A towel is a piece of absorbent cloth or paper used for drying or wiping a surface. Towels draw moisture through direct contact. Bathing towels and hand towels are usually made of cotton, linen, bamboo and synthetic microfibers. In households, several types of towels are used, such as hand towels, bath towels, and kitchen towels. Paper towels are provided in commercial or office bathrooms via a dispenser for users to dry their hands. They are also used for such duties such as wiping, cleaning, and drying.

History

According to Middle Ages archaeological studies, "... closely held personal items included the ever present knife and a towel." However, the invention of the towel is commonly associated with the city of Bursa, Turkey, in the 17th century. These Turkish towels began as a flat, woven piece of cotton or linen called a peshtamal, often hand-embroidered. Long enough to wrap around the body, peshtamal were originally fairly narrow, but are now wider and commonly measure 90 x. Peshtamel were used in Turkish baths as they stayed light when wet and were very absorbent. As the Ottoman Empire grew, so did the use of the towel. Weavers were asked to embroider more elaborate designs, aided by their knowledge of carpet-weaving. By the 18th century, towels began to feature loops sticking up from the pile of the material. These looped towels became known as havly; over time, this word has changed to havlu, the Turkish word for towel, and means 'with loops'. Towels did not become affordable until the 19th century, with the cotton trade and industrialization. With mechanization, cotton terry-towelling became available by the yard as well as being stocked in shops as pre-made towels. Today, towels come in a variety of sizes, materials and designs.

Types

In fiction

In Douglas Adam's book The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, there is an in-world emphasis on towels and their importance to hitchhikers, because if a hitchhiker has a towel it can be inferred by a non-hitchhiker that they also have a toothbrush, soap, washcloth, raincoat, and related things, and would be happy to lend the hitchhiker any of those items if they have "lost" them.