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Home » Gear » microfiber travel towel

The Best Microfiber Travel Towel for your Next Adventure

Whilst most backpackers might fall short of the average of one shower a day, it doesn’t mean we don’t want or need a good wash! Ok scratch that, us vagabonds are in serious need of a good shower but taking one on the road isn’t always as straight forward as it is back home. Once you’ve negotiated the hostel shower, the local river or a bucket surrounded by bamboo in a Burmese village (yes, that was me) you’ve got to get dry.

Unfortunately those comfortable but heavy Egyptian cotton towels aren’t exactly backpacker friendly. Whilst I fully acknowledge that discussing towels might not be the most thrilling topic when you’ve got an endless array of adventures to plan. But trust me, your shoulders understand the importance!

The solution: a microfiber travel towel. They’re made with quick-dry material, they pack super small, and they are relatively inexpensive… a travellers’ dreams. In a nutshell – microfiber towels were literally made for backpackers and travellers.

However, as with most things, not all towels are created equally. Some don’t wash well or pick up an unpleasant odour. So I’ve done the hard yards for you and wrote this epic guide so you can quickly and easily find which microfiber travel towel best suits your needs.

Let’s get this party started!

Quick Answer: What are the best towels to take traveling?

• Sea to Summit Drylite Towel – Best Backpacking Towel
• Matador Ultralight Travel Towel – Most Compact Travel Towel
• Youphoria Sport Microfiber Travel Towel – Best Towel for Traveling Yogis
• Nomadix Towel – Best Non-Microfiber Towel for Travel 
• ECCOSOPHY TRAVEL TOWEL – Honorary Mention
• Jump to –> Travel Towel Reviews

Real Quick – What is Microfiber Material?

Ok, so before we crack on with showing you what the best backpacking towel is, we need to explain what one is first.

Microfiber is a synthetic fiber, usually made out of polyesters, polyamides, or blends. The grabby texture of the microfiber makes the towel more absorbent which, in turn, makes it great for swimming, traveling, exercising, any activity that makes you wet.

Right then, let’s get this microfiber towel review going!

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Microfiber Travel Towel Reviews

Best towel for backpacking – sea to summit drylite towel, most compact travel towel – matador ultralight.

• Best Travel Towel for Yogis – Youphoria Sport

Best Non-Microfiber Towel for Travel – Nomadix

• Honorable Mention – ECCOSOPHY Microfiber Towel
• Best Microfiber Beach Towel – OCOOPA Microfiber Beach Towel

Why Invest in a Travel Towel?

How we tested the best microfiber travel towel, faq about the best microfiber travel towel, conclusion: the best microfiber towels for travel.

Check out our extensive review on our top four favorite quick-drying microfiber travel towels reviews below…

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• Comes in multiple sizes
• Very lightweight
• A bit more expensive

Sea to Summit is known for making ultralight camping and backpacking gear, so it makes sense that they make a lightweight backpacking towel. The soft, quick-drying towel is compact and comes in three sizes. The small towel is 32” by 16”, the large is 48” by 24” and the extra large is 60” by 30”. All these towel sizes weigh under 7 ounces. This is a good choice for the traveler constantly on the trail when every oz makes a difference. We also rated it as the best microfiber travel towel due to the fact that it came in different sizes meaning you can pick the right one for your trip.

The drawback? The XL is expensive for a microfiber towel and is pricier than the other towels on this travel towel review.

Our team felt this was the best microfiber towel for travel particularly because it worked well in damp and humid environments which is ideal for places like Southeast Asia. On top of that the actual towel itself dries quickly after usage too. They also loved how well it packed down and fit easily inside their bags, in fact, it’s that small it could easily fit inside a jacket pocket!

• Super small and compact
• Lightweight nanofiber material
• Comes in powermesh storage bag

In case space in your backpack is really at a premium, then check out the mini Ultralight travel towel by Matador. Measuring 15″ x 15″ (or 39cm x 39cm) it quite literally fits inside your pocket. It is of course smaller than other towels if this list and it will take some time to fully dry your body using this. However, it absorbs 2.3 times its own weight so with a little patience you can work your way around your whole body.

Both the towel itself and its bag have buckle attachments so you can fasten to your bag or jacket and really maximise storage space. Made from an ultralight (25g) Nano Fibre material it is also fully machine washable and will hardly even fade.

Our team felt this was the best compact microfiber towel on the market because, well, it’s super compact, like, insanely compact! This towel could fit inside your pants pocket it’s that tiny! Our team were realists and felt being so small that it had a certain purpose and it wasn’t the easiest to dry their whole body with … but at a push it wasn’t impossible and for the ultralight packer they felt that bit of extra effort was worth the space saved.

Best Travel Towel for Yogis –  Youphoria Sport

• Holds moisture well
• Softer + more comfortable than others
• Bit heavier than others

This is a yoga-specific towel, but I think it makes great use as a backpacking towel as well because it’s highly absorbent and can hold up to 5X its weight in water. I also find yoga towels to have an extra soft feel and are less likely to attract lint.

They also tend to pack down even smaller than other backpacking towels. The downside is that its largest size weighs more than the other choices on this list. However, for all the yogis out there who plan to travel with a yoga mat anyway, this is a great choice.

Our team picked this as their best microfibre towel for yogis because of how comfortable it was not just to dry themselves with but to us on top of their yoga mats. The team also felt the towel was light, and compact but ultimately super durable, especially when used for both general drying purposes but for yoga and after the gym too.

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• Made from recycled materials
• Very expensive for a towel

For the environmentally-conscious traveler, the Nomadix travel towel is about as ideal as it gets. This towel is made of 100% recycled materials – fibers from plastic bottles are processed into effective and comfortable nylon and polyester threads. These towels do not involve any sort of polymer-based microfiber yet they are still very good at what they do.

Nomadix towels are quick-drying, tough, and very packable. Coming in at a very reasonable 1 lb, these make for great towels to take traveling. Thanks to it’s anti-microbial and non-slip qualities, the Nomadix is very popular at yoga retreats and camping but you could conceivably use this towel anywhere: at the beach, gym, kitchen, and more.

The Nomadix is a bit more expensive than other towels and quite larger as well. That being said, the larger price tag is more than justifiable – this towel will last longer than most and you will definitely get more use out of it.

Our team were pretty interested in how this towel compared to microfibre as several members expressed that they would prefer something more environmentally friendly. Firstly they just loved the different colours and designs that the towels come in, something many of the other towels are lacking, which makes it look better when taken to the beach. In terms of usage, they felt it was just as absorbent as the microfibre towels and literally dried them in one swipe!

Honorable Mention –  ECCOSOPHY Microfiber Towel

• Very cool designs
• Double-sided
• Much larger than other beach towels

I’d give this beach towel props just for being so damn good lookin’! Look at those patterns! So bold and colorful! Who says a microfiber travel towel has to be flat-colored and boring, anways?

But it’s not just beautiful; the ECCOSOHPY beach towel is also useful, of course. Since it’s made of microfiber, you’ll get the absorptive qualities as well as the quick drying. It packs well enough although, given it’s size, it’s going to be much larger in your bag than most other towels.

I would also like to add that this towel would be fine for both sexes. ECCOOPHY markets it has a lady’s towel on their Amazon page but, honestly, I’d rock this anytime and anywhere in the world.

When it came to design our team just fell in love with the awesome patterns these towels came in, they felt they really created that backpacker vibe instead of looking a bit geeky like some of the other towels. our team just loved how lightweight and thin these towels were meaning they rolled down super small and took up almost no room or weight in their bags. They felt it absorbed water instantly and on top of that was ideal for people with longer hair.

Best Microfiber Beach Towel –  OCOOPA Microfiber Beach Towel

• Better than a typical cotton beach towel
• Very packable
• Perfect size

I like this towel because it’s big (80×57 inches), but because of the lightweight microfiber material, it packs down much better than a normal beach towel. Not only that but it does come in some smaller sizes too if you don’t need something that massive!

