Microfibre towels

[BOAC]

I have been hearing some highly recommended comments about micro fibre towels which are ideal after having a shower. Various sources say that they are highly absorbent and quick to dry after use. Are the claims true?

 

Trying to find one however, is not as plain sailing as I thought. There are those that claim to be microfibre but examining the specs some of them are 35% cotton, so are THEY true microfibre?

 

So, if anyone owns one and recommends it please post a link for me and anyone else that wishes to buy one, and one that is in stock in the UK because there seems to be a shortage - which infers they are in demand.

 

(Dunelm do not stock them )

 

Having said all the above I just found  THIS

 

(Thanks for the tip Sam)

Edited December 22, 2020 by BOAC

[SamD]

Be careful of those with a metal press stud in the hanging loop.  The press stud does a good job of wounding your back and the following morning the loop kindly removes yesterday's scab.

[Ern]

We have been using them for a good few years firstly in the caravan and more recently at home. We have large ones for the bathroom at home and medium for the shower in the caravan.  Also hand towels. We normally buy them from Decathlon on line and their brand name is Nabaiji. They are light weight, absorb well, dry quickly, and ideal for winter at home as well as long term caravanning when laundry can be tricky.

[Laurent]

Agree with Ern. Work ok for us. Got all mine from all sizes to bath/beach size to hand towel from Decathlon shops in France. They have UK shops & online sales as well. Ideal for caravanning as they fold up small & dry quickly. We use them at home as well.
 

The type we have are thin smooth ones. Also available in fleecy but cost more & take up more room.

[Silversurf]

7 minutes ago, Ern said:

We have been using them for a good few years firstly in the caravan and more recently at home. We have large ones for the bathroom at home and medium for the shower in the caravan.  Also hand towels. We normally buy them from Decathlon on line and their brand name is Nabaiji. They are light weight, absorb well, dry quickly, and ideal for winter at home as well as long term caravanning when laundry can be tricky.

My girlfriend has used these for years and kept pestering me to try one, I'm old school ordinary towel,  but never use fabric softener on them because they don't absorb water as well.

 

But she persevered and got me one, they are OK , dry well after using, but have an odd feel at first due to the smooth texture, much like having a towel made from good chamois leather. 🤣

 

Other than that it's OK,  I use it now and then depending on when it gets to the top of the towel stack.

 

 

[Ern]

I forgot to mention, we use mainly the fluffy ones, but we also have some sport ones which are intended for swimmers and they are very very absorbent. Personally I dont like the sport ones as much because they feel more like a chamois as Silversurf mentioned. I think the sport ones are dearer too.

Edited December 22, 2020 by Ern

[The road toad]

You can't beat a good, traditional cotton towel! And they are more environmentally friendly.

[AWanderingLancastrian]

Way back in 2006 I went over to Canada (Toronto/Kingston) for a one month long visit with Ms AWL the then Ms TheTravellingRooster,

One of the visits that was conducted was to Canadian Tire and whilst there I was introduced to their Micro Fibre Auto Cloths/Towels that were well established in the car detailing world.

 

They appeared like and felt like Mole Skin and did a really fine job of buffing up after applying my chosen car polish of the day (Mer).

The absorption rate of water was OK but nothing spectacular but there again I did not by them for their absorption rate.

The first lot were 300mmx300mm with a second  purchase some 6 months later being 350mmx350mm but they were of a slightly thinner feel.

 

My latest discovery was truly the most amazing cloth that I have ever seen and used - it is not a Micro Fibre cloth - it is an artificial chamois that goes under the brand name of Innotec Aquatec 500 (Art. Nr. 04.1705).

I paid £8.20 for it from my Mercedes Benz Independent/Specialist,the cloth is 425mmx320mm after the first use - it must never be allowed to dry out and comes with a dedicated hard plastic container for storage.

Do not fall foul of some of the RIP-OFF prices that are on E'bay.

 

The current best deal would appear to be 3 items for £27.95 including postage.

Edited December 22, 2020 by AWanderingLancastrian
Additional info

[P101]

We have several from Lifeventure.

 

https://www.lifeventure.com/product-search?search_api_views_fulltext=Towel

 

Also cheaper ones available from Decathlon and other sports shops but imo these are the best quality.

 

Now what would I prefer. A microfibre towel or a giant bath sheet. Absolutely the latter but the microfibre are very good at absorbing and the weight reduction is the reason. They weigh next to nothing whereas towels are quite heavy...

 

[BOAC]

1 hour ago, The road toad said:

You can't beat a good, traditional cotton towel! And they are more environmentally friendly.

 

 

But a swine to dry sometimes

 

[beejay]

56 minutes ago, AWanderingLancastrian said:

 

 

My latest discovery was truly the most amazing cloth that I have ever seen and used - it is not a Micro Fibre cloth - it is an artificial chamois that goes under the brand name of Innotec Aquatec 500 (Art. Nr. 04.1705).

I paid £8.20 for it from my Mercedes Benz Independent/Specialist,the cloth is 425mmx320mm after the first use - it must never be allowed to dry out and comes with a dedicated hard plastic container for storage.

Do not fall foul of some of the RIP-OFF prices that are on E'bay.

 

 

 

 

 

Presumably, it's dry in the container when purchased and Immotec website mentions nothing about not allowing  it to dry out in the instructions.  Keeping a damp cloth in an closed container seems a recipe for mould growth.

Edited December 22, 2020 by beejay

[daveat92]

I have both cotton and microfibre towels.

When travelling, or in the van, I use the microfibre because they dry quickly and pack small.

But for comfort, the cotton ones are better, so I use those at home.

 

[Ukuman]

Another vote for the Decathlon ones. Great value, absorbent, dry quickly, weigh less and take up less space.

