Linen towels for travel

[tebnewyork]

I use the peshtemals for travel (and have a set for home too) they dry nicely and I can use them for wraps or beach stuff.
Cacala 100% Cotton Pestemal Turkish Bath Towel, 37 x 70", Aqua https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AFYE8DQ..._y35FwbGGYDW85


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I bought one of these to try out and think it is great. Does dry really fast and is a great size. I like it so much I'm going to be ordering more for everyday home use as I'm right in the middle of a move.

I did see that you can get pestemals in linen. I'm not sure if that makes a difference in terms of odors (concern from SnarkyNomad post). I've had linen sheets before and they do get really soft and feel similar to the way this cotton towel does. I'm not sure why that blog says don't get cotton or if they just are unfamiliar with the properties of these Turkish towels.

[fredlet]

You can also use these as head coverings for protection from sun etc (I'm super pale and I use this at the beach)

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/12...1ae9fd9406.jpg


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[Jaffa]

Turkish towel - linen

I bought a turkish towel, last year in Turkey!..but after this thread, I had a closer look and its 100% cotton.
Even though its folds up smaller than a big fluffy towel, I started looking at linen towels....
I ordered a 100% linen towel on line a few weeks ago, and Im still getting used to it. Its totally different to the fluffy cotton towels. Im now ordering a smaller size, As original size 3.5 ft x 5 ft approx , is probably a bit too large for travelling, unless I want to use it as a beach towel.
HTH
Jaffa

[terayon]

I bought some linen fabric (blaze orange was on sale for $9 per metre) and just hemmed it to the size I wanted (big enough to lie on at the beach, about 36"x55").

The linen is rough but it softens up quite a bit with use/washing, and it's plenty absorbant, dries fast (in about an hour), and rolls up much smaller than the cotton towels I used to bring to the gym. I'm really happy with this!

[Walker]

I bought some linen fabric (blaze orange was on sale for $9 per metre) and just hemmed it to the size I wanted (big enough to lie on at the beach, about 36"x55").

The linen is rough but it softens up quite a bit with use/washing, and it's plenty absorbant, dries fast (in about an hour), and rolls up much smaller than the cotton towels I used to bring to the gym. I'm really happy with this!

Where did you buy the linen fabric?

[terayon]

I just went to a local fabric store and hunted through the clearance section (70% off!!). I'm sure there are lots of online options too.

[Kirri]

You can find 100% linen fabric on eBay as well, which is what I did. I got a lovely deep turquoise which look amazing next to terayon's orange! Mine came from UK (to Australia) as that was the best option for me, sadly cost much more than $9/m but it is ageing beautifully.

[loma]

So I finally ended up getting a linen one, given a bit of a push by a Snarky Nomad article.

Sorry to go off topic, but what is up with the Snarky Nomad blog comments? Looks like every lowercase "i" gets removed--any idea why?

[DeBru]

+1 for Cacala, a lovely cotton Pestemal. I ordered a linen peshmetal from an Etsy seller located in Turkey to see what a "real" linen towel was supposed to feel like, but sadly it's been stuck in Istanbul since 2/19

[snarkynomad]

Sorry to go off topic, but what is up with the Snarky Nomad blog comments? Looks like every lowercase "i" gets removed--any idea why?

Snarky Nomad over here. I think it might have something to do with overzealous spam filters. I'm currently using two different filters at the same time, and one of them is way too weak, and one of them looks like it might be too strong. I started noticing fewer comments after I started using it, but I was never quite sure if that was the problem. It's kind of a sucky situation, since if I use the weaker one, I have to sort through and delete a dozen spam comments per day (and if I'm offline for a week or two, there'll be hundreds), whereas if I use the strong one, spam comments drop all the way down to zero, or maybe just once a month, which is wonderful, but apparently it's screening out some legitimate ones too. Thanks for letting me know, though. That particular filter has been running for years, but this is the first time someone's mentioned something. I'd be happy to hear if anything else went wrong for you, but maybe on my own site's contact page, instead of here.

