HANDWOVEN ORGANIC COTTON CHECKED TOWELS IN ECRU
Luxurious thick looped towels made from pure organic cotton, woven by hand on traditional looms into a checked pattern. Each towel is finished with hand-knotted tassels, the typical and traditional way of finishing handwoven textiles. The towels come in ecru, the natural colour of unbleached organic cotton.
Artisanal, handwoven towels made from organic natural materials are special, not just because of their beauty, but also because of their endurance. Ottoman weavers invented the “looping technique” in the late 17th Century which has since become synonymous with the weave of most modern (terry) towels. When woven by hand using a shuttle loom, this traditional technique results in soft and highly absorbent textiles that have a strong structure making them extremely durable and long-lasting.
The skill of artisanal Turkish shuttle weaving was passed down from a mother to her children from one generation to the next. But with the onset of the industrial revolution and machine mass production, the art of traditional thick-looped towel weaving has all but disappeared. Our organic cotton towels are handwoven using this time-honoured weaving technique by the last remaining traditional weavers in Turkey. When you combine the strength and integrity that a woven product can offer with the highest quality natural fibres, and that aspect of the human soul in a handmade piece, then you have a product with a level of quality that is a rarity these days. The structure of a looped towel made on a loom is completely different from a towel made on a small or large factory machine.
Made using only one hundred per cent unbleached GOTS certified organic cotton, the fabric for our organic cotton towels is both grown and woven in Turkey. Beyond the environmental benefits of using organic cotton - for the earth and the people who pick the cotton - organically processed cotton is more absorbent, and releases moisture more effectively. It has its own natural bacteria-fighting ability, undamaged by chemical processing, and is therefore resistant to musty smells or the fabric hardening over time.
Approximate size:
Small: 30 x 60 cm
Medium: 45 x 95 cm
Large: 90 x 165 cm
As these items are handmade, please allow for some variation in size as part of the hand-making process.
Material: 100% GOTS organic cotton grown and handwoven in Turkey.
Care: machine wash at 30-40 C. Do not bleach. Tumble dry on low though we always recommend line-drying for the environment. To ensure the towels' longevity, please read our detailed care instructions here.
Breaking in: unbleached organic cotton is highly absorbent but will need some ‘breaking-in’ to reach its full absorbency potential. Our organic cotton towels will need to be soaked in cold water for 24 hours before their first use and we recommend an additional 2-3 soaks to get them to their full absorbency potential. Please read our detailed Organic Cotton Towel Care Instructions for more info.
You can see more images and find out more about our Organic Cotton Towels in our blog post here and by entering 'organic cotton towel' in the search field in the top right corner of our website.