SHOP $120, brooklinen.com
Welcome to The Esquire Endorsement. Heavily researched. Thoroughly vetted. These picks are the best way to spend your hard-earned cash.
Conspiracy theory time: I always thought waffle towels were a marketing ploy to sell towels that nobody really wanted.Oh, they're more absorbent. They dry faster. They're better when it's hot and humid. This is what people told me. You know what my response was? I don't care. I wanted a towel that was big, plush, and spa-like. If it's bad at absorbing water, don't care, I'll just take longer to dry off.
Then, a few weeks ago I tried Brooklinen's brand new, redesigned waffle towel. I'm shocked to say, it converted me.
SHOP $120, brooklinen.com
JOE LINGEMAN
They're the Only Waffle Towels I've Loved
Before these towels, I was firmly of the opinion that waffle towels were just inferior. I didn't care about them. If you were going to get me to give up my spa-style terry cloth towels, it was going to take something special. These towels are that special. To start, it's insane how absorbent they are.
The first time I used them, I jumped out of the shower, soaking wet, gave myself a quick wipe down: head, torso, arm, arm, ass and legs, and... that was it. I was dry enough to slip into my little PJs, and I was floored (I hate saying this btw, and only do when it's necessary) by how easy it was. Every time since, I've been just as surprised at how easy getting dry now is.
SHOP $120, brooklinen.com
JOE LINGEMAN
They Fix the One Big Waffle Towel Issue
The real issue with waffle towels was how much they shrink. Because of that open weave, they'd routinely shrink by as much as a quarter in size if you threw them in the dryer. And in the big-ass industrial dryers at my laundromat, they might half in size.
But, Brooklinen—through some magical science I have no real understanding of—fixed that problem. I wasn't sure how that was possible, so I took my question directly to the minds at Brooklinen and their answer was, essentially, we can't tell you. But they did say that the weave is proprietary to Brooklinen, so they're pretty tight-lipped about the whole deal. What I was able to weasel out of them is that it's mostly down to the little squares, the individual pockets that create the waffle pattern.
Here, the waffle squared have been tinkered to Goldilocks's standards: They're crazy absorbent and won't shrink in the dryer. Finally, you can own waffle towels with a longer life-span than just a few washes, and they won't look shrunk and crumpled up hanging in your bathroom when guests come over.
SHOP $120, brooklinen.com
JOE LINGEMAN
The Design Is Genuinely Incredible
The greatest testament to how much detail went into these towels is that they took two whole years to develop these. The Brooklinen team went all around the world to find a new weaver, specifically with the intention of perfecting the waffle towel. They finally landed on a Turkish weaver (duh), 100 percent Turkish cotton, and that proprietary weave that they're keeping under lock and key. It's the perfect marriage of thoughtful design mixed with quality materials.
So, I got got. Not because I fell for some dumb marketing campaign. I believe conspiracy theories too easily to get suckered into that. No, I got got because Brooklinen actually went out and made the perfect waffle towel. Now I have to give up my plush terry cloth towels, and I want to fill my home with everything waffle weave... Hold on, maybe that was their actual marketing tactic. Either way, don't spend any longer not believing in the magic of waffle towels.
SHOP $120, brooklinen.com
Photography by Joe Lingeman. Prop styling by Andrea Bonin.
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