I have been looking for new towels for two reasons: I have a lot of every-day towels that the mis-matched left overs from the original sets I've had for many years that are finally starting to look a bit frayed and ratty. For some reason, none of them ever seem to develop bleach marks and my family is rough on towels! I also have several sets of higher end towels that are treated much more gently, but they occasionally do develop bleach marks. I have read that benzoyl peroxide in some facial products may be the cause as well as some shampoos for color treated hair as well as cleaning products, but I am not sure what the actual culprit is in our home, as even the bath mats are sometimes affected. Anyway, I usually leave the cloth tags on my towels, so that years later, if a towel has held up well I can purchase the same brand again. Some of the best towels I have ever had are some that I picked up on sale at K-Mart (100% Brazilian Cotton) that took me about a YEAR to break in (the rest of my family had long given up on them). Whatever they were coated with did not come off in the first few dozen washes and they were not at all absorbent and left tiny little bits of fabric all over me. And they pilled terribly! But, if nothing else, I am persistent, and after many, many launderings they became fluffy and absorbent, they no longer shed or pill and they still look great! (that was about 12 years ago and I can still easily read the label--of course they are no longer being made). So now, I am simply looking for some white towels so I don't have to worry about any mysteriously appearing ghost marks. I want something reasonably priced that will last and I want them to be absorbent and look nice. I thought these might actually be too much of a good thing, but at the sale price of approximately $20.00 for a set of two, I figured I couldn't go too far wrong. When they arrived, I was pleased with the thickness and weight and they seemed to be of decent quality. After laundering for the first time (gentle cycle, tumble dry on low heat and then hang to finish drying--this did take a while, as expected for Egyptian Cotton) they shrunk by about one inch in length and width--still very generously sized. They are quite soft and yes they are a bit heavier than some of my other towels, but not unreasonably so. BUT, not everything was great--the first set I ordered was perfect...so I ordered two more sets & one of the two towels in each set had a major flaw. On one of the towels in the second set, there was apparently a thread had been pulled completely out during the manufacturing process--I did not see this flaw before the preliminary washing as there was no loose or tangled thread but it is glaringly apparent now--the thick line goes across the entire horizontal aspect of the towel. I did spot the flaw on one of the towels in the third set--another pulled thread--this time a short, tangled thread of about 6" or so leaving a small bare spot on the towel--when I pulled it (gently) it didn't come out so I just cut it off. Since then, several of the towels have been used and laundered with no further issues and no fraying of the edges or hems as others have noted. However, I do think the stitching on several of the towels is neither tight enough or strong enough to withstand heavy use and I am sure they will indeed fray in time. I would have returned these if I had paid the regular price, but since they were on sale and the flaws are really cosmetic and don't affect the functionality of the towel, I feel that they will work well enough for my purposes. I am a bit disappointed as I have purchased other towels in this brand in the past (same line--900 gsm and 100% Egyptian Cotton, but in colors, and for some reason, they seem to be of better quality).
