Travel Gear Obsession: Turkish Towels
Of all the gear I’ve tried out in preparation for the Big Trip, my favorite discovery hands-down is Turkish towels. These simple things are so wonderful that I feel stupid for ever having bought regular towels in my life. (And as a frustrating bonus, I discovered them just a few weeks after I bought a whole lotta new towels for our house and guest apartment. Blerg.)
But anyway, I bought one to try it out for travel, and I now use them at home as well. (Guests get the new “regular” ones all to themselves. So there.) How do I love them? Let me count the ways:
1) Hardly the most important, but they are cute. Colorful and stripey without being cutesy-poo. My white towels look so boring now.
Sorry for the body shaming, white towels, but you are bulky.
2) They are bigger than regular towels. Bigger than beach towels, even. But because they are thinner, they still take up far less room.
3) They’re better for the planet. They use less water for washing, and less heat/time for drying. Your loads of laundry are smaller and ready faster. (I’d been intrigued by reviews but hadn’t yet purchased my first Turkish towel when I was visiting my friend who has five kids. She was folding one, and I checked it out. She swears by them and says they have saved her family a ton of time and money.)
This is how six regular bath towels fill my washing machine.
This is what six turkish towels look like in the same washing machine.
4) They are versatile. After my first purchase, I have since bought an embarrassing number of them to add to my collection. But hear me out. I’m using them for EVERYTHING.
The handtowel size is a perfect replacement for a Turbie Twist (hair-drying towel).
When we needed replacement curtains in Story’s bedroom (and didn’t want to spend a fortune on window treatments for a kid), I discovered that Turkish towels drape quite nicely over a simple curtain rod. Each window cost us under $10 total and looks pretty cute!
I have used them for picnic blankets, beach blankets, travel blankets, scarves, swimsuit cover-ups, curtains, and laundry baskets. And I’m just getting started!
I keep one in my carry-on for chilly plane rides, and I’m now having each family member carry their own for all of our trips. They’ve become a must-have for my packing list, and I highly encourage you to get one, too. (Frugal chick pro tip: just get the cheap ones on Amazon. I kept wondering if it mattered, but it doesn’t. They’re all great.)
