
Quickest drying:
Absorbency: 3/5 | Softness: 3.5/5 | Drying time: 4.5/5 | Durability: 3.5/5 | Overall average score: 3.63/5
Absorbency: Water absorbency is fairly average for this towel. It does pick up moisture with a few passes, but it isn’t the kind of towel that immediately pulls water off the skin in one go. It’s best suited for light-to-moderate drying rather than a more intense drying experience where you’re closer to soaked.
Softness: This towel sits in the middle range when it comes to softness — comfortable enough for regular use, but not especially plush or luxurious. I was very impressed with the softness of this towel upon opening, but after throwing it in the washer and dryer, it became slightly less plush and a bit more textured. It still feels pleasant against the skin, but it leans more toward a practical, everyday feel rather than a spa-like feel.
Drying time: This is where the towel stands out most. It dries relatively quickly after use and doesn’t stay damp for long when hung up to air dry. That quick turnaround makes it especially useful in bathrooms with limited airflow or for frequent daily use. Among the towels tested, it was one of the fastest to dry by a clear margin.
Durability: In this department, it’s solid but not exceptional. After washing, it maintains its structure and general feel without major issues, though it doesn’t feel like it has the reinforced, long-term durability of higher-end towels. It should hold up well with normal use, but may show gradual wear over time.
Frequently asked questions
Turkish towels feature two different types of cotton on either side, so the difference is immediately noticeable.
“True Turkish towels are constructed from Turkish cotton fibers, which traditionally are a longer fiber offering super smoothness, strength, and absorbency,” Janet Brady, a textile engineer and associate professor at Thomas Jefferson University, previously told Shop TODAY. “The weave is known as a twill weave with an extra pile yarn, [which] is longer to create the loop on the surface. This creates a fluffy and absorbent towel.”
Turkish towels have a different hand feel than traditional bath towels due to their weave, Sun explains. “They feature tightly woven cotton on one side and plush cotton terry on the other,” she says. “Due to this unique composition, these towels maintain superior absorbency and softness while also being lightweight.”
They also work well in many settings thanks to the lightweight texture, which makes them perfect for your next vacation.
“A soft Fouta towel works well as a beach towel, a bathtime luxury, a casual throw and more,” Sun says. “They are the perfect towel if you live in humid, hot weather as they are lightweight and quick to dry.”
Before first use, it’s important to wash Turkish towels to remove finishing treatments that can affect absorbency.
"Anytime you buy towels they should be washed before you use them because many are treated with a silicone finish that makes them feel ‘soft and lovely,’ but it doesn’t dry well with the silicone on it," advises Deborah Young, clinical assistant professor in textile science at Arizona State University's Los Angeles campus.
For ongoing care, machine wash in cold water with a mild detergent and avoid fabric softener, which Young says is one of the most common mistakes because it can hinder absorbency. Instead, she recommends dryer balls, noting that they “give you the softness without the chemicals.”
When drying, use low heat: “The higher the heat, the more it shrinks,” she says, adding that both hot water and a hot dryer can cause cotton shrinkage.
After a beach day or pool use, wash towels promptly to remove salt, chlorine, sand and bacteria rather than letting them sit damp.
How we tested Turkish towels
Over a three-week testing period, I used each towel at home after showering and, when applicable, at the beach. (Living on the central coast of California, the beach testing was the easiest part.)
Each towel was used multiple times to fully dry off after a shower and to assess how well it handled everyday use, including water absorption, softness and drying performance.
To evaluate durability and long-term performance, every towel was washed multiple times in cold water, as instructed by one the experts. After each wash, all towels were dried on low heat to assess how they held up in terms of fabric integrity, texture and overall structural wear over time.
The bath towels previously tested by another editor were tested over four weeks and used to fully dry their body and wring out their hair. They were then evaluated in the same categories.
Why trust Shop TODAY
Camryn LaSala is a former Shop TODAY editor — previously writing about Turkish towels — and current contributor. She has over eight years of experience as a writer and editor helping readers discover the best products online from travel and beauty to fashion, home goods, gift guides and kitchen must-haves.
Danielle Murphy is the audience development writer for Shop TODAY. She is the one who previously tested the bath towels for our Ranked series that are included in this roundup. She has also tested several other home products for Ranked, including kitchen sponges, automatic soap dispensers and carpet cleaning solutions.
Meet the experts
- Karin Sun is the co-founder of Crane & Canopy. After starting with a small collection of duvet covers in 2012, the line has now grown to include bedding, bath essentials and other home decor items.
- Janet Brady, MS, is an associate professor at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and the Director of the Jeff Bruner Materials Characterization Laboratory. She has over 40 years of product development and product evaluation experience for all aspects of the textile industry.
- Deborah Young is a clinical assistant professor in textile science at Arizona State University’s Los Angeles campus and founder of The Textile Expert with over 30 years of experience in the industry.
