In the microfiber vs cotton beach towels debate, microfiber wins on drying speed, light weight and shaking off sand, while cotton wins on plush comfort and soaking up water. Turkish flatweave and velour are cotton styles with their own strengths. Many printed name towels use both: a polyester face for the print and a cotton back for drying.
Key takeaways
- Microfiber is light, packs small, dries fast and sheds sand, but can feel thin or clingy.
- Cotton terry is plush, absorbent and soft on wet skin, but heavy, slow to dry and sandy.
- Turkish flatweave and velour are cotton too: one light and sand-shedding, one smooth and print-friendly.
- Sublimation dye only bonds with polyester, so full-color printed towels pair a polyester face with a cotton back.
- Our towels come in Standard 360 GSM or Premium 450 GSM; Premium is thicker and plusher.
In this guide
- Microfiber vs cotton beach towels at a glance
- Does microfiber absorb water better than cotton?
- Are microfiber towels good for the beach?
- What fabric does sand not stick to?
- What is a Turkish beach towel?
- What is a velour beach towel?
- Why printed towels pair a polyester face with cotton
- Standard 360 vs Premium 450 GSM: what weight means
- How to judge quality in a custom beach towel
- What is the best material for a beach towel?
- Frequently asked questions
Microfiber vs cotton beach towels at a glance
Neither wins everywhere. Microfiber is the better pick for travel, light packing and towels that must dry between swims; cotton terry is better for lounging, wrapping up and a plush dry-off. Turkish flatweave sits between them: cotton, but thin, light and quick to dry.
| Feature | Microfiber | Cotton terry | Turkish flatweave |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiber | Synthetic, usually polyester and polyamide | Natural cotton loops | Natural cotton, flat-woven |
| Feel on wet skin | Smooth; can drag or cling | Plush and soft | Thin and smooth; softens with washing |
| Drying the towel | Fast | Slow; can stay damp for hours | Fast |
| Sand | Shakes off | Settles between the loops | Shakes off |
| In the bag | Very light, packs small | Bulky and heavy | Light, folds flat |
| Best for | Travel, many dips, packing light | Lounging, wrapping up after a swim | Travel, style, doubling as a wrap |
Ask frequent travelers and most will say microfiber; ask people who spend the whole afternoon on a lounger and most will say cotton. Forum threads on the question split along the same line, and both camps are right about their own kind of beach day.
Two more constructions round out the picture. Velour is cotton terry with one side sheared smooth, and printed name towels combine two materials in one towel. Each gets its own section below.
Does microfiber absorb water better than cotton?
Not in the way most people mean. Microfiber's very fine fibers hold a lot of water for their weight and let it go quickly, so the towel itself dries fast. Cotton pulls water into the fiber, which feels more thorough on skin but leaves the towel heavy and damp for longer.
"Absorbent" covers two different things: how well a towel dries you, and how fast the towel dries afterwards. Cotton is strong on the first and microfiber on the second. Microfiber makers commonly say their towels dry up to about three times faster than cotton, which explains why so many end up in carry-on bags.
Technique matters as well. Cotton terry dries skin with a quick rub, while microfiber does its best work pressed or patted against the skin rather than rubbed.
What about drying your body after a long swim or a shower? Most people prefer cotton there: it takes up more water in one pass and feels warmer on wet skin. For a gym bag or a quick dip, microfiber is plenty.
Are microfiber towels good for the beach?
Yes, for many beachgoers. Microfiber sheds sand with a shake, dries between swims and packs down small, which makes it a favorite for travel and long days out. The trade-offs are a thinner, flatter feel, less cushion on hot sand and a surface some people find clingy on wet skin.
It shines on trips where every ounce in the bag counts, on days with several swims, and on beaches where wind keeps blowing sand across the towel. On a lazy afternoon spent lying down, many people miss the padding of a thick cotton towel.
What are the disadvantages of microfiber towels?
The main drawbacks are feel and heat. Microfiber can drag on wet skin, gives little cushion on hot sand and does less to keep you warm, and it needs low-heat care in the laundry. It's also a synthetic fiber, which matters to some buyers.
- Feel. It can drag or cling on wet skin, and cheaper microfiber can feel rough.
- Thin cushion. There's little padding between you and hot sand.
- Little warmth. A thin towel does less for you once the breeze picks up late in the day.
