Best bath towels for hang drying?

[redbird]

The apartment I moved into didn't have a washer or dryer. The options were pretty much use their small (smaller than standard home size) coin laundry washers, rent washer from a company, or buy one. I opted to buy one. But to save money, I didn't buy a dryer and am now hanging clothes to dry. This is my first time not having a dryer. I am having zero issues with this... except for towels. Most American towels are big and fluffy and take an eternity to air dry if it's not a hot summer's day. I washed clothes at 11am, it's now 7pm, and some of the towels are still very wet and starting to smell because they were too wet too long. I know it's a towel thickness problem because last week I was using beach towels since I couldn't find my regular towels in boxes yet (just moved). The beach towels had zero issues with hang drying.

I think I need to buy new towels that can dry better and I'm sick of using these old beach towels. Suggestions? I don't care about fluffy factor, I don't care about softness, I just need it to dry my body after a shower.

[Vasilisa]

Have you tried Turkish towels? They're more of a thin cotton sheet and dry much faster.

[Cwadda]

They make microfiber towels large enough to use as a regular towel. Kinda pricey, but you'd probably only need 1 and to wash it maybe twice a month.

http://www.amazon.com/Aquis-Adventure-Microfiber-Graphite-55-Inches/dp/B000AMA4BI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1444693429&sr=8-2&keywords=aquis+microfiber+towels

[velocistar237]

We have Turkish towels, and they don't work very well, which I guess is the trade-off. I would aim for something between Turkish towels and your super-thick towels.

We have a spin dryer that gets a lot of the water out of our heavy towels. No idea if that makes line drying possible, since we still use a clothes dryer.

[Jack]

The beach towels had zero issues with hang drying.

I think I need to buy new towels that can dry better and I'm sick of using these old beach towels. Suggestions?

New beach towels?

[flygal]

I line dry all my wash.  Ikea has some towels that are reasonably priced and have lasted several years for me.  They dry relatively quickly, even inside.  http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90159203/ 

As a side note, eliminate the stiffness by using less detergent.  If that doesn't work, do a vinegar rinse instead of fabric softener.  Most stiffness can be eliminated by reducing the detergent residue. 

[dragoncar]

Why would you wash a towel?  I don't wash a towel, the towel washes me!  What, are you gonna wash a bar of soap?

[PFHC]

Old ones. The older they get, the thinner they are, the better they dry you off, and the quicker they hang dry.

[velocistar237]

Why would you wash a towel?  I don't wash a towel, the towel washes me!  What, are you gonna wash a bar of soap?

Let me ask you this: have you been wearing my underpants?

[kite]

I've lined-dried all laundry, year round, for all of my adult life.  So my first thought was "Suck it up, Buttercup."

But....
I do have a few pack towels lying around from our backpacking days.  They are thin like Turkish towls, yet more absorbent.  I don't  recall them being more expensive than other types of towels. 
We do have ample space in our small home to always have a drying rack set up with things on it, so even if something needed 24 hours or more to dry, it's not an issue.  My spouse's socks need the most time.  We also leverage pants hangers to hang a bath towel, so it can hang anywhere, while pulled into a rectangular shape.  Might be difficult in a rental, but if there is a hook or curtain rod near a sunny window where the towel could hang from a hanger, it'd work. 

Love your username.

[Jack]

Why would you wash a towel?  I don't wash a towel, the towel washes me!  What, are you gonna wash a bar of soap?

[HipGnosis]

Before you buy all new towels (and I have no idea what towels might hang dry fastest...);
Try putting the towels (and just the towels) thru another spin cycle in the washer.
And if you're hanging them inside; put a small or medium fan in the room they are hanging in.

[elaine amj]

Hmm..I bought one of those car washing microfibre cloths. It looks, acts, and works just like a swimmer's towel (but cheaper) and is about the size of a hand towel. I mostly bought it for travelling though. Even freshly used, it can still easily be used again (and still dry you). When we travel, we often share this towel among at least two people in the family (my kids are used to me and my ways lol). I honestly don't know how long it takes to dry though since it's usable when "wet".

