towel off!

topic number seven: towels for the taking

I have always wondered exactly who decided on the size of bathroom towels. From guest towels and hand towels to bath towels and bath sheets, these categories seem pretty self explanatory. However, for me, they are a bit misconceived.

I don't know about you, but why buy bath towels for your body when they are only big enough to wrap around your head? Let's call bath towels what they really are! Thus, I have stopped stocking up on head towels and have bought big beautiful bath sheets instead.

Several years ago, cousin Joey introduced me to Williams-Sonoma Home's bath sheets-800 gram/100% Turkish cotton towels. These large towels are thick, highly absorbent and are very durable. I then discovered Waterworks' bath sheets during my stay with cousins Don and Steve. These towels are wonderful too, known for their excellence and luxurious feel.

Whether Turkish or Egyptian cotton, it is the percentage of content as well as the length of the cotton staple (fiber) that factor into a towel's quality. It is well worth the investment- both in time and money to find the ideal bath mate.

I also find that hand towels are too big for hands and too little for hair. So I think they should be renamed facial towels instead. And as for traditional guest towels...don't you think there is a disconnect drying one's hands on decorative embossing and fringe?

Here is a riddle: there are two guest towels in the powder room and you are 1 of 12 guests which will need to use them. Which part of which towel is yours to use? And how many different types of germs can be spread from guest 1 to guest 12? I hate riddles as I could never figure them out. Instead, I prefer washcloths or cloth-like paper towels, stocking the powder room with one to two dozen cloths at a time.

So before bringing home yet another towel "set" (aka washcloth, facial and head towel), you may want to re-examine your towel needs both in quality and size, tissue to toga.

cozy towels

In the discussion about towels, it really is a towel off between my mother and me. I don't like bath sheets. I just don't. I prefer smaller, more absorbent towels that fit just right . . . and can also be used for your hair.

I have had some towel horror stories in my day. I don't even know if I should bring up the Nail Polish Fiasco of '99. After spilling the ruby red nail polish all over the white bathroom tile, I proceed to clean up the pools of liquid with the freshly folded white hand towels on the counter. I don't know how my mom got through that one . . . or the red out of the grout.

The most recent towel disaster was last year when I ordered linens from school. Using a company that shall remain nameless, my mother and I selected some blue sheets, a blue comforter, and various sizes of blue towels. Apart from being very, very blue (see "invasion of the throw pillows, September), the towels did not absorb a drop. Not one. They just pushed the water all around.

Maybe I just don't like towels. Or maybe it's that I don't really like using towels. I may be a Pisces, but I am not at home in the water and I really dislike that in between place--not quite wet, not quite dry. Unpleasant.

Fortunately, my mother has a solution to fix all ills, especially for persuading small children (and 15 year olds) to take a bath. Put the towel in the drier for a few minutes before you get out. Nothing better than a cozy embrace from a pleasantly warm towel.