Who Has A Really Great Towel?

[Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker]

It seems we don’t talk about this a lot, for some reason. I am convinced that one of the most important ingredients for a really great shave is having a really great towel, but I definitely haven’t found ‘the one’ yet. It seems it’s not so easy to find the perfect shaving towel, and shaving vendors don’t seem to focus on them much. So who among you has a shaving towel you really like, where did you get it, and what do you like about it?

Also, do any of you have strong preferences for a shaving towel? Material, colour, softness, thickness, size, logos vs plain, or any other features that matter to you?

Finally, does anyone here possibly have towel acquisition disorder? Is that a thing? Should we make it a thing?

Who has the best face towel? I do I do I do, me me me!

What qualifications do I have, that can make me say without a shadow of a doubt, that this is the best towel? Answer... Absolutely none! Its just a matter of opinion, and a matter of pride, I really like this face towel.

What about you?

 

[Tomo]

I’ve gotten into linen towels recently. Irish linen from Ferguson’s is about as good as it gets. They’re soft and absorbent without being fluffy. Linen towels are fast drying and virtually lint free. It’s good stuff. They also seem to stay fresher for longer.

 

[Rayotech]

I use whatever towels my wife has hanging up in the bathroom at the time. Same when working on one of the cars, for some reason she gets a bit mad when I do?

 

[ralph029]

I never got into the whole hotel towel collecting thing. All of them have flossed dozens of butt cracks before you encounter them, wouldn’t you think? Surely that traumatizes the cotton fibres, or something, and makes the towel perform below its potential. In my mind it does, anyway.

Bleach, lots and lots of bleach

 

[cryhavoc]

I have great towels, have no idea who makes them or where they came from. My wife buys them and allows me to use them so I'm not going to complain.

 

[sarimento1]

Where did you get these from? I just bought the green striped from Amazon (made by Diane) and they were crap. Full of lint after multiple washings and starting to fall apart. Liked the thickness (which was thin) but the lint was an issue.

that was long ago. perhaps west coast shaving, italian barber or royalshave.
the diane towels on amazon look perfect; can't imagine why you got so much lint.
how did you wash/dry them?
did you try to contact the vendor?

 

[Sweeney_]

Who has the best face towel? I do I do I do, me me me!

What qualifications do I have, that can make me say without a shadow of a doubt, that this is the best towel? Answer... Absolutely none! Its just a matter of opinion, and a matter of pride, I really like this face towel.

What about you?

I agree and love mine also, though it's finally showing it's age at this point. When I first received it though... super soft, thick and luxurious.

 

[Old Hippie]

Like many people who survived the Great Depression my mother could be a bit of a hoarder. For the last 18 years we've been working on wearing out all the towels and washcloths she left. We're about halfway there. By the time I'm 80 I should be throwing out the last shreds of the last one. Some of them I recognize from my childhood, which is amusing that they've lasted this long.

I also use old hand/dish towels from the kitchen. We occasionally buy nice ones and replace the ratty old ones, which become wiping rags or if they're still in decent shape I'll use them in the Lather Pit. I always have a hand towel sitting by and a dry washcloth folded on the counter. The razor goes on the washcloth, gradually dampening it. I also use the washcloth to snag dribbles of lather heading for eyes or ears, as a traction aid for skin stretching, and finally to polish the water and lather off the mirror and dry the counter and around the sink once I'm done.

My last venture into replacing dish towels took me to a large chain home-goods store. I found some lovely cotton towels and bought a whack of them in bright primary colours. Now, of course, having realized they'd work in the Lather Pit I got back to the store and they've changed out the stock.

I did find some nice hard-weave towels that I can use for lining bannetons, however...

O.H.

 

[Quaznoid]

Towel? Clearly, B&Bers have run out of things to talk about.

 

[Slock]

Don’t Panic and Always Carry a Towel.

Towel Day - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Old Hippie]

Towel? Clearly, B&Bers have run out of things to talk about.