This is a great towel for lounging beachside. While not as lightweight as the Active Roots or Sea to Summit, the OCOOPA has large dimensions and is still a great choice for a quick-drying towel for travel, and an easy pick for the best travel beach towel.

Our team loved the slightly thicker profile of this towel which is what made it stand out as their best beach towel. Rather than just being used for drying themselves down after a swim, which it did an awesome job of, it was comfortable to lie down and lay on all day too. The durable material was also great given the extra abrasions using the towel on the beach results in.

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It may seem like an insignificant item to pack, but a good towel will be one of the most useful items in your backpacker arsenal.

In our normal lives, we use towels on a daily basis, really; to wash the dishes, ourselves, the car, when cleaning the house. Yet, we take them from granted because they’re always there and in a multitude! Thanks to industrialization, we have a cloth or rag somewhere nearby, buried in an old drawer or conveniently hanging on a hook or rack.

Unfortunately, backpackers usually don’t have this option. Because they are constantly going from place to place and because they are living out of a backpack (finite space), they don’t have the convenience of carrying a lot of towels on them. Hell, most backpackers are grateful just to get a free towel at their hostel!

Having your own towel for traveling the world can be immensely useful. Going to the beach? The towel will keep the sand off your ass and out of your portable speaker. Want to have a spontaneous yoga session? Throwdown your towel and chaturanga away. Need to dry out those hiking boots after a long walk? Use that towel to soak up any leftover moisture in those boots (maybe do that after washing yourself though)

Trust me: you will get a lot of use out of your towel while traveling, more than you might know right now. That means you need to have a good towel – the tougher it is and the better it is at absorbing, the more useful it will be. Luckily, it’s not so difficult to pick out a good one; you just need to refer below for some tips.

What to Look for in a Microfiber Travel Towel

• Lightweight – As with anything in your travel backpack, it’s important to invest in a lightweight travel towel. Less weight = awesome.
• Compact – A microfiber travel towel should take up as little room as possible. They should fold up smaller than a tank-top.
• Well constructed – There is such a thing as a good microfiber and bad microfiber.
• Quick Drying – The best towels for backpacking and traveling must have quick dry material.
• Absorbency – Even if a microfiber travel towel is lightweight and dries quickly, it’s useless if it doesn’t actually absorb liquids.
• Special features –  A loop makes it easy to attach the quick drying towel to your backpack as you hike, or hang it on a clothes hanger at your hostel.
• Additional accessories – A storage pouch for your microfiber towel helps you keep your backpack organized.

Towel Sizes

Quick drying towels range between XS-XL, and the dimensions vary as well! Different brands will have different dimensions of their sizes, so be sure to check the dimensions!

• Small or Medium:  Often used as a washcloth, hand towel, or to bring along for workouts. These make a great addition to your toiletry bag.
• Large:  Hair towel or small bath towel.
• XL:  Best recommendation for a full bath towel.

It’s worth investing in both an XL towel,  and  a small washcloth sized towel for your toiletry bag (washing your face, taking off makeup, etc.).

Sea to Summit DryLite Towel

• Price > $$$
• Weight > 1.3 – 4 oz.
• Size > XS to XL

OCOOPA Microfiber Beach Towel

• Prize > $$$
• Weight > ?310 g

• Weight > 2.4 – 12 oz
• Size > 20-40″; 28-56″; 32-72″

Other Travel “Towel” Options

Along with a microfiber towel, it’s totally worth packing a fashion-friendly sarong or large scarf to double as a large beach towel.

My boyfriend uses his scarf for a beach towel, to protect his neck from the sun, warm up in the cold, shield from dust, etc. I always travel to beach destinations with a sarong to double as a towel and beach cover-up.

Middle Eastern style scarves, traditionally referred to as keffiyehs or shemaghs,  are also super adaptable pieces of kit that can be used as a towel. Granted, their primary purpose is more for keeping sand out of one’s eyes and the cold out at night, but many people also use them as beach towels as well.

There is no perfect or exact science when it comes to testing out travel and outdoor gear. However, we feel our years of experience across our team mean we’ve got a good eye for decent gear.

When it came to picking out the best towel for backpacking there were a few different considerations we had. Including how lightweight it was, how easily and well it could compact down, how well it dried us and also, well, the smell test! If you get my drift! We were also concerned with how well it was made and how long-lasting it would be.

Finally, we also take into account how much each microfibre travel towel costs – for example, expensive items that perform averagely will lose points, but budget items may be given more leeway.

Still have some questions about the best travel microfiber towel? No problem! We’ve listed and answered the most commonly asked questions below. Here’s what people usually want to know:

Are microfiber towels good for hiking?

Hell yeah! Microfiber is perfect for hiking and backpacking. It dries fast so you can use it again faste AND you can pack it without worrying that’it will make everything else damp. Having something that is quick drying means it’s much less likely to get smelly or moldy.

What are the best microfiber towels?

We have treid a lot of microfibre towers over the years and can confidently recomened the Matador Nana Dry . Its tiny, ultralight and quick drying.

Are travel towels worth it?

Oh yes. They are a godsend for travelers and hikers as they are quick drying, compact and light. I never travel without one.

Is microfiber environmentally friendly?

Microfiber is not biodegradable like cotton or paper towels but can still be disposed of in an environmentallt concious way.

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Microfiber towels are a more logical alternative to your good old fashion bath-towel for a billion reasons, but all you need to know are these five: they’re compact , lightweight , durable , absorbent , quick-drying towels for travel.

Let us know what you think about our epic review of the best quick dry towels for travel in the comments below! Do you have a favourite microfiber travel towel?

Ana Pereira

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I’m looking for a medium bath towel, wash cloth combo.

I just ordered 2 combo packs for our RV. Bath towels for me and the mister, a small one for the dog and one for the kitchen. A great deal at $18!

Awesome! Enjoy Adriana 🙂

This is awesome! Thanks for the heads up on the Active Roots. I have never heard of this brand and it looks perfect. My friend Brian & I are going to backpack the John Muir part of the PCT during the summer of 2018 for 10 days and I was looking for a new backpacker towel that works but is light and doesnt break the bank!

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The Best Packable Travel Towels

By Ebony Roberts

We love a plush, thirsty bath towel , but a campsite or suitcase just isn’t the place for one—there, we want a quick-drying, packable travel towel.

After putting 20 such towels through 60 hours of testing—including an intense day of sand and surf at the beach—we’ve concluded the PackTowl Personal offers the best balance of drying time, packability, and odor resistance without compromising comfort and design.

A good option for nearly every towel-related scenario, it’s lightweight, extra-large, and supersoft, making it usable for both car camping and travel into the backcountry.

Everything we recommend

PackTowl Personal

The best packable camp towel.

Whether used for camping, hiking, traveling, or general outdoor adventuring, this towel is durable enough to handle extended abuse while remaining soft and comfortable.

Buying Options

With store pickup or REI membership (limited patterns)

Budget pick

Rainleaf Microfiber Towel

An inexpensive towel that gets the job done.

Good-enough absorbency and drying time for those on a budget.

PackTowl Luxe

A plush, comfortable towel.

Good for car camping, day trips, and hanging at the beach, this towel is made of an incredibly soft fabric that also repels dirt.

Scoring well in nearly every performance category, the PackTowl Personal towel consistently surprised us with its ability to handle the elements. It has an antibacterial treatment to help prevent odor, the “body” size (25 by 54 inches) is large enough to wrap around most folks, and it feels soft against the skin. It’s made of a tear-resistant fabric and was the best towel we tested at absorbing water and repelling dirt. Better still, sand from the beach remained on the towel’s surface so it was easy to shake off, leaving the towel clean after multiple uses. Its drying time was faster than most of the towels we tested and it packs down to a small size in a zippered breathable pouch, making it convenient for travel or camping.

