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I found these towels to be terrific. They last a long time and seem to get softer with use. I highly recommend them. They seem pricey, but they last a long time and are actually a great value.

I have recently bought 2 sets of (expensive) Christy bathtowel sets with cotton modal & silk.I have washed both sets before using but find large quantities of fluff, which gets into my nose, mouth etc.It also feels as though I am wiping myself with an oily rag - is this normal?
Awaiting your reply in anticipation!
Regards
Terry

You know, I had the same problem with the linty stuff coming off of the Christy bath sheets, and no matter how often I washed them I couldn'g get rid of it. I complained about this to a friend who bought be a new brand I like better: it is called the Concierge Collection, and it's pure Turkish cotton and they feel divine. I don't know where she got them or how much they are but I highly recommend them, especially if you're easily irritated by the little particles since there are none. BTW, if anyone knows where to get these towels, I could really use some more...

I bought some Christy towels a few years ago on a recommendation and never liked them, for most of the reasons already given (they didn't feel like oily rags, however). Very disappointed, especially given the price. Perhaps the newer ones are an improvement over what I bought.

On a cold, wintry night last year, I drunk-ordered two Embrace towels from Horchow.com. They sure are soft and cuddly and fun to run around the house in after a bath. The only, rather significant, problem is that they're not that absorbent. The fluff/lint problem was eliminated after the first wash. But still, uses later, they don't wick away water very fast. I assume that's from the silk? From now on, I think I'll stick with 100% cotton. I ended up buying some Bloomingales brand Platinum towels and am quite pleased by their softness, absorbency, and how they hold up in the wash. They don't feel luxurious, per se, but when it's cold out and you need to be dry, they do the job nicely. And with pretty colors too!

i found these towels at bloomingdales. i can't remember the price, they were on sale. but i got the nubby ones. they are wonderful. and cute with a monogram - which you can get for free at bloomies. they aren't online though- you must go into the store.

I just looked at the Linen Place website, and it says they no longer carry these towels.

I really like Garnet Hill's towels. They're thick enough and soft enough, and they have good colors. Then after that I like Lands' End, and then after that I like the Company Store. They all last really well.

If you're in the market for luxury towels, you might as well go all the way and buy a towel warmer, too. Or go the thrifty route and have your sweetie pop your towels in the dryer while you're in the shower. Warm towels, no matter what quality, are the best!

regarding the "wicking" quality of towels disappearing...i've heard that this is a result of using dryer sheets. They have that waxy feel that "melts" onto the items in your dryer.

http://home.ivillage.com/cleanandorganize/cleaning/0,,8950,00.html?par=wdn,home,hh,hyper

Do NOT use fabric softeners or dryer sheets on your towels! Washing in fabric softener coats the terry fibers with silicones, and will actually make towels less absorbent. To freshen towels and keep them smelling sweet, add a half cup of baking soda to the wash cycle. You'll end up with extra-fresh smelling towels!

Restoration Hardware towels - hands down the most luxurious towels I've ever owned. these things are heavy - 800g; soft; and super-absorbent. Kind of pricey; but RH has a semi-annual sale on them. Worth the coin!

The turkish-cotton towels at Hammacher & Schlemmer are incredible. Very soft and asborbant and incredibly long lasting. Also, H&S has a lifetime satisfaction guaranty on everything they sell.

Ouch - maybe it's just me but I find spending close to $70 for a bath towel way out of my budget. And that doesn't include shipping.

I have a towel warmer that came to me for free---the radiator pipe that runs through the floor and the ceiling. I have remember not to get near it myself, but it keeps my towel toasty all through the winter.

I bought sets of the Christy Renaissance (all in different colors!) on a friend's recommendation when I got married 5 years ago and I still love them! I did have the lint problem at first, but after a couple washes they went away.
They get better as they age, I guess. Found them at Bloomingdales and I actually got white ones again this month during their Spring Sale.