[JTQ]

Used them in van for many years, Lifeventure's larger heavier type.

Primarily because they dry so well after use, though still dry our bodies tolerably well.

 

We don't try with a van shower to emulate home showering, it simply can't. To us it is a functional job, not a lingering luxury indulgence, including that sinking into copious folds of  virtually new terry towelling.

 

We also like microfibre "flannels", and following naval practice use these to all but dry the water off ourselves, all to minimise living with overly wet towels, nearly impossible when caravanning out of main season, definitely if terry cotton.

 

In practice they are so cheap it is worth a try, but you need to accept they are not the same as those top hotel bath sheets. Even if not for you, they still make great car washing, drying off  cloths, how ours see out their final days.

[conquest]

This question about micro fibre towels came up several years ago.

 

A poster recommended towels from Mountain Warehouse.

 

We took the recommendation and bought one each.

 

Really cheap ( and 15% discount for CMC members).

 

Two years on and we are still using them. If they ever wear out, we shall purchase same again, and they do save  weight,  hanging in the bathroom at the rear of the caravan.

 

ps-for drying oneself it is  more of a patting motion than the sliding motion of conventional towels.

 

[AWanderingLancastrian]

3 hours ago, beejay said:

 

Presumably, it's dry in the container when purchased and Immotec website mentions nothing about not allowing  it to dry out in the instructions.  Keeping a damp cloth in an closed container seems a recipe for mould growth.

 

Hi beejay. the product comes Bone Dry in a tubular shaped lidded container that is vented at the opposite end to the lid.

I have mine now for some 8 months and there have been absolutely no signs of damp either on the product or inside of the storage tube.

The 'Care Instructions' are in small print (1 of six languages) on the container.

The absorption rate of water after washing/rinsing the car is amazing - I am sure that is as equally affective on a caravan body/windows.

Edited December 22, 2020 by AWanderingLancastrian
Additional info

[Pebble]

Good selection at Paragon. Been using their products for years including large microfibre towels as throws on the front sofas as they "grip" the cushions and don't slip or move.

 

https://paragonmicrofibre.com/product-category/towels/?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=Search&gclid=CjwKCAiAz4b_BRBbEiwA5XlVVvOzqScE0bGSn4fC0iHbpdrCWzUKEJIp9-TqUamxSlj9U35bUPSDcRoCCCAQAvD_BwE

[BOAC]

Well, after trying out microfibre towels, cotton hand towels, bath towels, string dish cloths (Bear with me on this) flannels and all combinations thereof my personal conclusions are :-

 

Microfibre towels just do not cut it. The Mountain Warehouse ones I bought do not dry as effectively as cotton and leave my bod damp plus they don't 'feel' nice. Now cut up for polishing cloths!

 

I don't like a flannel for the showering cycle, so I use a string dishcloth. I like the slightly rougher feel  instead of the smooth feel of a flannel and I know the string dishcloth leaves me feeling 'cleaner'.

 

After showering, I use the flannel for initial drying wringing it out as I use it if necessary. The advantages of using a flannel for the initial dry is that it leaves the cotton towel barely damp which follows the flannel dry off.  I use  a cotton hand towel (90 cm x 40 cm) because they are convenient to dry, wash and store than larger towels.

 

If you consider the drying difficulties that maybe encountered on trips, the above method is the least trouble - at least - for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SamD]

All Talk, Talk, Talk.  Methinks we should see it in action!

[ericfield]

I’ve used micro fibre towels., while the wife uses traditional fluffy ones.

Yes microfibre is quicker to dry after use, but I’ve never liked the fact they cling to the wet body due to their lack of bulk. This makes them harder to move around the body and being an impatient person... I end up not completely drying myself.  I ended up ‘finishing off’ with her towel. So back to fluffy towels.
 

We tackled the issue of towel drying differently. We don’t get them that wet in the first place. By using a flannel or sponge to remove excess water while standing in the shower, it significantly reduces the load the towel has to handle. Using this technique we can share a towel and it still doesn’t feel especially wet.

 

We’ve  also gone for smaller towels as the outer edges of big bath towels never get used.

 

[Ern]

21 hours ago, ericfield said:

I’ve used micro fibre towels., while the wife uses traditional fluffy ones.

Yes microfibre is quicker to dry after use, but I’ve never liked the fact they cling to the wet body due to their lack of bulk. This makes them harder to move around the body and being an impatient person... I end up not completely drying myself.  I ended up ‘finishing off’ with her towel. So back to fluffy towels.
 

We tackled the issue of towel drying differently. We don’t get them that wet in the first place. By using a flannel or sponge to remove excess water while standing in the shower, it significantly reduces the load the towel has to handle. Using this technique we can share a towel and it still doesn’t feel especially wet.

 

We’ve  also gone for smaller towels as the outer edges of big bath towels never get used.

 

We have the smooth ones for visits to the leisure centre (compact) and the rough ones for the caravan and house (comfortable but bulkier). 

[Woodentop]

Try TKMaxx which is I think where we got ours.

 

A tip: microfibre is also superb to clean your glasses but they need moisture to work properly so breathe on them. Vileda (and German cuttlery manufacturer WMF) do such cloths in very very fine weave which not only works on glass or glasses but is also brilliant on stainless steel.

 

A microfibre duster, mitt, or pad is also the easiest thing to use to remove fumes smear on the inside of the car windows.

[Hairyspinner]

I got my microfibre towels about 2 years ago from Mountain Warehouse. They are the thicker ones, tried the cheaper thin ones which I just didn’t like. They dry very well in the Valencia bathroom. 
Guess I might cut up the thin ones as another poster suggested to clean the car etc.