Thread Count: What Makes the Perfect Towel Perfect
The human eye cannot determine which are the perfect towels for your vacation rental by itself. Instead, this depends on a key detail many are unaware of: thread count. This number reflects the amount of threads in one square inch of a towel’s fabric both horizontally and vertically, according to Towel Supercenter.
Understanding the significance of this figure will help you stock your vacation rental with quality towels guests will appreciate, one of the little things you can do to enhance the guest experience.
That is why Modern Innkeeper wants to help you choose the kind of towels your guests deserve.
What Makes High Thread-Count Towels Special
Even if you are learning about a towel’s thread count for the first time by reading this blog, you have most likely already experienced the difference thanks to the feel test. Its impact is tangible, which the towel experts at Towel Supercenter confirmed by describing high-thread count towels as being:
● Plush
● Soft
● Durable
● Absorbent
Basically, a towel with a high thread count is one tightly packed with thick, dense loops in each square inch. Egyptian cotton towels exemplify this, and that is why so many hotels invest in them. They will last for years and maintain their quality, making them beneficial for both you and guests.
But the thread count is not the only way to measure the quality of your towels.
Grams Per Square Meter
More commonly referred to as GSM, this measurement indicates how thick a towel is, which ultimately tells you what it is best for. A towel’s GSM is, generally, between 300 and 900.
Here is the breakdown of the tiers (thank you, Towel Supercenter):
● 300 to 400: Thin and light towels
● 400 to 600: Towels with medium absorbency
● 600 to 900: Heavy, absorbent towels that take a long time to dry
Now that you are one step closer towards becoming a towel expert, it is time we identify what you need to look for when you go towel shopping!
Purchasing the Right Towels for Your Rental
This blog from April 2021 lists the essential towels you will need for your vacation rental, and below reveals what you need to look for when purchasing towels for each category.
Bathroom Towels
More often than not, each guest should have access to two bathroom towels during their stay, but if you supply towels with a GSM between 400 and 600, they may only need one because towels in this range dry fast relative to how absorbent they are.
Guests who are outside riding bikes or using your rental’s sporting equipment will thank you because more activity equals more showers.
Most of us have experienced how awful it is to get out of the shower and find the towel is still wet from the previous shower.
How to prevent your guests from suffering through this?
Supply them towels in the 400 to 600 range.
Kitchen/Cleaning Towels
Even though you have prepared your kitchen for guests who want to bake cakes, they may end up ordering your area’s most popular types of food every night.
No matter what they decide to do, you need to assure them if they make a mess, they will be able to clean it up, which heavily depends on the towels that are available!
Kitchen towels should have a GSM between 300 and 400 because these ones will dry quickly; therefore, they will always be ready for cleanup time.
Pool/Beach Towels
Just like your rental’s bathroom towels, towels for the pool and/or beach should be minimum 400 GSM and maximum 600 GSM.
What will help these towels dry faster is they will likely spend an ample amount of time under the sun, based on guests using them at the pool or beach, effectively speeding up the drying process.
Count Your Threads
You do not literally have to count the threads of your rental’s towels, but do check their GSM before making a purchase. Your guests will be grateful you did, and they will have one less thing to worry about when they vacation at your place!