If you're fairly observant, you will probably have noticed that Printed beach towels are actually bigger and longer by about 30 centimeters. Why's that? Because while they still need to be able to keep you clean and dry, a beach towel has a higher purpose in life: fashionable accessory. The function of a product and the environment it will be used in usually, informs the manufacturing process, and the beach towel is no exception. Inevitably, it will be stomped into the sand by well-intentioned feet, and exposed to salt water or chlorine.
Often a beach towel will dry without being thoroughly rinsed to remove the salt, sand, and chlorine. Perhaps by now you are beginning to see that a beach towel isn’t just a towel. In fact, it is far more than a towel. It is a blanket, a tanning bed, a makeshift pillow. It is a fashion accessory, a statement and the solitary barrier between you and the sandy beach below your back. With so much to do, it’s no wonder there’s usually more fabric than a normal towel!Another key difference between a bath towel and a beach towel is in their appearance. Viewed out of context, the most immediate way you’d likely recognise the difference between the two, is the stark colour difference.
A towel is made to complement the environment it is found in. Bathrooms, for all of their variations, usually invite someone to relax and decompress. Whether this is by creating an open, airy space, a modernist monochromatic masterpiece or a room with rich, deep tones the intention is the same. The beach meanwhile is bright, with stark colour contrasts of yellows, blues, and greens it invites bold expressive feelings and evocative patterns. Simply put, you’d likely lose the plush beige bath towel you frantically stash in your beach bag against the soft yellow sand. And you would give yourself a headache with an attention-grabbing red, orange and yellow towel in the bathroom.
Inspect the towels side by side and you will notice they differ in thickness, not just colour. Bath towels tend to be very thick as absorbency is the name of the game in the Bathroom. Obviously, you want to leave the bathroom as dry as possible. Not to mention while a bath or shower could keep you occupied for a heavenly hour, I find the drying off process requires considerably more haste. But getting dry at the beach or pool is less of a priority. Sure, you will need to get out of the water eventually and when you do you’ll need a towel, not a picnic blanket. But a picnic blanket has a single use while a beach towel is primarily used as a barrier between your body and the ground. Being made from a thinner fabric, beach towels are less absorbent than their bathroom dwelling cousins, however, this also means it'll dry very quickly in the sunlight and be nice and light to carry around in your bag.