- Heat-sensitive. High dryer heat and a hot iron can damage the fine fibers.
- Synthetic. Microfiber sheds tiny fibers in the wash and doesn't break down the way cotton does, though how sustainable a towel is depends on more than its fiber label.
What ruins microfiber in the laundry is mostly heat, fabric softener and lint from cotton loads. Our guide on how to wash beach towels covers microfiber, Turkish and cotton care side by side.
What fabric does sand not stick to?
Sand sticks least to smooth, tightly woven surfaces: microfiber, especially the suede-like sand-free kind, flat-woven Turkish cotton and linen. Looped cotton terry holds onto it, because grains settle between the loops, and the sheared face of a velour towel sits in between.
If sand is your main complaint, these towels let go of it most easily:
- Sand-free microfiber. The smoothest, tightest surface of the lot.
- Turkish flatweave. No loops for grains to settle into.
- Linen. Light and smooth, though pricier and less plush.
- Velour, on its smooth side. Easier to brush clean than plain terry.
"Sand-free" on a label means sand shakes off easily, not that none ever sticks. Whatever the fabric, dry sand drops off far more readily than wet sand, and the full method is in our guide to how to get sand out of a beach towel, along with how to keep sand out of the washer.
What is a Turkish beach towel?
A Turkish beach towel, also called a peshtemal or hammam towel, is a thin, flat-woven cotton towel, often striped and finished with fringe. It dries fast, shakes off sand and folds flat, and many people use it as a wrap or a picnic throw too. It feels lighter and less plush than terry.
Watch the wording on labels, because Turkish cotton isn't always a Turkish towel. The phrase can mean the long-staple cotton fiber, which also goes into thick terry towels, or the flat-woven towel style. A towel sold as Turkish cotton terry is plush and loopy; a peshtemal is thin and smooth.
Flatweave gets softer with every wash. It takes up less water per pass than thick terry, so it suits quick dry-offs better than a long wrap after a swim.
Linen towels work on the same idea: flat, light and quick to shed sand, though they cost more and feel less plush than cotton.
What is a velour beach towel?
A velour beach towel is a cotton terry towel whose loops have been sheared on one side, leaving a smooth, velvety face, while the back keeps its loops for absorbing water. The smooth side feels soft to lie on and gives a design a clean surface, and the looped back does most of the drying.
What to look for in a velour beach towel:
- The fiber. All cotton or a cotton blend, stated on the label.
- A stated weight. A number tells you more than "thick" or "luxury" does.
- A looped back. The sheared face absorbs less on its own, so the back needs its loops.
- Even shearing and stitched hems. No bald patches and no loose threads.
Velour is often embroidered or screen printed. Full-color sublimation needs a polyester surface instead, and that is where the next section picks up.
Why printed towels pair a polyester face with cotton
A full-color printed towel needs polyester on the printed side. Dye sublimation turns the ink into a gas that moves into polyester fibers and stays there, and cotton doesn't take it. So the cotton goes on the back, where it does the absorbing, and the polyester face carries the design.
Our personalized beach towels follow that build: a polyester print face and a cotton back, printed on one side, in 22 × 42 and 30 × 60 inches. To personalize one, type the name or short text, pick from 30 fonts and 10 text colors, then check the preview. No image upload is needed.
Because sublimation dye ends up inside the fibers rather than sitting on top of them, a sublimated print has no surface layer that could crack or peel. On a two-sided towel like this, the cotton side is the one to dry off with, and the printed side faces up when the towel is spread out.
Embroidery is the other common way to put a name or logo on a towel: thread is stitched into the fabric for a raised, classic look. We embroider cotton towels by quote; see custom embroidery for how it works.
Screen printing and woven-in jacquard designs are other routes often used for large runs of plain cotton towels. For the sublimation process itself, step by step, read how dye sublimation works.
Standard 360 vs Premium 450 GSM: what weight means
GSM, grams per square meter, tells you how much fabric is in a towel: a higher number means a denser, heavier towel that usually feels plusher and takes longer to dry. Our shop towels come in two weights, Standard at 360 GSM and Premium at 450 GSM, in both sizes.
Standard is a soft, regular-weight towel for everyday use. Premium is thicker and softer than Standard, with a fuller, plusher feel.
