Finding durable and attractive bath towels can be a challenge. The price isn’t always right when it comes to bath sheets, but it’s not a waste of time to look over your options. I have looked around and found that the best value towels (longest lifespan and cheapest price) are the Sonoma and Cannon Brands. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons to each of these towel-types.
Lifespan
Unless you change the color of your towels every season, you probably want to find towels that will last you a good 10 years. Both of these towels will perform this function in any household (though you might want to read under ‘Durability’ and ‘Look’ to see whether the quality of the lifespan is acceptable to you).
Price
Both the Sonoma and Cannon brand towels are reasonably priced for their quality. You can find the Sonoma brand of towels at Kohl’s. Although these towels retail for over $20 (about $24 before tax) a bath sheet (that’s 35″ x 68″ in size), they regularly have sales for half off, making them a mere $12. The Pima cotton ones are a thick cotton that absorbs water easily, and is a great size for wrapping around you.
The Cannon brand towels can be found online or at BJs Wholesale Club. They are a regular-sized bath towel (incase you don’t like bath sheets) and price at about $15. They are also a thick, absorbent cotton texture.
If you intend on a cheaper towel in the $8-10 range, than you are sacrificing lifespan for an immediate material gain. You will expect to buy another one for that price in less than a year, and it’s essentially not worth the ‘gotta have it now’ urge.
Durability
Durability is a generous category when it comes to towels. If you have a large family with a number of teens and adults using you towels, you will expect a heavy amount of wear and tear. It also depends on whether you let towels hang up to dry after use and use them again for about a week or so. If you are the one time user types, than your towels will basically hit the washer and drying quite frequently.
For light uses, that reuse towels on a weekly basis, you would expect that Sonoma and Cannon will hold up very well. If you are a heavy user, that washes them on a more than weekly basis, than you will find problems with the Sonoma one before the Cannon. The Cannon brand is enduring and stays together with frequent washing even in commercial washers and dryers. The Sonoma ones may get ‘picked’ a little and some of the threads start to come out. But one of the cons about Sonoma is that you can wash them with a load of regular clothing and not get ‘fuzzies’ on everything dark; you won’t find that with Cannon towels, especially light colored ones.
Look
The brand new look is always the best, regarding color and texture. However, the Cannon towels seem to hold their color and texture very well, even after years of washing in commercial washers and dryers. They come in an assortment of colors, and the lighter the towel to start with, the better it will look in a few years of use. The darker colors will naturally fade.
On the other hand, the Sonoma towels don’t hold up to the color test. Within a few days of use, if you use anything with alcohol or other chemicals for your hair or body, the colors of the towel will change. It’s almost a bleaching effect that occurs. They do not look quite as nice after the first week of use as they did when you purchased them, but they are still just as useful. The variety of colors is seasonal, usually, and you can always find that right hue to match your bathroom ambiance. But the value is still there in these towels, just not the appearance. If you are very into appearances, than stick with the Cannon towels on this matter.