[FLA]

I hate fluffy thick towels unless I'm in a nice hotel.  I actually prefer thin, and thus cheap, towels.  Brad's Deals site and a few other deal sites have had recent deals on towels from Kohls.  8 Kohls The Big One towels for $20, and a lower price for 8 hand towels or wash cloths.  They seem to air dry on the towel bar quickly.  Always look for a kohl's 30% off code and free ship, can also be ordered online, picked up at store, often if you spend $50, you earn $10 in Kohls cash for your next visit.

another thing to try is to stock up when cheap towels go on sale in anticipation of college kids getting them for their dorm. Thin, no frills, get the job done.

[letired]

I actually really like the Turkish towels, esp when it's hot in the summer. It is a different drying off technique than with terry cloth though, and takes a min to get used to it.

Another quick-drying option might be to find some waffle-weave bath towels. They're mostly sold as kitchen towels, but there are some places that make bath-size. They should be more traditionally absorbent when drying off than the Turkish style but faster-drying than a traditional terry cloth towel.

Also, suck it up and get used to it. After you do three or so rounds with line-dried towels, it probably won't bother you anymore.

[kandj]

We got some supposed "quick drying" towels from bed bath and beyond on our wedding registry last year and they were not all they were cracked up to be. I understand your pain.
I think we are going to switch to microfiber towels, specifically the grand trunk road towel. I got one for a trip to Alaska over the summer and it dried in a snap and was still soft. https://grandtrunk.com/shop/road-towel-microfiber/     Somebody else on the trip had the Pack Towel by Cascades design which was nice but a little more suede feeling and dried a little slower. Yeah, they are pricey but if you only need to buy one or two it is well worth the investment.

[FLA]

I have a small microfiber quick dry towel for my hair, it does work when I bother to use it, cuts blow dry time

[SomedayStache]

In an effort to minimize and save space in my closets I asked for these towels one christmas:
http://www.amazon.com/FINA-Absorbent-Luxury-WAFFLE-microfiber/dp/B0079LXVY0/ref=pd_sim_sbs_201_3?ie=UTF8&dpID=61dXs9pmLmL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR142%2C160_&refRID=1NAK3SX36NN6F4SA7021

They are pricey and come in limited colors - but they are holding up well.  They are very thin and take up very little space when folded.  I went from two stuffed shelves to hold my towels down to 1/2 a shelf.  My husband prefers these towels to the traditional american towels we had before.  Our old towels never really dried in our humid, non-vented bathroom.  These are usually dry by the next morning.

They are more towel-like than the Turkish towels (I also have some of those).  I was heisitant due to the 'microfiber' label in the description because my normal experience with microfiber is that Microfiber catches on my skin and seems to repel water rather than absorb.  These must be a better quality of microfiber because neither of these problems exists.

[jinga nation]

I thought a wet/damp towel is the best towel to hang dry.
Our American towels (which are purchased in the USA, made somewhere else) dry without issues on the bath towel racks.
Bought from Target, Ross, Macys. Store brands, Tommy Hilfiger, Martha Stewart, etc.
As long as it is 100% cotton, I don't care.

[Craft_endlessly]

Linen towels- dry quickly and without funk since they are naturally antimicrobial. This is what I would use. I am about to make a bunch for gifts.

Not sure about this: http://sandusa.net/faq/ but sand doesn't stick. Not sure about the drying properties though.

[MMMaybe]

I find using less fabric softener helps. It leaves a coating on them, so I have become used to more crunchy towels. Also as previously mentioned, doing an extra spin cycle helps tremendously. I also don't buy expensive towels. The Ikea ones dry really fast.

The other thing is using a dehumidifier, in winter when line drying is less optimal. I would put the dehumidifier next to the drying rack and it will get the job dine.

[Craft_endlessly]

Actually, for towel and diapers or anything requiring absorbency- No fabric softener should be used. This topic is covered extensively on cloth diapering forums. Something about it coats the fibers and prevents them from up taking as much water. There are also numerous health reasons why fabric softener isn't great for you (plasticizers and the like).