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how is that even a questions? why would anyone want scratch towels??? the softer the better for me!

A bigger concern for me is size and thickness. I hate towels that are too thick, preferring the "sheet sized," thinner towels. Thankfully they're pretty easy to find in solid colors.

I don't use fabric softener on towels, but do put them in the dryer. I personally like our oldest, thin, and well-worn towels; I'm not a fan of new/thick towels. But in my house, the family is happy just to find clean towels in the bathroom cabinet.

my after-shower bath sheet is scratchy and sucks up the water like nothing else, but my guest towels, hand towels, etc. are all totally non-absorbent soft towels from hotel collection and lacoste heheh

scratchy all the way - soft towels just feel like you are moving the water around on your body, it takes forever to dry yourself.

Sometimes new, soft, fluffly towels (even after a washing) still fail to absorb water. They just kind of move the water around on my skin. They feel nice, but are totally useless.

Doesn't matter as long as there's no fabric softener. They have to be absorbent. I actually like something in between... nubby, I guess.

Waterworks has amazing towels that are just the right balance between soft and absorbent

Scratchy all the way! I actually use an o-l-d (when were modern towels popularized) flat woven (ie no loops) linen one. Dries me in a jiffy and dries itself quickly even hanging on a peg. Plus looks great.

as others mentioned, i also heard (i think from good ol' martha s) not to use fabric softeners. the softeners cause the towels to not absorb as much water.

ditto bagelpower. definitely scratchy.

I swear by the Lauren by Ralph Lauren towels. They aren't too expensive, they last forever, are super soft and they actually absorb water...same can't be said for Macy's hotel collection towels. They just kind of push the water around.

i dont think that scratchy is the right word for that kind of towel. i have used the hotel thick soft towels and while they are very luxurious, i hated how they never seemed to dry, and how long it took to dry them in the dryer. i will never use these thick towels again. plus, i love the euro towels that are very thin, soft and absorbent. they cant go in the dryer but they dry in a matter of hours.

Aquis microfiber towels all the way. I now use these exclusively and have donated all my other "regular" cotton towels to the animal shelter.

I'm looking into the waffle weave towels, anyone tried those?

In the humidity of summer, thin towels definitely have the advantage - - they dry out quicker (on the rack, and in the dryer). Soft thin towels are nice, if you can find them.

It's another example of MORE not really being better. (Don't get me started on too long drapes, or extra large duvet covers, or supersized portions!)

I like a big, thick, heavy, absorbent and definetely scratchy towel... i find it very pleasing to be wrapped in something that you know keeps with your cleaning ritual well after you turned the shower off.

I have some towels that have a nice waffle-weave fabric on one side and a regular towel material on the other side. I love them.

It comes down to absorbency though. I just want my towel to get me dry.

We have the Ralph Lauren Addison towels. I'd say they're fairly soft, but my point of comparison is the threadbare ones I grew up with. They also have the big bath sheets, which is my primary criteria in towel selection.

I actually prefer a little bit rougher towel BUT I use very plush turkish cotton towels because they absorb much, much better. I also make sure not to use softeners or anything that will stay in the fibers.

I suppose I would rather have a very efficient towel over a nice scratchy towel.

Oh, and they do shed a bit at first, but after a few washes they're good.

just use sham wow. lol.

haha. i wonder how fast a sham wow would dry my hair..

I definitely prefer thin, less-soft towels, like cheap hotel towels (but there's a limit - some are way too scratchy). I'm happy with some towels I got from Target (not their cheapest line, but not their plushest, either).

My partner and I have different towels... maybe instead of compromising on one type of towel, you can just have two varieties?

I prefer soft, plush towels. I'd rather do my exfoliating in the shower where the dead skin can go down the drain.

I've never had problems with absorbency, so maybe it depends on your laundering techniques (as others have noted, fabric softener is evil) and the brand.

I love Crate and Barrel's organic turkish towels. They suck water off of me post shower and they're fluffy and un-scratchy.

Medium-threadbare, please.

My mother occasionally buys me some high-quality towels for Christmas or a birthday. They sit, nearly unused, in my closet until I get desperate close to laundry day. They just don't soak up water - and I never use fabric softener on anything. It's the sheer volume or something. The older towels soak up water much better. In fact, one of my favorites is one left here by the 85-year-old woman who sold me this house.

Is it scandalous to admit that I hope for worn towels to pop up at yard sales - so I can buy some that I like, as opposed to the too-thick store ones that I don't?

i once resorted to using a linen tablecloth for a towel on laundry day and have used it since... it gets softer with washing and looks so nice in the bathroom. i happened to get mine at goodwill for $2.

Mary BC - I got a few old worn towels that had been left behind at the town pool at the end of summer. I didn't use them in the bath, but they're handy to have around.

