Towel GSM explained

Whether buying bathroom towels online or from a high street shop, it is important to understand the physical properties of them. As household items which are heavily used, towels need to be durable and easily cleaned and recognising the different qualities of towels help with the care of these.Luxury towels are often a long-term investment and as such, knowledge about what to look for is useful. As well as considering the types of fabrics used to make the towels another consideration is the grams per square meter or GSM of these cloths.

GSM is the standard unit of quality for towels and it is important to understand fully what this means in order to ensure that the best towels are purchased for the available budget. It is a general rule of thumb that the higher the grams per square meter, the more luxurious the towel is. A high GSM represents a much thicker and compact fabric and this in turn generally means more absorbent bath towels.

For those looking for the ultimate luxury bath towels a GSM of about 700 is usual. These sorts of towels are often used at high end spas and hotels and offer the bather a velvety and soft drying experience. However, lower GSM’s are more appropriate for other sorts of towels depending on what they will be used for. For an everyday luxury towel, 500 grams per square meter is sufficient. High GSM towels are often quite heavy and if taking towels on holiday or for swimming a lighter, lower GSM should be considered.