Nope. Now we're talking about towels.

O.H.

 

[timetofly]

Interesting thread with some great ideas!
I really need to get away from using Bounty paper towels.

 

[Jayboz]

that was long ago. perhaps west coast shaving, italian barber or royalshave.
the diane towels on amazon look perfect; can't imagine why you got so much lint.
how did you wash/dry them?
did you try to contact the vendor?

Thanks. Ill take a look at places you mentioned.

I just followed manufacturer directions to wash twice in hot water/tumble dry low. Still lint all over, repeated process but remained the same. Easy return on amazon.

 

[CCS]

I’ve gotten into linen towels recently. Irish linen from Ferguson’s is about as good as it gets. They’re soft and absorbent without being fluffy. Linen towels are fast drying and virtually lint free. It’s good stuff. They also seem to stay fresher for longer.

And, holy cow! Those are some expensive products!

 

[Mike M]

I have to stop reading these types of threads, today I found myself on a store fondling towels wondering which one would make the perfect shave towel before I came to my senses and left

 

[KenM]

I have to stop reading these types of threads, today I found myself on a store fondling towels wondering which one would make the perfect shave towel before I came to my senses and left

Yup. Yesterday I was using one of the the salon towels I got at Sally's thinking "these really aren't that nice". Then remembered I bought a twelve pack. Rabbit hole dodged...probably.

 

[Mr. Shavington]

I have a thought that my shaving towels need not be the regular hand towels that we have as a family, but they could be my own - particular to me and my shaving ritual. One of the nice aspects of traditional wet shaving is having things in the bathroom that are mine, and exclusively for my use. Wet shaving has enabled me to stake a corner of our bathroom countertop and emplace items that are only mine and which provide evidence that I, too, live there. My razor, my brush, my shaving soap, and - why not? - my shaving towel. I wish to be more than just another toothbrush in my household.

Family life, as everyone knows, boils down to a battle for territory, and this is how the man carves out a distinct place in the household, and declares, “here lives a man”.

You could also get a pipe, or a pair of slippers, or your own armchair, or you could commandeer the garage and get some tools if you are the type. If life has been very kind to you, you may even have your own study. I believe this is a fundamental need that we men have. That’s why I think it’s important to find the right shaving towel. When I’m gone there will be my razor and my shaving towel, which will prove that I existed.

 

[silverlifter]

When I’m gone there will be my razor and my shaving towel, which will prove that I existed.

When I go, I'm doing the pharaoh thing and taking it with me. They'll dig me up in centuries to come and--from their genetically engineered whiskerless, joyless faces--will say, "oh, one off those wet shaving fools!"

 

[linty1]

I never got into the whole hotel towel collecting thing. All of them have flossed dozens of butt cracks before you encounter them, wouldn’t you think? Surely that traumatizes the cotton fibres, or something, and makes the towel perform below its potential. In my mind it does, anyway.

Or does it work more like a boar brush and the more butt cracks it flosses the softer it gets with the split towel loop ends? And to "break it in faster" one needs to simply soak it in water and then saw it (vigorously) in said crack for a minute and repeat a few times? (I'm joking btw)

I'm all seriousness, I just use whatever bath towel I have going at the time. I do have a ATT towel that is sort of my "drying station" but that's it.

 

[Mr. Shavington]

Or does it work more like a boar brush and the more butt cracks it flosses the softer it gets with the split towel loop ends? And to "break it in faster" one needs to simply soak it in water and then saw it (vigorously) in said crack for a minute and repeat a few times? (I'm joking btw)

I'm all seriousness, I just use whatever bath towel I have going at the time. I do have a ATT towel that is sort of my "drying station" but that's it.

Oh no. Now we’re gonna get a bunch of towel break-in tips from people. Probably based on mistranslations of Italian barber’s methods, and people will be putting their towels in the fridge.

I suspect butt-crack-flossing is more than enough to break a towel in.