Towels. You probably don’t think much about them…
Until you step out of the shower one morning to dry yourself off, only to be overcome by the pungent mustiness of a towel that never dried fully.
If you’re like most people, you definitely do not wash your bath towels after every use. And why would you? It’s a waste of water, energy, and for the most part, a towel is clean when you’re done using it, because you’ve obviously just stepped out of the shower (and hopefully you actually washed while in there). So, one would hope that placing a clean, albeit moist, towel on the rack to dry would result in the towel, well, drying.
Sometimes, however, that just isn’t the case. Maybe the humidity in your bathroom is too high, maybe your towels are old and can’t shed water as much as the used to, or maybe you’re just super lazy and leave towels on the rack until they build up into a layer cake of bacteria and mildew (suggestion: don’t be that guy). No matter how it happens, you know the smell and feeling of attempting to dry off with a not-so-fresh towel.
Onsen Towel, which is currently available for backing on Kickstarter, wants to eliminate the possibility of a smelly towel once and for all with its innovative weaving technique.
Named after the Japanese term referring to thermal hot springs and the spas and hotels that surround them, the Onsen towel was created to bring Japanese-style high-quality to American basics.
Onsen towel creator, Shane Monson, began looking for a better towel to suit his needs. He was overcome with the amount of options out there and also disappointed in how poorly the towels held up after use.
It wasn’t until Monson was working in Tokyo that he was inspired to create the perfect towel: “Growing up I was greatly influenced by the Japanese culture (it’s in my blood!). It wasn’t until later while working in Tokyo when I noticed how much value was placed on product quality…My love for well-made products grew exponentially while working with Japanese distributors importing international brands. They were very picky about the brands they’d work with, but even more so with each product offered by the brand. Without compromise, it was all about getting the basics right.”
And with the Onsen towel, Monson prove the devil is in the details. The towel is super soft and made from premium cotton that’s waffle woven in such a way to maximize the surface area exposure so the towel can dry itself faster, preventing bacterial growth, and in-turn, that mustiness. The towel also sports an exfoliating texture and is generously sized, with the bath towel coming in at 31 x 57 inches. And, according to Monson, the towel will only get softer with each wash.
The onsen towel is currently available for backing. A $40 pledge will get you one large onsen towel, $55 will get you a full set of one bath towel, face towel, and hand towel (all in cinder grey). Check out their Kickstarter here for more pledge options. Orders are expected to be fulfilled and shipped in June of 2017.
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