Terry Towelling for Hotel, Spa and Wellness
Terry is the textile your guest touches most often and judges fastest. A towel that goes stiff after thirty washes, or pulls a thread, gets noticed long before anyone compliments the room. This page sets out what tells good hospitality terry from the rest, before you order it.
What actually decides the quality of a towel
Three figures decide it, and none of them shows in a photograph. Once you know them, you compare offers in two minutes instead of two weeks.
GSM, grams per square metre
- It tells you how much cotton is in the towel, and nothing else.
- Below 400 grams a hotel towel turns thin and does not dry the guest properly.
- Between 400 and 500 grams is where most properties work, because absorbency, drying time and laundry cost stay in proportion.
- Above that the towel feels noticeably plusher, but takes longer in the dryer and costs more to run.
The yarn
- Ring spun cotton gives a more even, firmer loop than open end yarn.
- It lints less and holds its structure over more wash cycles.
- You cannot see it in the price. You see it at the thirtieth wash.
The hem
- A double stitched hem is where hospitality linen parts company with retail linen.
- It survives commercial laundering, where a towel sees more cycles in a year than a domestic one in its whole life.
- Once the hem goes, the towel is gone, however good the pile still is.
Single ply or two ply terry
Both are terry, both have loops, and they behave differently in service. The choice follows the place of use, not the feel in the showroom.
Single ply, low twist
- Woven from a single yarn, then compacted under moisture after weaving.
- Soft, full bodied, highly absorbent.
- This is what a guest registers as pleasant the moment the towel is picked up.
- Our recommendation for guest areas, where the feel is what counts.
Two ply, twisted yarn
- Woven from two or more twisted strands.
- Denser, smoother, more dimensionally stable.
- It feels firmer, but keeps its shape over many washes and distorts less.
- Our recommendation for pool and fitness, where volume and turnover count.
The short rule: Single ply where the guest handles the towel. Two ply where it goes through the laundry every day.
What we stock
All white, 100 percent cotton, ring spun, short loop, double stitched. White is the safe choice in a hotel because it can be reprocessed with chlorine bleach.
Towel line 400 gsm
Six sizes from face cloth to sauna sheet. The choice for standard rooms, because it dries quickly and does not hold up the laundry.
Towel line 500 gsm
The same six sizes in the heavier quality. For suites and wellness areas, where the guest stays longer and looks closer.
Bath mats
50x70 cm in 650 and 700 gsm. Heavy enough to stay where it was put.
Bathrobes, shawl collar
380 and 450 gsm, S to 3XL. The shawl collar is the version that needs the least explaining in house.
Side by side: Put the 400 and the 500 line next to each other and you will not see the difference straight away, but you feel it after a shower. Which is why it pays not to run the same quality through the whole house.
The sizes in proportion
Drawn to scale, so the names do not leave you guessing. The names differ from country to country, the measurements do not.
| Size | Measurement | What for | Per guest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Face cloth | 30 x 30 cm | basin, face, hands | 1 |
| Guest towel | 40 x 60 cm | cloakroom and second bathroom | 1 |
| Hand towel | 50 x 100 cm | the workhorse of the room | 1 to 2 |
| Bath towel | 70 x 140 cm | standard after the shower | 1 |
| Bath sheet | 100 x 150 cm | suite, tub, wellness | 1 |
| Sauna sheet | 100 x 180 cm | sauna and lounger | as needed |
| Bath mat | 50 x 70 cm | in front of shower and tub | 1 per bathroom |
Before you order: Terry shrinks on the first wash, by up to fifteen percent depending on quality. Allow for it when you fix sizes for rails and shelves, not afterwards.
Colour: the process decides, not the shade
Once colour comes into it, the question is not which green, but how it got into the fibre. That is what decides whether the towel still looks right after a season by the pool.
Reactive dyeing
- The dye bonds chemically with the cotton fibre.
- Colourfast in the wash and the normal case for coloured terry.
- Only limited resistance to chlorine.
- Right for rooms and restaurant.
Vat dyeing, indanthrene
- The more demanding process, with markedly higher wash, light and above all chlorine fastness.
- Exactly what towels need when they lie by the pool or meet disinfectants.
- Right for pool, sauna and spa.
- The surcharge pays back over service life, because faded towels get pulled long before they are worn out.
The short rule: Coloured goods for rooms and restaurant reactive, coloured goods for pool, sauna and spa vat dyed.
Made to measure: where the limits actually are
The range above is what we hold in stock. It is not what we can supply. We import directly, so a special order goes to the same mill as the stock line.
GSM
There is no fixed ceiling in production. From light towels for the gym to heavy qualities for the suite, all of it is feasible.
Size
To your specification. Sauna kilt, beach towel, odd sizes for unusual rails.
Colour
To your reference, reactive or vat dyed, matched to your house colour.
Your mark
As embroidery or woven into the border. The woven version is more discreet and lasts as long as the towel, embroidery is more visible and makes sense at small volumes.
What it costs: That depends on gsm, colour and size, and a figure that does not fit your property is no help to you. Tell us what you have in mind and we will cost it properly.
So the goods last what you paid for
Service life is decided in the laundry more often than at purchase. Three things cost the most, and all three are free to stop.
Extends service life
- Load machine and dryer only to the capacity the drum is built for.
- Let the fabric open up in the dryer, otherwise the towel comes out hard.
- Insist on double stitched hems and ring spun yarn at purchase.
- Process white goods at 95 degrees, coloured goods according to the dyeing process.
Cuts it short
- Fabric softener. It coats the loop and takes away exactly the absorbency you paid the gsm for.
- Overloaded machines. They abrade the hems and pull threads in the pile.
- Chlorine on reactive dyed goods.
- Drying too hot for too long, which makes the fibre brittle.
Why buy from us
We are the importer, not a middleman. You notice it in three places, and all three concern your working day rather than our self portrait.
We import ourselves. Nobody sits between the mill and your store room adding a margin.
What is in stock you see in real time, not as a call back the next day.
Reordering costs no freight, so you do not have to build a store you do not need.
One contact: For special orders you speak to the same person who looks after your stock lines. You do not have to explain your case twice.
Tell us what your property needs
Room count, changeover rhythm and laundry are enough for a recommendation that holds. If you have a special order in mind, give us gsm, size and colour and we will cost it.
Frequently asked
What buyers write to us most often about terry.