The Rainleaf Microfiber Towel was nearly identical in design to many of the pricier models and scored just as well in our field tests. The only downsides are that its size large is smaller than most other large towels we tested, and it has lighter-feeling fabric. It didn’t handle our day at the beach quite as well and took a little longer to dry, but otherwise it’s comparable in comfort and packability. And, because it’s treated with an antibacterial coating—something not standard on budget (or even some pricey) towels—it passed our smell test with a perfect score. At just a fraction of the price of our top choice, it’s a good pick if you’re the kind of person who goes camping a few times a year and needs something affordable that works well.

If packing your towel down into a tiny space isn’t a concern for you, the PackTowl Luxe is about as comfortable as a towel can get. Although it does take up a bit more room and takes significantly longer to dry, its “body” size has the same dimensions as our top pick but has a plusher feel against the skin. Unlike similar big and luxurious camp towels, it didn’t smell after being put away wet. It absorbed water off the skin without trapping in the dirt and sand, which left it surprisingly clean for a towel with such a high pile. As it was easy to shake off, we enjoyed having it as a wrap and beach blanket, too.

The research

Why you should trust us, who this is for, how we picked, how we tested, our pick: packtowl personal, how the packtowl has held up, flaws but not dealbreakers, an inexpensive towel that works fine: rainleaf microfiber towel, a plush, comfortable towel: packtowl luxe, microfibers and the environment, the competition, care and maintenance.

We spoke with three experts to get their takes on what we should look for in a good towel. Mark Knight, a product designer currently with Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) , has designed a number of outdoor products, including packable towels, and gave us a breakdown on what he considers to be important when creating products like these.

We spoke via email with Georgia Newsome, owner and operator of Coastal Bliss Adventures , who has worked as a backpacking, camping, and canoeing guide for the past 15 years.

And we spoke with Craig Oliver, product manager for health and safety at MEC. He was able to tell us what’s important from a consumer perspective. In addition to these interviews, we read a number of online reviews, pored over camping and backpacking forums, researched microfiber fabrics, and then selected and tested the towels we think cover most activities to determine which one was best overall.

Why doesn’t a regular, everyday cotton towel cut it for most outdoor activities? Knight offered us five reasons your cotton towel isn’t ideal: it’s too big, too heavy, might get damaged or stained, doesn’t get washed at the same frequency it would at home, therefore causing it to smell, and lastly, it’s not always used in the same manner as it would be at home. He added, “As a travel towel, there is also the added functional requirement of being quick-dry. When traveling, you can move around a lot, and a packed wet towel generally means a stinky towel.”

Packable towels are usually made from microfiber , although a few of the ones we tested are made from other materials (which didn’t end up performing as well). These materials are typically a blend of polyester and polyamide, aka nylon, and depending on the blend will produce a towel that feels more suede-like and slick to one that feels more plush like your average cotton towel. There are also packable towels made of nanofabric, which is composed of tiny nanoscopic fibers woven together—think the width of a human hair (or even smaller)—to create a fabric that is incredibly lightweight and small. Though they do the trick, nanofiber towels tend to have a slicker surface, which means they don’t feel much like the towel you’re used to.

According to Oliver, the most popular camp towel size is roughly equivalent to a standard household bath towel—about 26 by 52 inches after washing. Some towels were slightly smaller or larger, but we tried to stay within what would seem like regulation size for most people.

All the experts we talked to shared the opinion that the type of towel you’ll want to purchase depends on the activity you’re using it for. For backpacking or kayaking trips, Newsome told us that “lightweight, small packability and quick drying are the most important factors.” For car camping or other adventures, where weight isn’t an issue, she opts for a larger microfiber towel, and one with an antimicrobial coating, “which means for those longer road trips and tours this towel stays fresh smelling.” Knight’s opinion aligned with Newsome’s: “Some of the lightest towels don’t feel that great against your skin, but the weight means you will actually bring it in your backpack when on a long hike. If you are traveling around the world, weight might not be your primary concern, but comfort will factor highly, as you will be using the towel each day—unless you are a soap dodger ! So, a softer, slightly heavier towel may be the way to go.”

Just as important as how much water a towel can absorb—in other words, how well it dries you—is how well the towel dries after you’re dry. “Nobody wants to put a wet towel into their backpack,” Oliver said.

After surveying online reviews, forums, and user ratings, and asking people what type of towel they preferred for their own outdoor activities, we narrowed our field to 19 packable towels, then threw in a standard cotton towel as a plush baseline. We then tested the towels using seven criteria: price, comfort, design, wicking, drying time, odor resistance, and packability.

We washed and dried all of the towels, giving them all an equal starting point, then we scored them in each category. We didn’t score weight or size, but we did make note of whether these features made a difference when comparing similar options.

Comfort: This was a tough one because of the people we asked, some preferred a more textured fabric and others liked the smooth feel of the microsuede towels. We asked individuals to feel each towel against their skin, asked for their comments, and then asked what their overall top picks were.

Design: Here, we looked at how well the towel is made, and whether there were any particular features—good or bad—that made drying off more or less of a pleasure. Key among them was fabric quality, stitching, and what kind of hanging loop—essential!—the towel came with. We also looked at texture, an important attribute for both water absorption and grabbing dirt and grime, rather than just pushing it around. A too-slick towel won’t do much of anything except leave your skin feeling yucky and wet.

Wicking: One of the most important tests we conducted was how well the towel could wick away water and leave the skin feeling dry. When we took our test towels to the beach, we wanted to see how they performed against sandy salt water and whether they were able to clean the skin in addition to drying it.

Drying time: To determine which towel dried the fastest, we applied the same amount of water to each towel and then timed how long it took for them to dry. But how much water to use, and how dry is dry, exactly? We used 4 ounces of water, a quantity we settled on after having multiple testers shower and weigh their towels before and after use. Once the person was dry enough to feel comfortable putting their clothes on, we called that “dry.” We did this a couple of times with each person and used a couple types of cotton towels to get a base number. The average amount of water people removed from their bodies after showering was a ½ cup, or about 225 milliliters. We hung our entire assortment of high-tech, portable towels on the same line and recorded the time it took to leave each one dry to the touch.

Odor resistance: Another important criterion is how the towel smells after multiple uses. “An antimicrobial finish helps with odor management and decreases the frequency you need to wash the towel,” Knight told us. A towel may be used a dozen times before it gets properly washed, and if a towel smells musty or dirty after a couple of uses, it probably is. Many of the towels advertise a protective antibacterial coating and we wanted to see if these coatings actually made a difference.

Our test involved taking the towels to the beach, soaking them in 16 ounces of ocean water, wringing out the excess water as best as we could, and then placing each towel in a sealed plastic bag for 48 hours. After that, we opened the bags and took a whiff. Though most remained odor-free (especially those coated with an antimicrobial treatment), we were taken aback by how seriously a few of them reeked.

Packability: As important as drying you—and drying out—are, the other key thing a camp towel has to do is pack small for travel. Some towels came with cases, some didn’t. Our focus was simply how tiny a towel could get.

Price: More expensive doesn’t really seem like a good thing when it comes to something like a packable travel towel, given that there’s such a variance in price and that most towels pretty much claim to do the same thing.

The PackTowl Personal is our top choice because it handled every test we put it through. It’s the perfect option for nearly any outdoor activity that requires a towel. It’s large and durable while still being comfortable and comes with an antimicrobial treatment, which means it won’t smell after multiple uses. Its snap loop for hanging was one of the easiest to use, and the towel packs down to a small size, making it easy to travel with. Its drying time was comparable with that of the fastest-drying towels we tested, and it didn’t absorb dirt or sand into its fabric, an essential feature if you’re taking a towel into the backcountry.

Made of a soft microsuede, this towel was consistently chosen as a top pick by those we asked to rate its comfort. It is soft and light, but still has a bit of texture, so it doesn’t feel slick against your skin the way a nanofiber towel like the Matador NanoDry Shower Towel does. The PackTowl seems built to last, with a nicely seamed edge that should hold up over time. On top of feeling soft, it dried our skin much more readily than the non-microfiber towels we tested, like the Coleman or Outlier. It even dried a bit more quickly than other microfiber products in our test group. We were impressed by how well it repelled sand and dirt from being absorbed into its fabric. The sand that did stick to the towel was easy to shake off—which wasn’t the case of some of the other models we tested that looked like dirty rags after just a short time at the beach.