I love the idea of a towel warmer, anyone hear actually have one? Any recommended brands that aren't outrageously expensive (maybe that is a silly question when one is considering such a purchase!)

Linenplace.com carries the Rhapsody Royale towels by Chortex which are made in England like the Christy towels. They are super fluffy and fabulous - an excellent buy. I highly recommend Linenplace - they carry high quality stuff like Frette and Peacock Alley as well. I had no problem with my order.

It's not just you, Anne.

One reason I love my boring rental-white bathroom is because $150 at Target does a complete change of look. If I paid that for two towels, I'd have to love those towels forever, which is more commitment than I'm comfortable making to a towel.

wende - so true! I can't even commit to a relationship much less a towel. Although I'll have to admit the the towel has a better chance.

I have towel warmer (the one linked at my name in white). My brother-in-law is an electrician, so installation came free. I love it - towels stay fresh all week. The towels themselves are not super warm but it's definitely noticable and appreciated in the winter. I second the recommendation above for Garnet Hill towels.

My boyfriend has a combination radiator/towel warmer in his bathroom. It works wonderfully.

I LOVE my Christie towels...
JenPDX is absolutely right---fabric softeners and OVERDRYING towels (and linens too, anything of natural fibers in particular) will ruin their absorbancy and hand in a jiffy...rule of thumb: when you take them out of the dryer, they should be slightly warm and ever so slightly damp, never ever hot to the touch.

New Towel Remedy
The nicest towels feel so soft when you buy them, but WHAT THE HECK?
They are as absorbant as a plastic bag when you try to dry off with them!
They must soak new towels in gallons of fabric softener.... the same thing happened to me.
I guess the softest towels on the shelves are the first ones purchased.
Try putting a cup of vinegar in with the machine's rinse cycle.
The acids in vinegar can cut through the sizing, which is the finish that makes the fabric feel soft when you buy it.
That's what makes the towels useless when you try to dry something with them!
It took about 5 washings, each with a vinegar rinse until they felt like my normal towels.
(they were usable after two or three washings, but still not super absorbent)
If it doesn't work the first time, wash them again and try your machine's longest wash option
to give the chemicals time to break down and get washed away!
Washing them in boiling water can cut down on initial washings, too.
If you have a front loader with a sanitize option, that it works great.
If you have a top loader you can manually add boiling water from your kettle.

Don't buy plug-in warmers; they're too wimpy, take two days to dry one towel.

dear sir
we have christie towels but they have become very hard to the touch.we use comfort softener and have dried them on a line outside and also in a dryer.is there anything else we could do?

We registered for these when we got married. We only got 2 of the bathsheets (we'll have to invest in the rest ourselves) but they are glorious. Soft, silky. Yum!! (no problems yet with absorbancy)

A hint: They sell them on Amazon.com

Restoration Hardware towels are the best I've ever owned, absolutely. Absorbent, fluffy, wash great. Much much better than Christy (which I tried once) and not all that pricey for the quality-- I think they run $28/bath towel. Great colors too.

We've bought towels at Waterworks during their sales. They're just straight cotton, but they're super absorbent and thick. They seem really similar to the Restoration Hardware towels, actually.

oh absorbency. by the time i figure out what i'm going to put on my body, i'm dry without a towel. i got my towels on the streets of a third world country because they had a pretty floral pattern. they do the job of matching the vase in my bathroom.

i wonder what consumer good maxwell does not believe in spending much moeny on.

I regret buying my towels from Restoration Hardware. The vegetable dye faded terribly and they have "bleached" spots that I have never had happen to my other towels. They are thick and soft but look terrible a year after I bought them.

I second the Restoration Hardware towel vote. They are the best I've found.

I love the rounded corners of Waterworks towels, but they are uber-pricey, and handtowels I have from there tend to be lint magnets.

I travel for my job a lot. Whenever I stay in a really nice hotel, I take one of their really nice towels home with me. Can't beat the price!

