Most towels are made for the bathroom: a quick dry-off, back on the rail, plenty of time to dry before tomorrow. A sauna asks for something else entirely. The towel goes under you on hot timber, takes sweat for twenty minutes at a time, gets carried between rounds and needs to be dry again before the next session. Terry, the looped fabric of almost every bath towel, is built for the first job. Waffle is built for the second.

Is waffle or terry better for the sauna?

Waffle. It cushions you on a hard bench, it dries between sessions, and it does not stay saturated the way terry does.

Terry is made of thousands of small cotton loops. They feel soft in a shop because they are loose and lofty. In a sauna, those loops fill with sweat and steam and hold it. A wet terry towel is heavy, it lies flat against the bench, and it can still be damp the next morning.

Waffle is woven into a grid of small raised cells. It holds water in the cells and lets air through the open structure, so it takes moisture off you quickly and gives it up quickly too. The same weave gives it roughly 40% more surface area than a flat weave, which is why a good waffle towel dries around twice as fast as an ordinary towel.

Why does a waffle towel feel better on a hard bench?

Because the cells spring back. Press a waffle weave with your thumb and it gives, then returns, and that small give is what you sit and lie on.

A sauna bench is hard wood, and on the top bench it is hot. What you want between you and it is a layer that cushions and holds its shape for the whole session. Waffle cells compress under your weight and recover when you shift, round after round. Terry loops do the opposite: once they are wet and pressed flat, they stay flat, and you feel the timber through them.

That is also why a waffle towel keeps the heat of the wood off your skin. A thick, springy layer of cotton means no bench burns and no splinters, even when you lie down.

Is a heavier towel better for the sauna?

Not past a point. A heavy towel is a towel that is still wet tomorrow.

Towel weight is measured in grams per square metre, and in a bathroom more grams usually reads as more luxury. In a sauna the trade-off is different. Every extra gram of cotton is more water held after the session, and a towel that never fully dries turns musty fast. The right sauna towel is substantial enough that you do not feel the bench through it and light enough to dry right through between sessions. The weave decides how well a towel strikes that balance far more than the number on the label.

What about bamboo or microfibre sauna towels?

Skip microfibre. Read the label on bamboo. For the sauna, 100% cotton is the honest choice.

• Microfibre is polyester or nylon. It is thin, it slides on the bench, and it puts synthetic fibre right next to your skin in a 90°C room.
• Bamboo towels are almost always bamboo viscose: bamboo pulp chemically dissolved and spun into a regenerated fibre, sold as rayon in many markets. Soft, yes. Natural in the way cotton is, no.
• Linen is a genuine natural alternative, absorbent and quick to dry, though stiffer and pricier. Our ranking of every material is in The Best Sauna Towels of 2026.

What makes a good sauna towel?

Waffle weave, 100% cotton, and enough length to lie on.

• Waffle weave, for the cushion and the drying.
• 100% cotton, organically grown if you can get it, with nothing synthetic in the blend.
• Bench length. At around 160cm you can lie full-length on cotton instead of timber. Most bath towels stop well short of that.
• A hanging loop, so it can dry properly between rounds instead of sitting in a damp heap.

Why the towel matters in the first place, and how much of you should be on it, is in Why You Always Sit on a Towel in the Sauna.

How many towels do you need for a sauna?

Two. One to sit on, one to dry off with after. Most regulars carry a pair: the bench towel takes sweat through every round and the second one stays dry for the shower and the walk home. As one of our customers put it, after buying a single towel to try: "I'm now seriously considering buying a second to replace the changing towel I currently use after the sauna."

How do you keep a waffle towel at its best?

Wash it hot after every session, skip the fabric softener and let it dry fully. Softener coats cotton fibres and kills absorbency, which is the whole point of the towel. The full routine is in How to Wash a Sauna Towel.

What we make

The Sauna Towel is everything above: organically grown 100% cotton, waffle-woven, 160 x 80cm so you can lie down full-length, with a sewn-in loop for drying between sessions. Every customer who has reviewed it so far has given it five stars. One wrote that it holds up to frequent washing, and added: "I'll buy more when the current batch is worn out. I don't expect that to be any time soon."

It was made to sit alongside the Cult of Sauna hat. The hat protects you from the heat above. The towel goes between you and the wood.

Frequently asked questions

Is waffle or terry better for the sauna?

Waffle. It cushions you on the bench, takes up sweat quickly and dries between sessions. Terry loops stay saturated and flatten when wet.

What size should a sauna towel be?

Long enough to lie on. Around 160cm lets most people lie full-length on the bench without touching the wood.

What is The Sauna Towel made of?

Organically grown 100% cotton in an open waffle weave, with no synthetic fibres.