The 10 Best Waffle Towels to Upgrade Your Bathroom

• The most absorbent of the bunch
• Supremely soft
• Easy to care for, don't shrink

• A few more colors would be nice

I've written at length about why I love Brooklinen's waffle towels, so I'll keep it short here. The main reason is that they were the only waffle towels that I found myself reaching for before a plush towel. Every other towel on this list is great, but Brooklinen makes the towel that turned me into a Waffle Towel Guy.

Tangibly, they're incredibly absorbent and ridiculously soft, and they don't shrink or get messed up in my industrial-strength laundromat dryers. They're the perfect waffle towel.

• Texture looks and feels divine
• Breathable airy weave
• Extra absorbent

• Pricey
• Needs delicate, careful laundry treatment

Anyone who has ever explored the world of bathroom essentials knows about Onsen and its fine, luxurious waffle weave. The brand is named after the traditional style of Japanese hot-spring spa, and rightfully so.

The long-staple towels really bring that traditional spa experience home. The oversize waffle design can substantially accelerate the absorbing and drying process. We recommend getting a whole set of towels, but start individually if you like.

The only thing we didn't love about these, especially compared with Brooklinen's, is that they shrunk a tad too much. I'd love to launder them gently, but I go to a laundromat. I'm not paying extra to dry them separately. That said, I line-dried them once or twice, and that fixed the issue.

• Quick dry between uses
• Oversized

• Might shrink after wash
• Slightly rougher

If you like stay on the statistical side of things, Gilden Tree's waffle towel dries 40 percent faster than its terry ones. We're not sure how we'd quantify that, but we'd say it's about accurate.

Another cool thing about these towels is that they're made extra large. That means we didn't have to worry about that 15 percent shrink. I threw them in my industrial-strength laundromat dryer on high, and they came out well sized. By the next wash, they'd stretched out again.

The texture on these feels rougher than that on most other waffles, but we didn't hate it. And best of all, you can get these on Amazon, so the whole process is stupid easy.

• Expertly handcrafted by artisans
• Extra breathable and absorbent

• Very pricey
• A few more colors would be nice

The Citizenry's Mara Waffle Towel is loomed in a Turkish mill with a high standard for craftsmanship in making towels. That pedigree shows in the towel's lightweight woven cotton, sleek flat-edge hem, and oversize waffle weave. This is as luxurious as waffle towels get. If you do choose to splurge on a whole set, even simply wiping some sweat off yourself with a face towel can feel rather decadent.

• Great set of towels, fair price
• Perfectly soft
• Nice and absorbent

• Expensive if you don't buy them as a bundle
• Only waffle on one side (only a con if you expected it on both)

Cozy Earth makes incredible textiles—all of which feature some amount of bamboo viscose, which is marketed as a more sustainable alternative to cotton. These waffle towels are no different.

We found them to be light, soft, and incredibly absorbent. And as far as sets go, Cozy Earth's Deluxe Bundle is the most complete we've found. For $300, you're home is fully outfitted, but you can also grab a smaller set if you're living alone.

• Made in Turkish cotton
• Very lightweight and soft
• Can build a set of exactly the number of towels you need

• Not the most durable
• Airy waffle catches easily

Parachute Home kind of reigns supreme in the world of organic bedding and bathroom fabrics. These dreamily soft, lightweight waffle towels met every demand we set for our waffle-towel testing.

They're made of 100 percent long-staple Turkish cotton, come in some beautiful colors, and can turbo-dry themselves. At a not-too-unbearable price, it's very enticing.

• Really fun, singular look
• Jacquard gives them an extra luxury touch
• Muted enough to match most decors

• Sold separately, pricey to build a set
• Bold colors, with only two options

Technically, these aren't "waffle" towels. They're actually a jacquard that, in person, feels a lot more bespoke than anything else on the list. The intricate three-color weave is so singular it looks as though these towels were made specifically for you.

In practice, though, these do feel and perform incredibly similar to waffle towels. The jacquard has some natural gaps that give these towels the same airiness and absorbency that you expect from a waffle set. They're fun, look expensive, and feel as nice as anything on this list.

• Reversible, flexible design
• Terry cloth gives a nice plush feel, unlike other waffle towels

• On the expensive side
• The backside is just a terry-cloth towel

If you're buying your first set of waffle towels, maybe start with something familiar. These towels from Boll & Branch combine waffle and terry cloth in a double-sided towel.

These hybrid towels have waffle indentation on the front, which gives them great absorbency. Then there's plush terry cloth on the back. Both sides feel lovely to the touch, so it's a win-win.

The only downside is that the terry-cloth backside makes these less airy than true waffle towels. Something to consider.

• Very lightweight and smooth
• Bamboo lyocell feels cool and soft
• Lyocell is quite cheap, so these are affordable

• Not the most absorbent
• We preferred cotton towels to this lyocell

The first waffle towel we gave a go were Ettitude. We started here because 1) Ettitude has been a thing in the waffle-towel world for a while. And 2) its waffles are not dramatically large or ridged. It makes sense as a starting point for testing, and it makes sense as a first waffle towel you would buy.

The towels are on the thin side, but they withstood daily use quite well. And since they're made in almost see-through bamboo lyocell, these feel light and airy to the touch.

• Very lightweight
• The best color options on the market
• Great price

• More traditional waffle towels tended to perform better

West Elm makes its waffle collection in a handful of colors, from olive green to mustard yellow to a lovely little beige. While its waffles are not the deepest, nor the most airy, they're deep enough to trap and wick a ton moisture.

We also loved how lightweight they are, and the swirl design on the waffles is a unique touch. On top of that, a towel is only $36.50 and a hand towel is $19.50. These are a great deal.

Yes. Compared with any other towel weaves, waffle towels do their job the quickest. The small pockets of the weave can trap moisture well, making them not only more absorbent but also faster drying.

Waffle towels also tend to be lighter weight than terry towels, and take up less space in linen closets, in case that matters to you.

First, people in hot and humid climates. Waffle towels are a great option for drying off quickly, so you don't become a sweaty, sticky mess post-shower.

Second, we find that a lot of guys prefer waffle towels to terry cloth, since they want something more efficient, more sanitary, and less plush.

Yes, especially if you dry them. It's a fact of the weave. It doesn't affect the performance at all, and they'll stretch back out in between washes. If you don't like that, you can line-dry them, or you can give them a few tugs immediately after they come out of the dryer.

If you want to go off-script and test your own waffle towels, fine. Here are our grading criteria.

Absorbency - How much water does a towel absorb? How quickly does it dry you off?

Dry Time - After drying, how long until the towel is ready to go again?

Durability - All the waffle towels on this list met our high standards here, but we've used some waffle towels that start to fray way too easily. Be careful out there.

Ease of Cleaning - Towels are going to get dirty sometimes. It's a fact of life. How well can you get stains out? How soon until they discolor?

Weight - GSM or "grams per meter" indicates the weight and thickness of the material, which can in turn inform how soft, warm, and durable it is. While towels with a higher GSM can feel more luxurious, keep in mind they can take longer to dry (yes, even with waffle weaves).

Shrinkage - The loose fibers of a waffle weave tend to be particularly prone to shrinkage when exposed to heat. As a general rule of thumb, it's best to dry your towels on low heat to help minimize shrinkage.