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towels

Terry cloth towels

Towels used in the bathroom are generally of terry cloth (“Turkish toweling”), a looped cotton fabric.

For the ground fabric, a higher number of yarns per inch generally means a higher quality towel.
For the pile, the less twisted the yarn and the longer the loops, the softer and more absorbent the towel will be. Unfortunately, the longer the loop and the less twisted the yarn, the less durable the cloth, which is why towels in cheap motels are scratchy.

In advertisements for towels, the weight of the cloth (in ounces per square yard) is sometimes used to indicate quality. A 40-oz terry cloth would be heavy.

Typical USA dimensions
Designation	Dimensions
wash cloth	12″ × 12″; 13″ × 13″; 14″ × 14″
fingertip or guest towels	Formerly 11″ wide, with lengths from 18″ to 21″. Recently 15″ × 22″.
hand	16″ × 28″ to 18″ × 32″
bath	25″ × 48″ to 30″ × 52″
bath sheet	The least standardized towel size. Some dimensions of towels advertised as bath sheets in the 1990s include: 35″ × 60″; 35″ × 65″; 35″ × 72″ 36″ × 70″; 40″ × 72″ and 40″ × 75″.
beach towel	The smallest are 30″ × 60″, mainly distinguished from a big bath towel by the increased length. The largest are 36″ × 68″ or even 40″ × 70″.
tea towel	16″ × 26″ and 18″ × 28″ are most common.

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