The biggest, softest, fluffiest towel you can find, please. I don't care if I'm just moving the water around. I love stepping out of the shower into a huge, fluffy soft towel that is more like a blanket than a proper towel.

I came across this fabric softener info for the first time not once, but now twice today! Never knew it was my soft fluffy towels to blame for ultimately giving up and air drying while I pumice my heels. I've been keeping the scratchy towels for emergencies, hoping I don't have to use them.

The worst is towels that you've just bought that almost feel like they have a silicone finish to make them extra plush in the store - those are beyond useless and infuriating.

If you take them and rough them up a *lot* in a million washes then it's perfect, though: the "was formerly fluffy but is now functional" towel.

I splurged on soft towels but ended up never using them. They just don't absorb. I hate them.

IMO, it's best to exfoliate in the shower so that the skin cells can be washed away...
...and for towels, I prefer fluffy and soft pure Egyptian Cotton bath sheets.

Fabric softener on towels is a no-no: They prevent the towels from absorbing water...
...but if you want nice-smelling/fragranced towels, consider using a fragranced laundry soap such as Tide Simple Pleasures Vanilla/Lavender.

is that sea urchin thing that's holding the q-tips an old item from anthropologie? i got a black one that's originally a sugar bowl. i use it to hold hot sauce packets from fast food chains >;]

you gotta go with soft towels!!

I love the feeling of soft but my problem is absorption. I bought some new soft towels for my bathroom when I moved into my apartment and now I never use them because they simply don't serve their purpose- I can never get dry with them and always have to switch to an older more scratchy towel. I would only ever use them for lying on on the beach, not for actually drying myself.

Bamboo towels !! They don't absorb 100% of the moisture, but they feel immensely good, and it's very agreable to have a tiny bit of moisture on your skin. I don't use moisturizing cream anymore (what's the point ? I'm clean !). It's supposed to be a bad thing to exfoliate every time you have a shower, so hooray for bamboo !

The thickest, the better. I won't dwell into the ecological benefits of bamboo.

For laundry: fabric softeners are a no go, as in coton towels. I use white vinegar and a few drops of lavender perfume. It's no use trying to use essential oils, they are destroyed by the heat.

Big blankety style towels for me all the way!

The best-bang-for-your buck soft towels are the Thomas O'Brien towels from Target. They've remained soft and fluffy even after years of use and are only $10 for the bath size.

Mercy: I use thin cotton waffle weave and I love them. Mine are huge, super absorbent, dry fast and deliciously scratchy.
Would def. consider linen ones as well.

I like mine scratchy, without a doubt..........!

My favorite towel has surprisingly turned out to be a beach towel. Not one of those velour things (ugh)... it's thin soft terry and wicked absorbent. Some bath towels can be *too* thick - hard to handle and bad for drying off. So I don't go for scratchy; softer & thinner is my winner.

I like thick fluffy towels and never have a had a problem with them being "absorbent" enough - I've also always used liquid fabric softener (don't know if the sheets are different in effect or not). However, my now ex-boyfriend complained that my towels were "too soft" and I hated his nasty scratchy old towels...guess that was a sign we weren't a good match after all, LOL.
On the other hand, I tend to get out of the shower and wrap my towel around me and do other things for a few minutes so perhaps the fact that I let my skin dry naturally means my *appearantly* not so absorbent fluffly towels don't need to be so absorbent. But as always, YMMV depending on your habits. (And I agree with someone above who said the exfoliation should happen in the shower with the water to drain it away not after, ew.)

Scratchy doesn't just exfoliate, it also stimulates circulation to the skin... and if it improves that then, doesn't it mean that your body is then more able to rid itself of nasties such as cellulite, possibly? I'm all in favour of a good chafing with a scratchy towel but more recently, had to invest in a few newbies. The best way to use a new towel is to wrap it around you and forget about it. Don't even bother trying to dry yourself with it just let gravity and a decent bathmat deal with the run off while you get on with the rest of your routine (I was lucky enough to find some old-fashioned, waffle linen bathmats years ago and Marfa, you'd love 'em!).

I don't use Fabric conditioner but I'm sure that conditioners contain lanolin, which is the fat secreted by sheep to keep their fleeces waterproof! This is essential for sheep reared on the soggy foothills of Ol' Blighty, otherwise the slightest precipitation could cause them to be crushed by the overwhelming weight of their sodden fleeces. Towels, on the otherhand, do not live on rainy hillsides....

Ah, sugar32000, I see that you use your fluffy towels in the same way as I'm using my newbies.

Since exfoliation occurs naturally and around the clock, I don't see the problem with scratchy towel exfoliation... you can always dry off while still standing in your bath/shower cubicle and at the most, the more dead skin cells you shed while drying on the spot, the less of them your body will have to deposit on the inside of your clothing, the furniture, the bedlinen, etc .....