Get in touch with usThe phrase “Turkish towel” gets thrown around a lot these days. You’ll find it on tags in department stores, splashed across Instagram ads, and used to describe anything that looks vaguely striped and lightweight.
But here’s the real secret: Türkiye didn’t just become famous for towels — it invented the looping technique that transformed flat fabric into something soft, plush, and absorbent. That looping structure gave rise to what we now call terry towels, and it’s the reason Turkish towels became legendary.
But today, the truth is this: unless it was made by one of the last remaining weavers — the kind still working by hand on shuttle looms — it was never woven at all. Nearly everything sold as a “Turkish towel” today is factory-made, often far from Türkiye, with little connection to the craft that built its name.
So what makes the real thing different? Let’s talk about why hand-woven Turkish towels still matter — and how to tell them apart from their mass-produced cousins.
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Weaving has existed all over the world for thousands of years. But for most of human history, every woven textile — whether for clothing, blankets, or towels — was flat. The invention of the looping technique in the 17th-century Ottoman Empire (in what is now Türkiye) changed that.
That single innovation transformed towels from simple flat cloths into something plush, absorbent, and luxurious. It gave birth to the “havlu” — meaning “with loops” — the world’s first thick-looped towel. Later, factories coined the term “terry towel”, but it all started here. And it’s this structure that made Turkish towels legendary.
Today, the irony is that most products sold as “Turkish towels” — even those made in Türkiye — are not woven at all. Unless they’re made by one of the few remaining shuttle-loom weavers, they’re machine-made at high speeds, often with synthetic blends, far removed from the craft that built the name.
Hand-woven towels are different. Their dense, tight structure makes them:
• More absorbent
• Stronger and longer lasting (they age beautifully — like jeans, but softer)
• Luxuriously soft — like a spa day in your own bathroom
And while they may look perfectly uniform, each one carries the invisible fingerprint of the human who wove it. Small irregularities — often imperceptible — aren’t flaws, but quiet signs that what you’re holding was made by hand.
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You might see “100% cotton” on a tag — but that doesn’t mean much.
Our towels are made with GOTS-certified organic Turkish cotton, hand-picked and spun without chemicals. Many factory towels use mixed fibers (often synthetics) to reduce cost, which also reduces absorbency and lifespan.
Organic cotton feels different — and lasts longer.
Paired with shuttle loom weaving, the result is something that can last for years, not seasons.
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There was a time when tassels were an easy giveaway: hand-tied meant handmade. But today, small factory producers have gotten better at mimicking the look. Some machines can now twist tassels on flat-woven towels, and many factory towels simply leave loose threads at the ends to look hand-finished.
What used to be a clear clue — tassels and selvage edges — isn’t so reliable anymore, especially with anything flat-woven from small factory producers, like pestamels.
But with thick-looped towels, there’s one detail that still sets the real thing apart: the woven selvage edge. This finished edge can’t be recreated on machine-made terry. It’s the structural boundary of a shuttle loom — and a mark of the real deal.
That said, even here, things get complicated. Traditional looms only come in a few widths, so custom-sized towels often need to be cut from larger pieces, and those cut edges sewn to finish them off. In those cases, a missing selvage edge doesn’t automatically mean factory-made — it might just mean you asked for a size that doesn’t match the width of the loom.
So how can you know for sure?
You can’t — not by tassels alone. But once you’ve felt the real thing, you’ll never forget it. The structure, the weight, the softness… they tell a story machines still can’t fake.
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It’s hard to put into words, but if you’ve ever held a truly hand-woven towel made with the right threads, you know the difference.
The feel isn’t just about softness — it’s about substance. It comes from the quality of the threads we choose and the structure of the shuttle loom weave. It has a kind of quiet strength. A sense of intention.
And yes, like a favourite pair of jeans or a perfectly broken-in leather jacket, our towels get better with use. Not mushier. Not limp. Just… better. They become more supple, more familiar — and somehow more yours.
It’s not the kind of towel you throw away after a year. It’s the kind you wonder how you ever lived without.
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Here’s something most people don’t know: unless you’re buying from us, you’re not buying a towel made on a shuttle loom by a traditional weaver.
We are the only company in Türkiye — and in the world — still working with the last remaining master weavers who create thick-looped towels the traditional way.
In Türkiye, you’ll find both small factory production and large-scale industrial production. Outside of Türkiye, there’s only big factory production — and little connection to the craft that made these towels famous in the first place.
And while some large factories may choose organic cotton for marketing reasons, small factory producers never do. We go further — working exclusively with GOTS-certified organic Turkish cotton for our thick-looped towels, and the highest-grade natural linen available for others. That commitment to quality runs through every thread, not just the weaving itself.
This isn’t about being better than anyone else — it’s about being part of something rare. Something that almost disappeared. Every towel you choose helps keep these skills alive — not in a museum, but on a working loom, with someone who still knows how.
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You’re not just buying a towel.
You’re choosing to support a living tradition — one woven thread by thread on a shuttle loom, using natural and organic fibres that don’t just feel better, but do better. These pieces are made to last, not to be thrown out. And when their time does come, they return to the earth — not to a landfill.
That towel is more than soft. It’s strong, it’s sustainable, and it carries a kind of soul that machines can’t replicate.
In a world moving fast, this is slow. In a market chasing volume, this is value.
And once you’ve felt the difference, you’ll never want to go back.