Oversized Bath Towels - Centuries To Develop, A Lifetime To Enjoy
Let’s face it, oversized bath towels are so nice. Stepping out of the shower and wrapping yourself in luxury is one of life’s little pleasures. You can go to almost any department store or discount store and buy them in any color of the rainbow and beyond. It wasn’t always that way. Before the nineteenth century, long before the textile industry was filled with machines, towels in general were extremely expensive to make and more so to buy. Only the very rich could afford them. Believe it or not, there were even many debates on how important sanitary towels were back in the day.
Actually, it wasn't until the last hundred years that taking baths was all that important. Many did not bathe for a very long time. When towels were starting to become cheaper to make, oversized bath towels did not exist, not yet. Some will tell you that the first ‘bath towels’ were mostly made for the ladies to hang behind the wash bowl or next to it. It was only used for washing the face and hands. These pretty, little towels were usually made from fine linen, all were hand made. And they were fancy! Some had embroidered trim, others had birds or flowers embroidered in the middle. I always thought they were pretty. I received some of my great grandmothers towels. I cherished them and still do.
Finally in the late eighteen nineties, thanks to the Industrial Revolution, terry cloth was being produced along with the linen. It was discovered that they absorbed water quicker than linen and were not as hard to keep looking pretty. Though the first terry cloth was extremely rough, and still people didn’t bathe as often as maybe they should have. Through the years, terry cloth became very soft and absorbent. Nothing was nicer than wrapping yourself in a terry cloth bath towel.
Many women learned about this terry cloth and could go to the local mercantile store and buy it by the yard, or even buy it through a mail order catalog. Now how convenient was that? Back in those days it was a luxury to be able to order anything through the catalog, that was left for the rich. Yes oversized bath towels still haven’t come on the market, but they will. Some will say the Turkish people invented the terry bath towels, as they would wrap them around their heads. As the material is so absorbent, it was a good material to use as bath towels as well. Others will tell you no the Turkish did not invent the terry towel, whomever did invent it, thank you. It is wonderful to wrap the body in it. The more you use terry cloth, the softer it becomes. I have a couple of good terry bath towels that are over twenty years old. I think they are better than the day I bought them.
Some will ask what is the difference between terry cloth and cotton bath towels. Mainly it is in the weave of the cloth. The larger the weave, it is called terry cloth. The closer the weave will be called cotton.
Now finally the oversized bath towels are coming into homes. People started to bathe more and wanted good bath towels. Now parents like to wrap their kids in them after a bath, and believe me when I say they can wrap the oversized bath towels around a small three year old about four times. And the kids love them. Some even have hoods on them to keep their little heads warm.
Oversized bath towels are so popular that there must be at least one in every household. People are bigger today than yesteryear and they want the full coverage, so to speak. I have been known to run through the house wearing nothing but my oversized bath towel. Of course I am alone when I do that. I have about ten oversized bath towels in my bathrooms; the kids love them and so does my husband.
Most of the oversized bath towels today are made of a cotton blend and polyester. Some companies that make towels will buy the cotton in five hundred pound bales of cotton and then spin them with the synthetics to get a certain type of yarn they need. I do not understand why they do that, true cotton is wonderful next to the skin. The yarn is spun and then it must be sized to fit in the loom for a better weave. Then it has to have starch, urea and wax. Bleach is used before dying the yarn, if it is going to be dyed different colors. There is a lot that has to be done to make decent oversized bath towels. But that is the way of the new world, I suppose.
Oversized bath towels today can be found in so many different colors. Some can be solid colors, others have circles, stripes or zigzags. Many oversized bath towels can be bought in large department stores or discount stores. The prices will vary as well. If you shop at Macy’s and only Macy’s expect to pay about twice the price as if going to Target to buy it for a lot less.
Beach towels were once considered oversized bath towels, the only difference is they are bolder in the color schemes and now do not cost a lot of money. My son uses his beach towel for his bath towel all the time.
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