In our drying-time test, the PackTowl dried much faster than most, with the exception of the linen towel and the Biospired Footprint, which beat the PackTowl’s dry time by 30 minutes. (The towels we tested dried in a range from 1 hour, 45 minutes to nearly 4 hours.) We noticed that the towels with an additional antimicrobial coating took a little longer to dry. We think the extra odor protection is worth the few extra minutes of drying time. As the PackTowl dried, some water initially beaded on the surface, but was then absorbed, compared with towels that still had visible water beads after almost an hour of drying. (Beads of water were a good indication of extended drying times.) Water also dispersed evenly through the towel rather than leaving wet spots, which likely contributed to its fast drying time. We dried the towels in overcast conditions, and noticed that at just over 1 hour, 30 minutes the PackTowl was only minimally damp, and could be packed back into its carrying case if you were in a rush to pack up and go.

We tested the PackTowl’s “body” size, which weighed 6.7 ounces, fairly average compared with the other suede-type towels, and measured 25 by 54 inches, just shy of being the same size as our standard bath towel, and larger than many of the towels in our testing pool.

Wirecutter staffers have owned this towel for multiple seasons and it continues to hold up, with no loose threads or unraveled seams after use.

We didn’t love the PackTowl’s pouch: it doesn’t attach easily to a backpack, and the zipper seemed flimsy. But the pouch is made of breathable fabric, so it won’t trap moisture the way a plastic bag or pouch might. Although the PackTowl is antimicrobial, it did have the slightest ocean water odor to it after our 48-hour smell test, which is not something we noticed in previous tests.

Costing about half the price of our top pick, the Rainleaf Microfiber Towel is a great choice for those that don’t want to shell out almost $30 for a towel. A major bonus is that unlike most of the inexpensive towels we considered, this one actually comes with an antimicrobial treatment and passed the smell test after being sealed up wet for two days. It’s also comfortable, easy to dry off with, and just as packable as the PackTowl.

It didn’t dry quite as fast as our top pick and that may be due to the fact that some of the water beaded off and remained on the surface before being absorbed directly into the towel. The size we tested (L) is also slightly smaller than some of the pricier options but still big enough to wrap around the average person’s body.

Because it is so inexpensive, there’s the option of upgrading to the XL or XXL sizes for just a few bucks more and still have it come in well below price of most other towels. On top of that, it has a functional carrying pouch that is both breathable and easy to fasten onto a backpack so you can pack the towel damp and hang it to dry when it’s time to hit the road.

That said, though it did well drying our testers at the beach, it didn’t handle sand as well as our top pick, leaving a good amount behind on both their skin and the towel itself. If you’re a serious outdoor adventurer who’s going to be putting it to work against the elements, we recommend a towel that can handle gritty, sticky stuff a bit better.

If size and volume aren’t issues and you’re looking for something more soft and comfortable, the PackTowl Luxe performed the best of the plush cotton-like microfiber towels. Not only did it dry the quickest of these towels, it was good at removing sand from the skin and didn’t absorb dirt and mud into the fabric. It also didn’t have any odor after the smell test. A few of the other thicker towels we tested simply reeked—testers used the term “rotten fish”—after a couple days crunched into a ball, but not the Luxe.

If comfort is a primary concern, this towel feels much closer to cotton, avoiding the slick skin-feel common to many microsuedes and nanofibers. As we did with our pick, the PackTowl Personal, we tested the extra-large “Body” size. Also like our pick, at this size the Luxe is a few inches larger than the others we tested of the same type, measuring 25 by 54 inches, offering that extra little bit of coverage.

It does come with a carrying pouch, and though not as stylish or durable as the Sea to Summit Pocket Towel ’s silicone carrying case, it’s adequate for what it needs to do. We consider this towel a solid option for car camping and day trips, when taking up a little extra space won’t matter.

Although durable and light, there’s an environmental downside to microsynthetic fibers: Every time you wash that gear, small quantities of its fibers are shed, ending up in our waterways and oceans. (Here’s a study from the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management on the issue.) For more about the problem and some advice on combating it, see our article Your Laundry Sheds Harmful Microfibers. Here’s What You Can Do About It.

We tested a standard white bath towel—the Fieldcrest Luxury Solid Towel, which has since been discontinued—that was the same size as the majority of the towels we tested. It performed as expected: It was great at drying skin and was comfortable, but it didn’t pack down and had a bit of a funky smell after our odor test. Surprisingly, it didn’t take that much longer to dry than some of the plusher microfiber models we tested and actually outperformed a few of the towels that are marketed specifically for camping.

Biospired Footprint Towel: This had been our runner-up pick, but the size we tested has cycled in and out of stock. If you do happen to run across one, it’s still a good towel, though. We had also tested, and dismissed, the Biospired Endurance Camping & Fitness Towel and the Biospired Trek Pack Towel; for what it’s worth, those towels also tend to have stock problems.

Matador NanoDry Shower Towel : For backcountry campers and hikers that are concerned about weight, this is by far the lightest towel we tested (2.4 ounces). It performed well, but it is very thin and not as comfortable as the others. We decided it was too specialized to be best for most people.

Outlier Grid Linen Towel : Made of a natural linen fabric, this towel was the fastest-drying towel, and it performed well at the beach. But it doesn’t pack down very small, doesn’t come with a carrying case but rather a thick elastic band, and had a faint smell after our odor test. Those drawbacks made it hard to justify its high price.

Sunland Microfiber Towel  (currently unavailable): One of the least expensive microfiber towels, but no antimicrobial treatment and very average performance.

Sea to Summit DryLite Towel : One of the slowest to dry. Another note of caution, many online reviews have reported a problem with the cobalt blue dye running. We didn’t run into this problem, but we tested an orange towel, so it’s likely the issue is with only the darker-colored towels. Another drawback is that the carrying case comes with a Velcro closure, making it possible to snag the fabric when maneuvering the towel into and out of the case.

Shandali Yoga Travel Towel  (currently unavailable): Average performance, no carrying case, and though it does have a little loop for hanging to dry, most of the towels we tested had a loop with a snap, making them more versatile.

YogaRat SportLite Sport + Bath Towel  (currently unavailable): Though this towel did dry quite quickly and was resistant to odor during our 48-hour test, the lack of an antibacterial treatment gave us odor concerns for people taking it on longer trips. And with no carrying case and a snapless loop, this towel was a few steps below our top choices in convenience.

Sea to Summit Tek Towel : Sand stuck to the towel, leaving it quite dirty. Drying time was slow.

REI Co-op Multi Towel  (currently unavailable, but we're looking into a possible new version): Everything stuck to this towel: dryer lint, grass, sand, and dirt, and even though we tested a darker color, it looked dirty after our day at the beach. It also didn’t smell great after our odor test, and it took over four hours to dry.

Lightload Towel : Not really built to be used multiple times, this towel is made of an almost paperlike viscose material, and although very small, once unpackaged it can’t be squished down to its original size (although it does fit in a smaller Ziploc bag). It is incredibly large though, dried quickly, and would probably perform as an ad-hoc firestarter or outdoor survival tool (non-cleanliness-oriented usage scenarios suggested by the manufacturer). Whether being able to set the world on fire is a worthwhile trade-off with this towel’s lack of odor resistance—it was the worst performer in our stink trial—is something we hope we’ll never have to decide.

Coghlan’s Deluxe Camp Towel (currently unavailable): This is the classic outdoor towel that’s been around campsites for years. Some backcountry campers still prefer these towels because they’re small, lightweight, and cheap, but they didn’t perform as well as the microfiber towels that we tested. They dry very slowly, stink up easily, and don’t feel good against the skin.

