Testing this selection of the best camping towels, we too noticed their versatility and importance to any trip. As well as the obvious function of getting us dry after a shower, we wrapped them around us for warmth and lay on them on beaches. We could have used them as flags to signal rescue services or wafted them to ward off hungry predators, but the opportunities, thankfully, never arose. The corner attachment hoop (which opens with a clip) comes in handy if you want to hang this towel up from a branch or pole to create shade or cover, or simply to stop it dropping onto the floor. Microfibre is an incredibly fine synthetic fibre which can be found in multiple products these days. A micro-fibre towel usually dries four times faster, is six times lighter, and takes up a 1/8thof the space of a similar size standard towel.

Our microfibre towels are ideal for keeping you dry in the outdoors. Whether you're an active traveller, hiker or beach lover, you're sure to find the perfect towel for all your outdoor pursuits. Cotton is a water-thirsty crop and not generally considered “green”. I don’t know what the answer is.The material mix is soft, but occassionally caught on dry skin. There is no antibacterial treatment in the fabric either, so bacteria can build up over extended periods of time if you can’t get to a washing machine, which we found resulted in the towel getting a bit stinky. Yes. Microfiber towels can be washed and dried with ordinary washers and dryers, often having the same care requirements as cotton. We strongly recommend getting a large travel towel. We own several and the bigger ones are most useful.

The jury is out on whether cotton is a sustainable eco product in terms of water use and so on, but these won’t choke up our waterways like microfibres. The cotton towels are certainly more attractive than the microfibre towels and cost roughly the same. Some microfibre travel towels come in small medium and large, others come in a good range of accurately measured sizes. We’ll highlight some for you below. Weight and Size of Towel Microfibre is a much more practical choice for multiple reasons. It has great absorption properties, dries up fast, and folds compactly. 2. Size

They come out of the washing machine almost dry, so if you’re the sort to use an electric dryer, no more tumble drying huge heavy towels and wasting the planet’s resources that way. Cotton Travel Towels May Be More Eco-Friedly Like most synthetic fabrics, you should avoid putting your microfibre towel in the washing machine at a high-heat setting: this will only melt the fibres. Also, avoid using bleach or fabric softener as the former will erode those ultra-fine fibres and the latter will cause them to clump together. Unfortunately, the world’s waters and reefs are now contaminated with microfibres. And they don’t break down. If I were buying new now I’d give serious consideration to a natural fibre or cotton travel towel like those below.