As for why I like linen more than cotton, which someone else asked a while back, I've had linen and cotton kitchen towels of the same thickness and weave, and the linen is noticeably faster-drying and more odor resistant. With the cotton, I'd have to throw them in the laundry every once in a while, since they would eventually be soaked and start smelling pretty terrible, but with the linen, I basically have to remind myself that I have to wash them eventually, because if I just go by the smell, I'll never wash them, because there's never any smell. Faster drying times are also helpful, especially if you're using the towel to remove excess moisture from wet clothes after wringing them out. However, certain linen towels are thicker than certain cotton towels. I'm pretty sure a peshtemal is as thin as a woven cotton bed sheet (which means you could make your own by just cutting up an old bed sheet and sewing the edges), and if it's super thin like that, then it might dry faster than a slightly thicker linen towel. But I love the waffle-weave texture of linen towels, which feel softer and more towel-like than just a plain weave bed sheet, so for all those reasons, I'm willing to spend a bit of extra money and get all those perks.

[adalangdon]

Totally agreeing with @snarkynomad about the smell bit. Linen is so good in our awfully humid environment. Even with the aircon on to dry it, a thick cotton towel starts smelling bad in like 5 days over here. I have zero odour issues with my linen towel. Zero!


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[b1gsky]

I also want to get a linen towel now. I love natural fibres anyway and with all of you raving about it...

I looked around and found a few options I could order from. One is made in Germany which I would prefer, but they don't offer towels with waffle weave. The waffle weave towels seem to be more like a traditional towel. How big is the difference when it comes to packing the different versions, assuming the towel is the same size? I just want to get one to start with, although I could see myself replacing some of the towels at home over time.

[Kirri]

I use regular flat linen, rather than waffle weave. Some people may not like flat linen as it is less towel-like but I like the way the towel can multipurpose as a sarong, picnic rug, tablecloth, etc, when travelling. It packs up smaller I assume.

It is more like tea towel, which softens as it is used.

[b1gsky]

Thanks Kirri! I didn't think about that but you're right, having something that works as sarong etc would be great. I will go for flat linen then.

[willo]

I'm a linen lover from way back, but my obsessions started with bedsheets instead of towels. Some studies say you'll sleep better in linen as it helps you regulate your temperatures. With my insomnia, I was open to trying linen sheets for that reason alone, plus I've read too many old novels and get carried away by romantic notions, and linens made of linen fit right in!

I've gotten good linen housewares (and good/great service) from rawganique (in BC, I think) and Linoto (domestically sewn linens made in NYC garment district.) I believe both offer towels as well as bedding in linen.

At Linoto, in particular, they went above and beyond to get me some table linens in time for a holiday at no extra expense and seemingly just out of a commitment to excellent service. The owner also spent time talking color palettes with me on a different occasion. Just super customer service over there.

And I am also one who often travels with simple yardage of linen in summer for use as bedding/beach blanket/plane blanket/towel-if-necessary. I didn't even hem mine! Linen will fray like mad at the cut ends if you follow this route, but it won't be any less effective as a minimalist bedsheet, etc. It will just waste more fiber if you machine dry it and it frays more, and the selvedge keeps the long edges tidy. (My linen usually comes in a ~55" width, so enough to cover one person.) For travel, I value light weight and would go with hankie-weight, sheer linen, but it comes in many weights from see through to heavy upholstery weight.

The best quality and selection for linen that I know of is from fabrics-store.com. (Yes, I'm nerdy enough that I hand-sew historical re-enactment garments, which is the community from which I heard of this company.) They have regular woven linen fabric all the time in tons of colors, beautiful jacquards I've never seen the like of elsewhere, and even waffle weave for you towel-seekers.

With coupons/sales, the cheapest source from which I've gotten linen is fabric.com. They are more like a super-sized Joanne's fabric store--selling everything, much of it typical quality, but they are so big that they have some of everything.

And finally, I do both machine wash and machine dry my linen, at least some of the time. Yes, air drying is awesome for the longevity of the fabric and the planet, but sometimes that doesn't fit my schedule and the highly functional nature of bedding. I don't consider linen to be a prissy fabric requiring much baby-ing on wash day. I do sew it with very sturdy french seams and I hot water wash and dry before sewing so my linens are prepared as much as possible for this rougher treatment.

Linen/cotton blends can start off softer (less smooth/stiff feeling) than 100% linen, will dry faster than cotton, but may not help in the smelliest/mustiest situations. I haven't tested for that!

I hope this isn't TMI. I get a bit passionate about fibers/fabrics...

--willo