Coleman Camp Towel  (currently unavailable): Similar in nearly every aspect to the Coghlan’s towel, just with slightly different dimensions—neither is big enough to really function as a full-body wrap—this model also had the drawbacks of rough fabric, odor retention, and delayed drying. (It appears to have been discontinued.)

Most packable towels are designed to repel dirt and bacteria, so they don’t need to be cleaned after every use. Excessive washing can also break down the fabric and any additional antimicrobial technology the towel might be treated with. So, wash only when dirty and don’t dry your towel on high heat unless absolutely necessary; way better to hang it when you can and let the air take care of it.

This article was edited by Ria Misra and Christine Ryan.

Nicholas J. Bruce, Niko L. Hartline, Stephanie N. Karba, Elizabeth O. Ruff, Shreya U. Sonar, and Patricia A. Holden, Microfiber Pollution and the Apparel Industry , Bren School of Environmental Science and Management , September 30, 2016

Mark Knight, product designer for Mountain Equipment Co-opand member of the Outdoor Industry Association , email interview , April 21, 2017

Georgia Newsome, owner and operator of Coastal Bliss Adventure and Kilimanjaro Bliss , email interview , March 31, 2017

Craig Oliver, product manager for health and safety at Mountain Equipment Co-op , phone interview , March 29, 2017

What Are The Coolest New Small Gear Companies? , Outside , January 15, 2016

Anne Trafton, Tiny particles may pose big risk , MIT News , April 8, 2014

Meet your guide

Ebony Roberts

Further reading

The Best Gear for Travel

by Wirecutter Staff

We put in another year and tens of thousands more miles of travel to test the best travel gear—and we stand by last year’s choices alongside a few new picks.

Essential Gear for Traveling Solo

by Ria Misra

Traveling solo is freeing but poses some unique challenges. Wirecutter’s picks help you travel comfortably and securely—and bring home great pictures too.

The Best Beach and Surf Gear: Towels, Totes, Coolers, and More

by Kit Dillon

After six years of relaxing in the sand and playing in the surf, we’ve chosen the best picks to help you enjoy a perfect beach day.

The Best Duffle Bags

After lugging 34 duffles through airports, to beaches, and on weekend trips, we chose seven bags that’ll carry what you need carried in a range of scenarios.

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The Most Packable and Absorbent Travel Towels of 2024

For everything from hot spring trips to campground showers, you’ll never be sorry you packed a travel towel.

In This Article

• Our Top Picks
• Tips for Buying

Frequently Asked Questions

• Why Trust T+L

Travel + Leisure / Alli Waataja

A travel towel might seem like an unnecessary addition to your travel kit. After all, you have plenty of towels at home, and how often will you use a travel-specific towel? 

The answer: more than you think. Consider gym outings, beach days, backpacking excursions, extended road trips, frontcountry camping trips, and hostel stays. Need we say more? 

A travel towel is a fast-drying, absorbent accessory that takes up a fraction of the space as your at-home beach or bath towel. These are durable and made to get dirty on the road, and can be used multiple times between washes. Travel towels come in a range of sizes, from face towels to large beach towels, and are often antimicrobial, which means they won’t get stinky between washes. Do keep in mind that the absorbency, quick-drying, and packability of these towels means they’re less fluffy than your home towels. They’re usually polyester instead of cotton, but most are still super soft to the touch. 

Best Overall

Packtowl personal towel.

An antibacterial treatment helps prevent odors on this ultra-absorbent towel.

It doesn’t come with a storage bag.

This durable, fast-drying towel is incredibly absorbent, making it our top choice for travel, camping, and beach days. Sand and debris doesn’t cling to the fibers, so it’s easy to shake out after a day outside. The antibacterial treatment helps prevent odor buildup, and we were able to use this for a week straight during a road trip without any offensive smells. It comes in four sizes, from a washcloth-sized face towel to a generous 36 x 59-inch beach towel, and the standard “body size” towel is comparable to an at-home bath towel in size and absorbency. 

The only knock against this towel is that it used to come with a carry pouch, but doesn’t anymore. However, it rolls up small to fit in your pack or beach bag , and you can always use a spare mesh bag to transport it. We listed the price and dimensions for the body (large) option. 

The Details: 25 x 54 inches | 80 percent polyester, 20 percent nylon | 6.4 ounces | Machine washable

Best Budget

Wise owl outfitters camping towel.

It’s packable into its own carry case.

It’s not as odor-resistant as others on this list.

Compact, packable, and with a brushed-suede feeling finish, this microfiber towel is a great option for travelers and campers looking for an affordable travel towel. It has a hanging loop for drying (we clip it to the outside of our pack while hiking ), and it resists dirt and sand buildup better than cotton towels. This towel isn’t treated with any antimicrobial components though, so unless you fully dry it between uses and wash it regularly, it will start to smell. You can buy this in a medium, large, or extra large, and some options come in a set with a washcloth-size as well. We listed the price and dimensions for the large option. 

The Details: 24 x 48 inches | 80 percent polyester, 20 percent nylon | 5.3 ounces | Machine washable

Most Absorbent

Flow swim chamois.

It dries instantly after being wrung out.

There’s no full-size option.

These (almost) magical towels have long been a swimmer and triathlete's secret — when it comes to absorbency and rapid drying, nothing beats the humble swim chamois. Ultralight and ultra-absorbent, the swim chamois is used to quickly wick away water, and can be wrung out to near-instant dryness. The classic chamois is small (13 x 17 inches), but it does come in a larger 26 x 17-inch option. Most people use a standard chamois by drying one part of their body, wringing it out, then drying another part. You can also use these to dry off raincoats, pack covers, and other wet gear. The chamois packs into its own tube to help keep the material from getting stiff (just make sure it’s fully dry before sealing the tube), and it stayed fresh for the entire season we used it for swim workouts. We listed the price and dimensions for the standard size. 

The Details: 13 x 17 inches | PVA | 3.2 ounces | Machine or hand wash, avoid dryer 

Best Ultralight

Sea to summit airlite towel.

It’s half the weight and packed size of other travel towels.

Less material means it won’t absorb as much water as bulkier towels.

At 2.4 ounces, the Airlite makes taking a full-size towel backpacking not even seem like a luxury. This is the lightest offering from Sea to Summit, absorbing more than three times its own weight in water and drying fully in just a few hours in the sun. Sea to Summit cleverly designed their storage pouch to snap onto the towel, creating a hanging loop for easier drying. This compact towel rolls up into a palm-size pouch so small you have to be careful not to lose it in your pack . We listed the price and dimensions for the large size.

The Details: 48 x 24 inches | 85 percent polyester, 15 percent nylon | 2.4 ounces | Machine washable

Best for the Beach

Packtowl luxe towel.

It has a Polygiene antimicrobial treatment for maximum odor resistance.

At 16 ounces, this is a heavier towel.

Our beach choice had to be large, soft, and shake off sand and debris easily … and this towel hits all the notes. The looped terry construction feels comparable to a standard beach towel while allowing it to roll to half the size of a cotton one, saving space in your beach bag. It absorbs five times its weight in water, and dries quicker than standard towels while avoiding that mildew smell thanks to the Polygiene antimicrobial treatment. We listed the price and dimensions for the beach size. 

The Details: 36 x 59 inches | 85 percent polyester, 15 percent nylon | 16 ounces | Machine washable

Most Versatile

Rei co-op multi towel lite.

The ribbed construction helps clean off stubborn sweat and grime.

Color options are extremely limited.

Light enough to stash in your pack for backpacking, durable enough for extended frontcountry camping trips, and absorbent enough for a hot springs trip , this reasonably priced towel comes in three sizes, weighs just 6.5 ounces for the large, and sheds dirt with ease. We keep the 2.3-ounce medium version of this towel stashed in our vehicle to wipe off post-run sweat and grime, and a large version in our car camping bin. It comes with a convenient mesh carry pouch and resists odor buildup as long as you let it dry completely before packing it away. We listed the price and dimensions for the large size. 

