Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

*** See revision at the bottom from Feb 2013. **** Benefit from my shopping around for the ultimate towel. Here's some comparisons. Each one has different pros and cons...I purchased white towels in each category so I can't comment on color-fastness. THIS TOWEL...(((Amazon: Pinzon Luxury 820-Gram))) Heavy weight towel. Very well made. Would definitely last a long time. The cloth is very dense. However this towel is not soft. It would probably last the longest out of any of them, but too rough for my taste. ---Scroll down for revision from 2013. This changes over time/use of the towel. (((Overstock: Luxury 800-Gram Egyptian Cotton))) Tied 1st place for my favorite. Heavy weight, thick, and soft enough. The loops are a little bigger than amazon's pinzon 820 and make it softer than that one. I will buy this one again to account for 3/4 of my towel stock. Even though it is heavy I could still wrap it around my body and my hair. (((Amazon: Pinzon 800-Gram Rayon Derived from Bamboo))) This towel tied for 1st place for my favorite, but not everyone in my family likes it. It is very heavy weight. It is the softest, silkiest towel I found on my quest. WOW! So silky in fact that some people may not like it, so it will only be part of my stock. It is too silky and heavy to stay wrapped around your body or head. It holds ambient room temperature, which in the winter makes it feel colder than other towels. But it is so soft and heavy it is almost like a blanket. This to me is the most luxurious towel, because I want a heavy, super soft towel. (((The Company Store: Bamboo/Cotton Towel))) This towel would be a nice compromise for softness versus weight. It is the next softest after amazon's pinzon bamboo. It is the lightest weight out of the bunch. It will stay wrapped around you and won't feel too heavy on your head. Everyone in my family liked this one. However I was looking for a heavier weight towel, so I did not buy these again. A note on laundry issues. All these towels absorb water well. I didn't find reviews based on laundry issues helpful. These will take longer to dry than thinner towels, however even the heaviest ones didn't take more than 45 minutes for me. If drying is taking too long, I would suggest to make sure you are not overfilling the dryer. Try adding dryer balls (or tennis balls or a dry towel) in with the load. Clean out your lint trap (the one that hooks to the wall). I didn't experience any unusual lint problems. Don't use fabric softener. It puts a slippery coating on the fabric that lessens the towel's ability to absorb water. I have a front load, high efficiency washer and I found that because these towels absorb more water that I had to use the 'extra water' setting and less detergent in order to get all the detergent rinsed out so they weren't scratchy. *** Revision Feb 2013 **** Above is my original review shortly after purchasing all of these towels. I wanted to come back and add a note to this about how the towels have held up. It has changed my recommendation on first place. My first place is now this towel - (((Amazon: Pinzon Luxury 820-Gram))). Reason... it has held up better than the other towels. Also it seems to have softened a bit with use - maybe the fibers relaxed a bit. Not sure. But this towel is now nicer than when I first bought it and I continue to reach for this one. This is the bulk of my towel stock now.