I invested in these a year ago to my great regret. We too feel like they are not absorbent. We do not use fabric softener. I would not invest in Christy towels again.

I have been researching towels, and have had recommendations about Macy's hotel collection, and bamboo towels (apparently, these are the highest ranking for consumer reports or good housekeeping, I can't remember which).

I would love to hear comments about either.

I second an earlier suggestion of super absorbent towel from Hammacher & Schlemmer. I have now given sets to my parents, my in-laws and as wedding gifts. Everyone has raved about them. And then for Xmas, parents & in-laws got Hammacher & Schlemmer towel warmers. I am now considered best gift giver in the family. ;)

I have some old towels that are Fieldcrest Royal Velvet and Martex. I've looked online but both these seem to be discontinued. Does anyone know these brands and what might be a good equivalent?

Liz--RH will take those towels back. Bring them in, tell them what happened, and if they see theyve faded they'll replace them. I had the silver sage towels that faded and got some fabric softener spots after about 18mos, they never gave the the card w/washing instructions (have them in store now, am forgetting them at the moment), explained the situation and they replaced 6 handtowels, 6 wash cloths, 1 bathmat, 2 bath sheets with new ones... seemed worthwile to me, i still love the towels!

We love, love our organic cotton towels from Gaiam. Luxe (800 gram weight), green and affordable. Low-impact dyes; rich colors. No softener finishing. Click on my name for a link.

I can't understand why everyone is going on about how *soft* their towels are! Every soft towel I've ever had has acted like a yucky squeegee, just pushing the water around on my skin. What a creepy feeling. I'm after a nice dry, nubbly towel. I've got some great Turkish towels right now that I got at Macy's, best I've ever had.

I have the Lenox Platinum bamboo-cotton towels that were rated #2 behind Land's End by Consumer reports. I *love* them. (The only reason I chose these over the Land's End was color - Lenox offers a wide range of colors, Land's End only four, none of which matched my bathroom.)

These towels are really thick and soft, very absorbent, and since the bamboo is apparently naturally anti-bacterial, they always feel and smell fresh! Some reviewers at amazon.com have had lint problems, but I haven't. I got mine on sale at macys.com, but they're also available at amazon.

Where can you buy plain white thin scrubby hotel towels? No fluff, all absorbency... and in pure white? I've heard Costco, but is there someplace online?

J.C. Penney Masterpiece towels are great and they put them on sale for half-off frequently.

http://www.jcpenney.com/jcp/Products.aspx?DeptID=0&CatID=021581&Grptyp=PRD&ItemId=109247c&CM_REF=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Djc%2520penney%2520masterpiece%26sourceid%3Dmozilla2%26ie%3Dutf-8%26oe%3Dutf-8

Thanks Molly, I will try to exchange the RH towels now.

oranger -

Sam's Club. Saw them there yesterday.

The towels I have, which I LOVE, are fluffy cream ribbed bath sheets from Jasper Conran home bought at Debenhams in the UK (sort of like Macy's). They were made in Portugal and are VERY thick and absorbent, and not too expensive.

I prefer light-colored towels if I am spending more... they don't fade and I hate faded towels.

Has anyone tried the Eileen Fisher towels available through Garnet Hill? I love the look and the colors, but am wary of buying without being able to touch...

I've always been perfectly happy with the Martex bath sheets selling at Costco... Thick, generously sized, plus they're 100% Egyptian cotton. At $12.99 or less, you can't beat the price.

And you can find inexpensive, free-standing plug-in towel warmers in places like Bed Bath & Beyond or Linens N' Things. I don't know how H&S can justify charging that much for theirs. True, plug-ins are somewhat wimpy; but unless you're putting a sopping wet cloth on it, I've never had to wait that long for a towel to dry.

I tried finding these towels on Downlite but they told me they are being moved onto the new site and to call 513-489-DOWN. They do have Christy Bedding available which is brand new at ChristyBedding.com. I love Christy towels so comforters by Christy should also be great.