The Details: 50 x 25 inches | 85 percent polyester, 15 percent nylon  | 6.5 ounces | Machine washable

Best Prints

Nomadix original towel.

This 72-inch towel offers plenty of coverage.

It’s not as soft as others on this list.

Would you like to dry off with a '90s-sitcom patterned towel? What about a leaf motif that looks like it belongs in the White Lotus theme song? Nomadix has you covered (literally) with their wide variety of fun and fantastical prints, all on a sizeable travel towel that stands up to season after season of use. This is one of the more rugged towels on the list, with an abrasion-resistant fabric that might not feel as soft as others, but can be used on all sorts of outdoor adventures . At 72 inches long, their original size is also bigger than other large towels on this list, giving you more coverage at pools and hot springs. We listed the price and dimensions for the original (large) size. 

The Details: 72 x 30 inches | Polyester, nylon | 19 ounces | Machine washable

Softest Feel

Sea to summit drylite towel.

The material has a buttery-soft, suede-like feel.

The large size is a few inches smaller than comparable towels.

Available in five sizes, from a 2.5-ounce hand towel to a 67-inch long full-body towel, this super soft travel towel won’t feel rough against your face, and the dish-towel size won’t scratch non-stick camp cookware. The hanging loop is easy to attach to drying lines or a pack for drying in the sun, and it’s machine washable to help keep it fresh. This towel is not treated to be antimicrobial, so it’s extra important to make sure it’s dry before packing it away. As with most ultra-absorbent towels, we recommend avoiding fabric softener when washing it as it can reduce the absorbent properties of the material. We listed the price and dimensions for the large size.

The Details: 47 x 24 inches | 80 percent polyester, 20 percent nylon | 2.2 ounces | Machine washable

Tips for Buying a Travel Towel

Look for convenient features like hanging loops and carry bags.

As with any purchase, bonuses like hanging loops and convenient carrying pouches add value and ease-of-use to travel towels. Carrying bags for travel towels often have secure snap or zippered closures, and most feature a breathable mesh side to keep the towel dry and avoid funky odor buildup. Hanging loops snap shut and can be used to securely hang the towel from a pack loop or clothesline for drying on the road or trail. 

Consider antimicrobial and odor-resistant properties

Antimicrobial treatments help reduce the spread of bacteria buildup and can keep mold and other microbes from developing, reducing the spread from material to skin. Antimicrobial fibers include ultrafine silver strands woven into the fabric, or a chemical treatment applied during the manufacturing process. 

Antimicrobial treatments are good to consider when shopping for a travel towel, as these are often used multiple times between washes, and it can be harder to fully dry them out. While all the towels we listed dry fast and resist odor buildup to some degree, a towel with antimicrobial or odor-resistant treatment stays fresh longer, and you have more wiggle room if you have to pack it before it’s 100 percent dry.

Know your absorbency needs

Most towels on this list absorb three to five times their weight in water, proportional to the size you choose. We listed the price and dimensions for the large option in our top picks, but most towels come in a variety of sizes, from hand towels to large beach towels. Pick the one you think will be the most useful. Will you mostly be wiping sweat from your face and drying your hands? A smaller towel will suffice. Plan on taking this to the hot springs or pool or using it at hostels? Opt for a full-body size. 

Most travel towels come in a range of sizes. A face towel (or washcloth size) is around 14 x 10 inches, a hand towel is slightly larger at around 30 x 15 inches, body towels will be at least 45 x 25, and a beach-sized travel towel comes in around 60 x 40 inches. These are smaller than standard towels, but travel towels have a higher absorbency rate and are made to pack down for convenient travel, whether you’re carrying it in a pack or a suitcase. The size you choose depends on what you’ll be using it for, but these are so portable and convenient that sizing up isn’t a bad idea. 

Travel towels made with a blend of polyester and nylon take less than half the time to dry as cotton towels. In the sun, most travel towels on this list can go from saturated to dry in less than 90 minutes after being gently wrung out. Some of them dry even faster. Indoors, travel towels will fully dry in about six hours. 

Unless otherwise specified, most travel towels are machine washable on a gentle cycle with standard detergent. With the exception of the Swim Chamois, all travel towels we listed can be dried on a gentle cycle in the dryer. However, they dry so quickly on their own you can also just hang them up. Avoid fabric softeners or other fabric treatments, as it can negatively impact the absorbency. 

Why Trust Travel + Leisure

Maggie Slepian is a Montana-based writer and editor with a decade of professional gear-testing experience in the outdoor world. She is an avid backpacker, bikepacker, skier, and camping fiend, heading out backpacking and frontcountry camping in all seasons. Maggie also travels throughout the year, and has written extensively about her packing gear and apparel strategies. 

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Spoonflower presents Vintage Travel Tea Towel Design Challenge

Ended   October 29, 2020

About this design:

View challenge details

Like previous years, all tea towel challenge entries will automatically be previewed on a Spoonflower Tea Towel during voting. Visit the blog to learn more about the ins and outs of formatting your entry to ensure a picture-perfect preview!

• Entries close Tue, Oct 20 at 12AM UTC . View the full timeline below.
• Designs will be viewed as a Tea Towel on the voting ballot. Acceptable repeat options for this challenge are Basic, Half-Drop, Half-Brick, Mirror, Center.
• Public designs previously uploaded on Spoonflower.com are not eligible for this contest. Designs do not require printed proofing to enter the contest.
• The popular vote determines the top 64 winning designs. Voters include Spoonflower artists and customers as well as the public.
• The top 64 designs receive prizes or benefits. View the full prize list below.
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Designed exclusively for our 30th anniversary, these waffle weave microfiber tea towels add style, convenience and sustainability in the kitchen.

Size: 65 cm x 35 cm / 25.59″ × 13.78″

Hang in your kitchen for a pop of color

Can be used to wipe hands, soak up spills, clean up crumbs and more

Great for helping to keep baked goods warm; simply cover the plate, dish or basket with a clean Tea Towel

Caring for microfiber

Wash dirty microfiber with a Norwex laundry detergent and avoid bleach, fabric softeners and dryer sheets.

Densely woven, superfine Norwex Microfiber physically removes up to 99% of bacteria from a surface with water alone when following proper care and use instructions

Earth-friendly – each Tea Towel is constructed using 5.1 recycled plastic bottles (500 ml)

Save money and protect the environment by reducing paper towel consumption and use of cotton

BacLock*, our exclusive micro silver agent, protects the cloth by inhibiting odor in the cloth, which means they’re ready to use again and again

STANDARD 100 by OEKO -TEX® certified, this product and its components have been tested against a list of over 350 harmful substances and passed, enabling you to make responsible decisions for you and your family

Waffle-weave microfiber in exclusive, limited-edition geometric and floral prints adds a pop of color and makes a beautiful addition to any home’s décor

Absorbent Norwex Microfiber provides style and convenience in the kitchen

A unique keepsake, they also make a great gift

Set of two means you always have one handy

While a tea towel is usually defined as “a cloth for drying dishes,” its origin in 18th century England was to help insulate warm tea pots – hence the name “tea towel”

In honor of our 30th anniversary, these Tea Towels are a true symbol of sustainability, innovation and celebration. They’re not only a beautiful memento but also a step toward a cleaner, safer, better way of living.

Waffle weave microfiber has more surface area than other weaves, which increases absorbency. The lightweight, breathable fabric also allows air to flow through more easily, so it dries fast.

With less lint than traditional cotton cloths, these towels help provide a friendlier environment for allergy-sensitive individuals

The problem

Though cute, typical tea towels aren’t very absorbent, so they’re not super useful when it comes to wiping your hands, drying dishes or soaking up little kitchen spills. Plus, they don’t always dry very quickly and can start to harbor a musty smell. And many of them are made from non-organic cotton, which is often polluted with harmful chemicals from pesticides as it grows.

