where can I get 'rough' hotel style towels?

[Blackpuddin]

Fed up with the thin and/or blotting paper towels we're using to dry ourselves, I'm trying to find a retailer for what I'd call 'rough' towels, the sort you usually get in hotels.
Unfortunately every time I track down likely manufacturers from the labels it turns out they only deal with the trade.
Does anybody know where I can get these rough towels from? Towels from places like the White Company look good but they're too soft.
TIA for any suggestions.

[Furbo]

Blackpuddin said:

Fed up with the thin and/or blotting paper towels we're using to dry ourselves, I'm trying to find a retailer for what I'd call 'rough' towels, the sort you usually get in hotels.
Unfortunately every time I track down likely manufacturers from the labels it turns out they only deal with the trade.
Does anybody know where I can get these rough towels from? Towels from places like the White Company look good but they're too soft.
TIA for any suggestions.

Find a hotel where you like the towels. Steal them each time you go.

If you dry towels on the washing line they become rough. Which is why my wife always tumble dries them.

[croyde]

You can have mine. John Lewis bought years ago. I probably have been washing them wrong but they are like sandpaper.

Good exfoliant

To you £50 each

[Furbo]

Or you could try this niche website I've recently discovered.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hotel-Quality-Towels/s?k=...

[PlywoodPascal]

Are you washing them with fabric softener? Just stop using it.

[Blackpuddin]

No we don't use softener. The ones shown on that Amazon site all look as though they'll be too soft to me. I'm after towels that aren't so perfect looking, maybe they don't exist in the retail environment but they definitely exist in hotels.

[Bonefish Blues]

Air dry them on an outside washing line.

[croyde]

As suggested, I too dry mine on a hanger in the lounge. A flat with no garden and tumble dryer.

When dry you have to give them a good shake or they won't fold

[Blackpuddin]

We do air dry washing when possible but it makes no difference to our towels. Hard to believe that's what hotels do.

[MitchT]

Next time you're in a hotel and you love the towels, look on the label to see what make they are, then try Amazon, eBay, etc.

I had a similar situation with some crockery. Loved some cups/saucers/plates that I used in a cafe. Looked to see what they were. Looked online and found the supplier but only available in trade sized batches. There was nothing stopping me from buying some but I'd have to buy six of whatever... so six tea pots, for example! Looked on Amazon and eBay and immediately found people selling them in quantities suitable for a home user.

[Blackpuddin]

MitchT said:

Next time you're in a hotel and you love the towels, look on the label to see what make they are, then try Amazon, eBay, etc.

Yeah I've been doing this but as mentioned earlier they're always hotel trade only.

[Don Veloci]

Time?

No softener, air dried, and time. It can take a several use cycles to get the nice scratchy stage.

[p4cks]

You need the highest thread count possible, and wash with no softener. That's what we do, and ended up getting some (albeit pricey!) Christy towels which should actually be renamed Crispy towels they're so hard.

[croyde]

MitchT said:

Next time you're in a hotel and you love the towels, look on the label to see what make they are, then try Amazon, eBay, etc.

I had a similar situation with some crockery. Loved some cups/saucers/plates that I used in a cafe. Looked to see what they were. Looked online and found the supplier but only available in trade sized batches. There was nothing stopping me from buying some but I'd have to buy six of whatever... so six tea pots, for example! Looked on Amazon and eBay and immediately found people selling them in quantities suitable for a home user.

Did the same with a hotel mattress. Best sleep ever so I tracked down the manufacturer.

Pre internet so it wasn't so easy. Spoke to their sales department but nothing, they only did big orders but a lady took pity and they sent me one, at a really reasonable price too.

[miniman]

Don Veloci said:

Time?

No softener, air dried, and time. It can take a several use cycles to get the nice scratchy stage.

This. Brand new towels are awful, a good number of wash cycles needed to roughen them up.

[Blackpuddin]

p4cks said:

You need the highest thread count possible, and wash with no softener. That's what we do, and ended up getting some (albeit pricey!) Christy towels which should actually be renamed Crispy towels they're so hard.

This sounds like a good lead thanks, not bothered about cost really, just want something that works.

[bitchstewie]

Richard Haworth.

They come out soft as hell tumble dried and like sand paper line dried.

[Double Fault]

You need these...they'll monogram them for a small fee:

https://heirlooms-linens.com/products/ultimate-plu...

[bitchstewie]

Oh and if I'm going full saddo - don't go near them with fabric softener.

[Sheepshanks]

Ours have gone like sandpaper since we got a new washing machine.

It seems the science is that water makes the cellulose in the fibres stick together.

Usually they’re line dried, or on a maiden (we don’t have a tumble dryer). We do have super-soft water.


I did buy some bath mats from a trade supplier without any issues - Linen Connect. Bought a pack of five.