What is a Turkish towel?

Turkish towel, also known as peshtemal, is a rectangular woven cloth made in Turkey from Turkish cotton. It is one of the oldest textile apparels known in the world. Turkish towel has been used for hundreds of years in Anatolia especially as a cloth in Turkish baths (hammams) to cover the nudity. However, it is totally a different story today.  

Brief history of Turkish towels
Back in the Ottoman Empire years, mansions had their private Turkish baths. Other than that, there were public Turkish baths where people were having baths. In public Turkish baths, men and women were using Turkish towels to cover their nudity. Men were wearing Turkish towels under their waists whilst women preferred wearing them underarms.  

Turkish bath and Turkish towel relationship
As a cleaning and purifying ritual, Turkish baths used to play a huge role in social lives back then during Ottoman Empire. People were going to Turkish baths not only for cleaning but also for socializing and entertaining. Ladies were gathering as groups in Turkish baths and spending a whole day taking baths, chatting, and even eating. Moreover, we know that entertaining concerts took place in Turkish baths. The Turkish towels were an inevitable vein of that ritual. 

Improvement of Turkish towels in textile
After the Ottoman Empire years, we know that houses had their bathrooms. Therefore, a number of people going to public Turkish baths drastically dropped and Turkish baths became touristic and nostalgic places from the past. In the same vein, Turkish towel lost its popularity quite a while. However, people re-invented the benefits of Turkish bath and beach towels in recent years and they came to our lives in totally different forms. After that, we started seeing a wide range of Turkish bath and beach towels in different colors, styles, and patterns thanks to improving textile technologies. 

Turkish bath and beach towels today
Turkish bath and beach towels offer so much more than regular towels. As most of us are used to having thick towels at our houses, we generally think that they are the best options to dry our bodies or our hair. Turkish cotton towels are much thinner than regular towels yet highly absorbent thanks to their longer fiber cotton quality. Most importantly, Turkish cotton quality has a perfect balance in terms of absorbency and efficient drying times. In conclusion, Turkish bath and beach towels used only in Turkish baths back in the days make life easier at home, on the beach, in the pool, and on vacation today.