Norwex solution

Stylish, absorbent and handy to have in the kitchen, our 30th anniversary Tea Towels are perfect for soaking up spills, drying dishes and adding a pop of Nordic-inspired color that complements any décor. BacLock* helps keep them fresher longer, and they’re made from 70% recycled microfiber yarn, which helps to keep plastic out of the environment and requires no harmful pesticides.

• Free gift ready packaging with every piece
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Collection: great as kitchen towels, dish towels or as a hand towel, tulips - kitchen dish towel & hand towel, poppy - kitchen dish towel & hand towel.

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The Worlds Most Absorbent Towels

Fun Prints Paired with Exceptional Performance!

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I purchased some of these at a local kitchen store over a year ago. They are super absorbent. Great bright colors. Has a tab to hang on a hook. Great gift for anyone. You won't be disappointed.Great waffle double sided fabric.

I love the design and the texture. It’s very absorbent too.

These dish towels are very absorbent. I absolutely love them.

I bought myself one pack several weeks ago and they are awesome and stick to everything. Bought another pack for myself and for our 3 kids as well.

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FREE SHIPPING AUSTRALIA WIDE ON ORDERS OVER $150

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SAND FREE | QUICK DRY | COMPACT Will and Wind towels boast a unique blend of fibers, with the highest GSM on the market, creating an irresistibly buttery soft touch with a silky glide. Featuring stunning photographs of iconic Aussie destinations and marine life, each towel brings a piece of Down Under to your life. Experience the difference and travel lighter, drier, and cozier with Will & Wind.

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I have purchased 14 towels all up, I have them in the caravan , on the jetskis and boat. They are truly great towels for drying. They also take up less room which is a bonus

Great products from Will and Wind every time 10/10

This new design is great, eye catching and like all the towels from Will & Wind roll up so small and compact. The ultimate travel towel.

Love this lightweight hooded towel! Ive purchased the beach mat, 2x towels and now the hooded towel and have loved every item!

Not a huge apparel shopper online, but when I saw the Yellow Fin design I had to get it and I'm so glad I did! Amazing quality, super super comfortable and the design looks epic. only problem is I should of ordered more :P

Compact, Space Saving, Convenience

Will and Wind Travel Towels have been designed large enough to wrap you in luxurious comfort, yet they fold down to a super compact size, making them ideal for space-saving travel and packing light. Whether you're heading to the beach, embarking on an adventure, or simply looking to maximize storage efficiency, our towels are your go-to companion. Experience the freedom of traveling without the burden of bulky towels, and enjoy the convenience of having a spacious, yet compact, essential item that effortlessly fits into your bag, caravan and cupboards.

The Epitome of Absorbency

Will and Wind Towels are specially crafted to absorb 7 times more than regular towels, ensuring a quick and efficient drying experience. Not only do they excel in drying you quickly, but they also boast a rapid drying capability themselves. No more soggy, sandy, heavy towels. Discover the perfect balance of absorbency and fast-drying properties with Will and Wind towels, revolutionizing your drying experience with every use.

Sustainability Meets Functionality

Will and Wind Towels are proudly crafted from recycled plastic bottles, reflecting our commitment as a small Australian business to minimize plastic waste and protect our environment. By giving new life to discarded materials, we contribute to the reduction of plastic ending up in landfills and oceans. Our towels are a testament to the belief that sustainability should never compromise on quality or performance. Experience the joy of wrapping yourself in a towel that not only embraces your comfort but also takes a stand for a cleaner, greener planet. With Will and Wind, we prove that by choosing eco-friendly options as a consumer, YOU can make a positive impact on our world. "If we can, we must!"

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10 Creative Uses for Tea Towels Around Your Home

Put your tea towels to work with these clever ideas, from wrapping gifts to stabilizing a cutting board.

Courtesy of Garmentory

If you're like us, you likely have an abundance of kitchen linens—dish towels at the ready to dry hands, aprons to keep your clothes clean while cooking, oven mitts to keep your hands safe, and tea towels to wipe down plates, counters, and everything in between. The wonderful thing about tea towels, in particular, is that they come in myriad patterns, colors, and motifs, adding a touch of whimsy to our kitchens. If you have too many tea towels to count, just know that you can use them for all sorts of things besides drying household items. Ahead, we rounded up some of the most common, expert-approved uses for tea towels, from providing stability under your cutting boards to lining your bread baskets.

• Jade Piper , operations manager, BetterCleans , a cleaning company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Bree Steele , interior designer and trade accounts manager, RJ Living , a housewares and furniture store with design services in Melbourne, Australia
• Lauren Saltman , professional organizer and owner at Living. Simplified. LLC , a home-organizing service based in New England

byanikona / 500px / Getty Images

Borrow from the popular Japanese practice of furoshiki (wrapping gifts in traditional cloths) and use pretty tea towels to present your hostess, holiday, or birthday gifts. "It's like presenting the host with two gifts in one," says Lauren Saltman, professional organizer and owner of Living. Simplified. LLC. "You can wrap a bottle of wine, beautiful candles, a lovely book, or other gift you are presenting."

Glass Protector

Tea towels are just light and soft enough to act as protection when moving drinking glasses, jars, or bottles. "If you’re planning on traveling or shipping some delicate jars or bottles, wrapping them up with soft and absorbent towels can really help cushion and protect your fragile items during transit," says Jade Piper, operations manager at BetterCleans. "They’ll keep everything secure and in one piece. Even works with homemade preserves or fancy wine bottles that you don’t want to get damaged."

Herb Drying

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While harvesting and storing herbs from your garden, use tea towels to help absorb moisture so they don't spoil—you can use this as part of your routine to dry out your herbs for future use. "To preserve their flavor and fragrance, lay them on a clean tea towel and let them dry in a well-ventilated area," says Piper. "The tea towel helps soak up any excess moisture. After a while, you can remove the dried herbs and store them for future use in your favorite dishes."

Bread Basket Liner

Lennart Weibull

Elevate your bread basket—instead of using paper napkins to line the basket, pop a tea towel in there instead. "Tea towels look lovely when you use them as liners for your bread basket," says Bree Steele, interior designer and trade accounts manager at RJ Living. "If you choose to do this, you’re giving a layer of insulation to keep the bread warm, but you’re also adding an elevated touch to the table."

Ever need help opening a really stubborn jar? A tea towel can easily help with that, providing just the right amount of grip needed to get it open. "The next time you find yourself struggling with a stubborn jar lid, grab a tea towel and fold it a few times to create a thick, cushioned grip," says Piper. "Then, wrap the towel around the lid and twist. The extra friction and padding should make it much easier to open the jar without putting too much strain on your hands."

Draft Stopper

Have you noticed a pesky draft coming from a window or door? Use a tea towel to stop it quickly. Roll it up tightly and place it along the bottom of the drafty door or window, suggests Piper.

Cutting Board Stabilizer

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Cutting boards slipping underneath you can be a true safety hazard, but using a tea towel underneath can provide just the right amount of grip to keep it from sliding. "When chopping on your cutting board, lay a slightly damp tea towel underneath to prevent the cutting board from moving ," says Saltman.

Salad Strainer Substitute

If you don't have a salad spinner or strainer, you can use a tea towel to dry your washed lettuce. "You can do this by getting a clean tea towel, putting your salads inside and wrapping them up, and spinning the tea towel around (do this outside!)," says Steele. "The force will let all of the liquid out, leaving you with dry veggies."

Upcycle for Craft Projects

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Once your tea towels have been thoroughly worn out, resist the urge to toss them—you can upcycle them into your craft projects instead. "If you collect your old tea towels, when you have enough one day, you can put them aside to sew together a series of new patchwork tea towels or even bags," says Steele. "Don’t be afraid to get creative with it!"

Curtain Tieback

Get creative with your home decor, and utilize pretty, matching tea towels as curtain tiebacks. "Fold it in half lengthwise, wrap it around the curtain panel, and tie in a knot or bow," says Piper.

