One of you spied a minor new addition to our bathroom in this as-is house tour post. Do you see it?
Hint: it’s not the lone toilet paper roll. Or the baby bath seat.
Yep. The towels. You may remember that we were having trouble with our regular ol’ bath towels drying out completely since we’re all sharing the same bathroom and, um Ihatetoadmitit, the same towels. Not ideal, I know. But it’s what we’re doing until we can find a good chunk of time to attack the other {currently gutted} bathroom.
Adding a few more towel hooks to another wall or the door would have been another solution but, since the kids will eventually have their own bathroom, we decided to try something that would work now and in the future when extra towels aren’t necessary.
Luckily, the rise of the peshtemal coincided with our bath towel conundrum. If you haven’t heard of the peshtemal {where have you been?} it’s actually one of those ‘what’s old is new again’ comebacks. Peshtemals have been used for centuries in Anatolian steam baths. They’re made of 100% cotton and known to be highly absorbent, lightweight and fast-drying. These properties make them ideal for bathrooms, traveling, the gym and the beach.
I decided to give them a try. I bought two from this etsy shop to start. We liked them so much and they worked so well {i.e., they dry out completely in a short amount of time so no more mildewy-smelling towels!} that I ordered another five during a sale the shop was running a few weeks ago. I bought all different colors and patterns. I like mixing the towels. They add a little fun to our otherwise neutral bathroom. I get way too excited about them.
HH wasn’t sure about them the first time he tried one. I think his exact words were “I feel like I’m drying off with a bed sheet.” But much to his disbelief, the thin little towels do a better job of drying him off than our regular bath towels. They’re like the ShamWow of the bath towel world. They’re that good. Not to mention they look pretty darn amazing too.
As far as washing them goes, I just throw them in a cold wash cycle and dry them in the dryer on low-medium heat. Easy. Once warmer weather rolls around, I’ll probably hang them outside to dry. They just get better and softer with each wash.
The other advantage of the peshmetal is its petite size. They are thinner and smaller than your typical bath towel. The image above shows our seven peshtemals folded and stacked next to a pile of seven of our regular store bought bath towels. This space-saving characteristic is great for our downsized linen closet! All I have to do is donate our old towels. Oh yes, the Great Purge of 2013 is almost here.
Do you own a peshtemal? What’s been your experience with it? I was surprised to learn that peshtemals can also be worn as clothing. {Haven’t tried it yet.} Now isn’t that one multifunctional piece of cotton?!
images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking
budget decor