.. to only like thin, hard towels?

[NotTheBelleoftheBall]

We have a broad selection of puffy, fluffy towels... they look smart on the towel rack, but I hate them.

I have a secret stash of old, hard, towels, shoved at the back of our linen cupboard, two dating back to university (18 years) I still see them as pink and violet. To give you some idea of how old and weathered these towels are, DH thought they were both meant to be grey until I asked him if he knew where the pink one was. I also haven't school swimming towel (which must be 30 years old).

I also quite like a hamam towel (basically a large tea towel).

Is it just me? Am I some kind of masochist? Or is it established fact that fluffy towels are good for looking at, but gnarled ones are better for drying?

Oh I agree! Fluffy ones, treated with fabric conditioner, look nice but feel kind of plasticky I think, and don't mop up the water like an untreated one.

I agree. I like my towels to be hard and rough. I keep soft ones for guests.

YANBU.

I only like roughed-up long-fibre Egyptian cotton towels.

Hate those soft plushy things.

I agree. I've got some super M&S ones so good quality but hard. They feel like they dry you more effectively and more hygienic. They also do still look great on the towel rack. I don't have a tumble dryer so that's maybe why they're hard, but I hate towel fluff. Hate it.

I thought I was alone. Love the feeling of a layer of skin leaving as I dry myself with a rough, old towel.

Omg you are being v unreasonable! It's like drying with sand paper! Soft and fluffy all the way...

Me too! I never put my towels in the tumble dryer as it makes them too soft. The best thing is drying them outside.

Also if they are nice and hard, when they start to soften it's a good indication that they need to be washed. Fluffy towels always feel dirty to me.

I think it would tell me that there's something wrong with your skin.

You'd never put a cardboard towel near a newborn's skin would you? Why does it feel good to scratch and scrape?

Love yourself a little, buy some moisturizer.

I love rough towels. Fluffy ones are useless imo.

At home, I'm not so bothered. But after swimming, I like a good scrubby towel, so use an elderly terry towelling nappy square as my first dry, then stand on it and dry again with a hammam - you feel so dry so quickly.

I also have my childhood swimming towel in the cupboard, with my name tape firmly stitched in!

I've told DH we need a tumble dryer for washing (future hypothetical) nappes and baby-gros but actually I mostly want it so I can fluff up my towels.

Love a hard towel. Haven't had one for years.

Me too. Soft ones don't absorb the water!

I am ALL about towels, and our towels are nothing short of fabulous.

BUT.

My favourite hair towel is the crappy thin baby towel with the kind of hood pocket thing that came free in the Bounty bag when DD1 was born. It's so thin and stiff. Much more useful and absorbent, as well as easier to tuck into a turban than the big thick fancy ones.

So you are definitely NBU, OP.

Yep, rough towels here too...well for me anyway, Ds screamed at me that his towel was "spikey" the other day . I like them best when they've been line dried in a good breeze so they are a bit softer but not all fluffy. Fluffy towels just move the water around.

And I love that you have OAP towels too. I asked dh to grab me the flowery and seashell towels recently. They 26 and 28 years old respectively and shades of grey white by now.

YABU, fluffy, soft towels all the way, and they have to be the bath sheets, so huge as well!

Its because people use fabric conditioner on the fluffy ones and this inhibits their ability to absorb water.

Yanbu. Rough towels do the job so much better. Nothing worse than a fluffy towel that just moves the water around.

I agree. Soft fluffy towels don't dry you properly!

Soft fluffy towels leave lint behind. They look nice, though, if they are white.

I love a scratchy towel! It's drying and exfoliating at the same time
I stayed in a cheap crappy dive hotel in Orlando once... they had the roughest towels. It was amazing! My skin glowed by the end of the week. I was so tempted to nick ask to buy a couple!

Rough towels are excellent for exfoliating. You apply moisturiser, afterwards, if you feel you need it.

All my towels have to be nice and old and crispy to do the job properly. They look shit though.

Secret confession time: I also prefer not to use the luxury soft quilted moisteurising loo roll - brr it's just too soft and yukky, like a cushion, not cleaning!

A hard towel = a clean towel!