Cotton towel guides commonly sort weights into bands: about 300–400 GSM light and quick to dry, 400–600 GSM medium, and 600 GSM and up plush and slow to dry. Those bands describe all-cotton towels, and a two-layer printed towel isn't a like-for-like match. Compare our two weights with each other rather than with a cotton bath sheet. Thread count, by the way, is a sheet measure; towels are judged by GSM.
| Size | Standard, 360 GSM | Premium, 450 GSM |
|---|---|---|
| 22 × 42" | $19.90 | $22.90 |
| 30 × 60" | $23.90 | $26.40 |
Standard suits the pool bag and everyday use; Premium suits a gift or a long day of lounging. How much towel each size gives you is covered in our beach towel size guide.
Both weights come in every design in our shop.
How to judge quality in a custom beach towel
A high-quality custom beach towel gets the basics right: a print surface that holds sharp color, an absorbent back, a stated weight, a size that suits the job and a design applied in a way that holds up to regular washing. Check each of those before you compare prices.
- Print face. Full-color sublimation needs polyester. Ours is a polyester print face.
- Back. Cotton loops do the absorbing, and ours is cotton.
- Weight. A stated GSM tells you what you're paying for. Ours are 360 GSM Standard or 450 GSM Premium.
- Size. Big enough for the way the towel will be used, whether that's lying on the sand or drying off after laps.
- Edges. Stitched hems with no loose threads.
- Decoration. Sublimation, embroidery and screen printing each have their own look and feel, so match the method to the design.
- Proof and care label. A custom logo order should come with a proof before printing, and every towel should carry a care label to follow. Our proof is free, and logos can be sent as a 300 DPI PNG or a vector file.
Ordering for a business, a team or an event? Bulk orders are covered on our page for logo towels for businesses. Every custom beach towel quote is free and comes back within one business day. Printed logo towels have no setup fees and no minimum, larger orders get volume pricing, and shipping is charged on top.
What is the best material for a beach towel?
The best material for a beach towel depends on how you'll use it: cotton terry for lounging and a plush dry-off, microfiber for travel and fast drying, Turkish flatweave for light packing and shedding sand, and velour for a smooth surface to lie on. For a name or full-color design, it's a polyester face over a cotton back.
Pick by the day you're planning:
- A flight or a backpack. Microfiber, which packs smallest and dries between stops.
- A resort pool or a long beach day. Thick cotton terry or velour to stretch out on and wrap up in.
- A windy, sandy beach. Turkish flatweave or sand-free microfiber, which shake clean.
- A gift with a name on it. A polyester print face over a cotton back, so the name prints in full color.
- A team or club order. Logo towels by quote.
Cotton, mostly terry, is still the classic beach towel material, and the one most people picture when they hear the words.
Frequently asked questions
Which is better for beach use, a microfiber or a Turkish towel?
Both shed sand and dry quickly. Microfiber packs smaller and dries fastest, so it wins for flights and backpacks; a Turkish towel is natural cotton, softens with every wash and doubles as a wrap or a picnic throw. If a synthetic feel bothers you, pick Turkish.
Are microfiber towels better for golf?
Many golf towels are microfiber, often in a waffle weave, because it lifts dirt out of club grooves and dries fast. Cotton terry and velour stay the classic plush choice for drying hands and grips. For towels with a club or event logo, see our 16 × 24 custom golf towels.
Do you throw away microfiber towels after use?
No. Microfiber towels and cloths are made to be washed and used again many times. Replace one when it stops picking up water or still feels rough after washing. Until then, wash it without heat or fabric softener, as our beach towel washing guide explains.
Is a microfiber cloth the same as a microfiber towel?
Same fiber family, different jobs. Cleaning cloths are tight weaves made to grab dust and grease, while bath and beach towels are made softer for skin. Keep the two apart in the cupboard and in the wash, since a cleaning cloth carries grime and cleaning products.
Are cotton towels good for hair?
Yes, for most hair. Wet hair is fragile, so press or squeeze it in the towel rather than rubbing. Many people with curly or frizz-prone hair prefer a smooth microfiber towel, which tugs less at the strands. Whichever you use, a gentle squeeze does more than a hard rub.
Are microfiber towels good for sensitive skin?
It depends on the person. Some find microfiber's synthetic surface draggy or irritating, especially on sunburned or freshly shaved skin, and prefer the softer feel of cotton; good microfiber feels smoother than cheap versions. If a towel bothers your skin, switch materials rather than pressing harder.
