Best Cheap Bath Towels

Finding the best cheap bath towels

If you’re looking for the best cheap bath towels, look no further - we’ve got you covered. Before we go too far with it, however, we need to first define an acceptable level of ‘cheap’.

The best cheap bath towels (you can live with!)

We’re going to start with the important assumption that you’re looking to save some money on good bath towels and not just looking for the cheapest towels on the planet that you will be using once and toss in the trash.

You’ve got a very specific tightrope you need to walk. On the one hand, the price is a serious consideration and you’re looking for a deal. On the other hand, you’re purchasing something for your home that will be used over and over again by your family members and guests and you want to pamper them at some level.

Our experience says buying cheap bath towels based on price alone is like buying a cheap mattress - your wallet is happy as you leave the store but your back hates you every morning for the rest of your life. In other words, we would encourage you not to make a hasty buying decision on price alone.

Why? Because with a little diligence you can truly get the best cheap bath towels on the market - emphasis on the word BEST!

What are the BEST cheap bath towels available?

There are only 3 cotton types to consider when shopping for cotton towels:

We’ve done extensive reviews on each and we’d suggest you spend some time going over them by clicking through the links above.

To cut to the chase we would recommend you scratch the first two off the list as both Egyptian and Turkish cotton are grown overseas and between import fees, trade tariffs, and the like, the price naturally is driven up.

That leaves Pima / Supima cotton standing. As a matter of definition, Pima cotton is the product of Egyptian cotton plants being grown in the Southwestern United States. Thus Pima cotton towels have the quality of Egyptian cotton (many consider Egyptian cotton to be the finest in the world) with the savings of being grown and (usually) manufactured domestically.

Supima is simply a label to look for when purchasing Pima cotton towels that gives you assurance the towels you are purchasing contain 100% Pima cotton. In other words, Supima = 100% pima cotton. Pima alone is likely a mix of Pima cotton and polyester. Yes, the price will go down but BUYER BEWARE, so will long-term quality.

It’s also worth mentioning a relative newcomer to the bath towel material game, namely, microfiber. You’ll note that microfiber bath towels contain no cotton at all. For years we did not even mentioned microfiber as an option. These engineered polyester and nylon towels, while extremely absorbent and durable, felt more like you were drying yourself off with a soft piece of sandpaper than anything resembling a towel.

Times have indeed changed and microfiber engineering has really upped its game. Read our full write-up on microfiber towels to see if you’d like to throw them into the mix for consideration.

Feel

If thick, plush, dense towels are the only option for you, you’re not really looking for the best cheap bath towels. You’re actually looking for the best luxury bath towels on sale.

If you’re willing to sacrifice a little spa-like quality for towels that feel amazing past they day you first wash them we suggest Supima (100% Pima cotton grown in the U.S.A.) as the obvious choice. And if you’re a risk-taker and are REALLY concerned with price, you might give microfiber cotton bath towels a chance. Just remember, they contain little to no cotton, so there’s that. 

Performance

The two main performance qualities you should be on the lookout for are absorption and drying time. Because Egyptian cotton is HIGHLY absorbent and drying time is LONG, we rule them out when shopping for the best cheap cotton towels. Why? Even if you can find them on sale on the front end, you’ll pay a lot to dry them in the long haul. Next!

Turkish and Pima / Supima cotton have more than acceptable absorption rates and reasonable drying times. We’re pretty happy with both.

Microfiber absorbs like CRAZY and dried FAST!

How to choose the best cheap bath towels

So, how do you choose?

Based on the information provided here we’ve ruled out Egyptian and Turkish cotton towels. We’ve then left the door open for Pima / Supima cotton towels and microfiber towels based on cost, feel and performance.

Where those 3 (cost, feel, and performance) intersect we are happy to make the following recommendations. You’ll note that we don’t make these recommendations because the towels are ‘cheap’. Rather, we recommend them because we see these as great VALUE buys when considering cost, feel, and performance.

More about cotton types...