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The Moscow Metro Museum of Art: 10 Must-See Stations

There are few times one can claim having been on the subway all afternoon and loving it, but the Moscow Metro provides just that opportunity.  While many cities boast famous public transport systems—New York’s subway, London’s underground, San Salvador’s chicken buses—few warrant hours of exploration.  Moscow is different: Take one ride on the Metro, and you’ll find out that this network of railways can be so much more than point A to B drudgery.

The Metro began operating in 1935 with just thirteen stations, covering less than seven miles, but it has since grown into the world’s third busiest transit system ( Tokyo is first ), spanning about 200 miles and offering over 180 stops along the way.  The construction of the Metro began under Joseph Stalin’s command, and being one of the USSR’s most ambitious building projects, the iron-fisted leader instructed designers to create a place full of svet (radiance) and svetloe budushchee (a radiant future), a palace for the people and a tribute to the Mother nation.

Consequently, the Metro is among the most memorable attractions in Moscow.  The stations provide a unique collection of public art, comparable to anything the city’s galleries have to offer and providing a sense of the Soviet era, which is absent from the State National History Museum.  Even better, touring the Metro delivers palpable, experiential moments, which many of us don’t get standing in front of painting or a case of coins.

Though tours are available , discovering the Moscow Metro on your own provides a much more comprehensive, truer experience, something much less sterile than following a guide.  What better place is there to see the “real” Moscow than on mass transit: A few hours will expose you to characters and caricatures you’ll be hard-pressed to find dining near the Bolshoi Theater.  You become part of the attraction, hear it in the screech of the train, feel it as hurried commuters brush by: The Metro sucks you beneath the city and churns you into the mix.

With the recommendations of our born-and-bred Muscovite students, my wife Emma and I have just taken a self-guided tour of what some locals consider the top ten stations of the Moscow Metro. What most satisfied me about our Metro tour was the sense of adventure .  I loved following our route on the maps of the wagon walls as we circled the city, plotting out the course to the subsequent stops; having the weird sensation of being underground for nearly four hours; and discovering the next cavern of treasures, playing Indiana Jones for the afternoon, piecing together fragments of Russia’s mysterious history.  It’s the ultimate interactive museum.

Top Ten Stations (In order of appearance)

Kievskaya station.

Kievskaya Station went public in March of 1937, the rails between it and Park Kultury Station being the first to cross the Moscow River.  Kievskaya is full of mosaics depicting aristocratic scenes of Russian life, with great cameo appearances by Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin.  Each work has a Cyrillic title/explanation etched in the marble beneath it; however, if your Russian is rusty, you can just appreciate seeing familiar revolutionary dates like 1905 ( the Russian Revolution ) and 1917 ( the October Revolution ).

Mayakovskaya Station

Mayakovskaya Station ranks in my top three most notable Metro stations. Mayakovskaya just feels right, done Art Deco but no sense of gaudiness or pretention.  The arches are adorned with rounded chrome piping and create feeling of being in a jukebox, but the roof’s expansive mosaics of the sky are the real showstopper.  Subjects cleverly range from looking up at a high jumper, workers atop a building, spires of Orthodox cathedrals, to nimble aircraft humming by, a fleet of prop planes spelling out CCCP in the bluest of skies.

Novoslobodskaya Station

Novoslobodskaya is the Metro’s unique stained glass station.  Each column has its own distinctive panels of colorful glass, most of them with a floral theme, some of them capturing the odd sailor, musician, artist, gardener, or stenographer in action.  The glass is framed in Art Deco metalwork, and there is the lovely aspect of discovering panels in the less frequented haunches of the hall (on the trackside, between the incoming staircases).  Novosblod is, I’ve been told, the favorite amongst out-of-town visitors.

Komsomolskaya Station

Komsomolskaya Station is one of palatial grandeur.  It seems both magnificent and obligatory, like the presidential palace of a colonial city.  The yellow ceiling has leafy, white concrete garland and a series of golden military mosaics accenting the tile mosaics of glorified Russian life.  Switching lines here, the hallway has an Alice-in-Wonderland feel, impossibly long with decorative tile walls, culminating in a very old station left in a remarkable state of disrepair, offering a really tangible glimpse behind the palace walls.

Dostoevskaya Station

Dostoevskaya is a tribute to the late, great hero of Russian literature .  The station at first glance seems bare and unimpressive, a stark marble platform without a whiff of reassembled chips of tile.  However, two columns have eerie stone inlay collages of scenes from Dostoevsky’s work, including The Idiot , The Brothers Karamazov , and Crime and Punishment.   Then, standing at the center of the platform, the marble creates a kaleidoscope of reflections.  At the entrance, there is a large, inlay portrait of the author.

Chkalovskaya Station

Chkalovskaya does space Art Deco style (yet again).  Chrome borders all.  Passageways with curvy overhangs create the illusion of walking through the belly of a chic, new-age spacecraft.  There are two (kos)mosaics, one at each end, with planetary subjects.  Transferring here brings you above ground, where some rather elaborate metalwork is on display.  By name similarity only, I’d expected Komsolskaya Station to deliver some kosmonaut décor; instead, it was Chkalovskaya that took us up to the space station.

Elektrozavodskaya Station

Elektrozavodskaya is full of marble reliefs of workers, men and women, laboring through the different stages of industry.  The superhuman figures are round with muscles, Hollywood fit, and seemingly undeterred by each Herculean task they respectively perform.  The station is chocked with brass, from hammer and sickle light fixtures to beautiful, angular framework up the innards of the columns.  The station’s art pieces are less clever or extravagant than others, but identifying the different stages of industry is entertaining.

Baumanskaya Statio

Baumanskaya Station is the only stop that wasn’t suggested by the students.  Pulling in, the network of statues was just too enticing: Out of half-circle depressions in the platform’s columns, the USSR’s proud and powerful labor force again flaunts its success.  Pilots, blacksmiths, politicians, and artists have all congregated, posing amongst more Art Deco framing.  At the far end, a massive Soviet flag dons the face of Lenin and banners for ’05, ’17, and ‘45.  Standing in front of the flag, you can play with the echoing roof.

Ploshchad Revolutsii Station

Novokuznetskaya Station

Novokuznetskaya Station finishes off this tour, more or less, where it started: beautiful mosaics.  This station recalls the skyward-facing pieces from Mayakovskaya (Station #2), only with a little larger pictures in a more cramped, very trafficked area.  Due to a line of street lamps in the center of the platform, it has the atmosphere of a bustling market.  The more inventive sky scenes include a man on a ladder, women picking fruit, and a tank-dozer being craned in.  The station’s also has a handsome black-and-white stone mural.

Here is a map and a brief description of our route:

Start at (1)Kievskaya on the “ring line” (look for the squares at the bottom of the platform signs to help you navigate—the ring line is #5, brown line) and go north to Belorusskaya, make a quick switch to the Dark Green/#2 line, and go south one stop to (2)Mayakovskaya.  Backtrack to the ring line—Brown/#5—and continue north, getting off at (3)Novosblodskaya and (4)Komsolskaya.  At Komsolskaya Station, transfer to the Red/#1 line, go south for two stops to Chistye Prudy, and get on the Light Green/#10 line going north.  Take a look at (5)Dostoevskaya Station on the northern segment of Light Green/#10 line then change directions and head south to (6)Chkalovskaya, which offers a transfer to the Dark Blue/#3 line, going west, away from the city center.  Have a look (7)Elektroskaya Station before backtracking into the center of Moscow, stopping off at (8)Baumskaya, getting off the Dark Blue/#3 line at (9)Ploschad Revolyutsii.  Change to the Dark Green/#2 line and go south one stop to see (10)Novokuznetskaya Station.

Check out our new Moscow Indie Travel Guide , book a flight to Moscow and read 10 Bars with Views Worth Blowing the Budget For

Jonathon Engels, formerly a patron saint of misadventure, has been stumbling his way across cultural borders since 2005 and is currently volunteering in the mountains outside of Antigua, Guatemala.  For more of his work, visit his website and blog .

Photo credits:   SergeyRod , all others courtesy of the author and may not be used without permission