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Until recently — roughly the age of 30 — I was someone who skimped on the quality of my bath towels. I lived in a Brooklyn apartment with roommates; the aesthetic of its common spaces, including the bathroom, felt cobbled together. Because my home was shared, even if an item was technically mine, I thought only about its function. As long as it did the bare minimum of what I needed it to, it was good enough for me.
My thought process changed two years ago when I moved into my own place. I made it a goal to, over time, collect items that I wanted to take from apartment to apartment, from big-ticket purchases like my bed to smaller ones, like dishes, glasses, and, yes, bath towels. When I began searching for an upgrade to my garden-variety towels from the Target next to Barclays Center (RIP — these towels had a time and a place), I stumbled upon Onsen. Similar to other direct-to-consumer companies that rose to prominence in the 2020s, the brand zeroes in on one thing: waffle-weave and plush towels, in a handsome, tidy package.
Onsen Complete Waffle Towel Set
After reading glowing user reviews that vouched for their quality, I decided to give the waffle-weave towels a try. I ordered two bath towels, which measure 31 x 57 inches each, in the twilight blue hue. (The brand offers a host of other colors, from brighter to neutral, as well as several other sizes: hand towels at 16 x 30 inches, face towels at 12 x 12 inches, and a larger bath sheet at 38 x 67 inches.)
This sounds hyperbolic, but I will never forget the moment that I first used them to dry off after a shower. Although they’re not exactly plush, their material — 100% Supima cotton — was soft to the touch. But that wasn’t the true game-changer: The towels’ waffle-weave texture wicked the water away from my skin more quickly than effectively than any towel I’ve used, period. They also dried the fastest, too, and took up so little space on the towel rack — something that’s nearly invaluable in a small apartment bathroom where there’s not a lot of room to move.
Today, I’ve had my two Onsen towels for more than two years. I’ve washed them more times than I can count — including in harsh New York laundromat machines — and they haven’t pilled, ripped, disintegrated, or faded. I can say with certainty that they’ve made me think about my shower routine differently, transforming it from a get-in-get-out type of experience to a more spa-like, serotonin-boosting one. I don’t at all regret spending $50 per towel. They last; it’s worth it.
