Why do towels have that band on the end?

[quakerboy]

They are all terrycloth and soft and absorbent and wonderful. Then, just where you need the absorption most, on the ends, for fine drying work, there is this hard cloth band with no absorbent loops.

Then you dry it wrong and the band shrinks and the whole towel gets distorted and can no longer fold perfectly flat.

What is the purpose of this abomination?

[NYC Liberal]

1. Here ya go!

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-dobby-border.htm

[quakerboy]

2. Interesting. My takeaway is that people are morons

to summarize: "ooh, it makes it look interesting".

My response: No. It makes it look less useful. A towel is supposed to dry things. That is its reason for being. Anything that takes away from that is counterproductive and therefore evil.

"Since the design is popular, it can sometimes be challenging to find towels without a dobby border, which may prove problematic."

Check on that. I have found one towel with no border ever. I bought 8 at the time. It came from Target. I have been avoiding target of late, and the towels themselves were crap and started to fray within a couple washes. Thus the need for towels again.

I have been on a quest to find towels made in the USA. Ive walked several malls without finding a single store with so much as a washcloth made in the usa. Amazon carries 1888 mills, which is USA made, and that is the single and only US made towel I can seem to locate. And they have that frikin band of doom.

Thanks for looking that up. My frustration is not with you. But why does shopping for a quality item have to be so damn difficult?

[redwitch]

3. I hate that damned band!

Especially when it shrinks and ruins the shape of the towel. Grrr. I used to buy all my towels at Penneys on sale. They were a nice quality. Not sure where they are made and too lazy to go and look. Will check later.

[quakerboy]

4. Pennys is probably

India or Pakistan, If I recall correctly.

The list of comercially available options seems to be India, Pakistan, China, Indonesia, Egypt, and Mexico.

[murielm99]

8. I used to buy all my linens at Penneys.

Not any more. I have had towels, comforters and curtains fall apart or become shapeless within a short time. They lost my business

[kentauros]

10. Try these guys:

http://www.rawganique.com/Bath.htm

It's not US-made, but it is sweatshop-free (usually made in Romania, where the hemp is grown.) It's also more expensive, but hemp (and hemp-blends) will last long than the cheap stuff. And no dobby border on any of them! :D

[JitterbugPerfume]

5. I don't know BUT

you should always know where your towel is, because you never know when you will need it!

[Kali]

6. don't use boiling hot water and hang on a line

:P

the only towels I have experienced with no "band" were shitty quality mail order garbage.

I stole a real Turkish towel from a hotel in Turkey - best freaking towel I have ever owned. And it is as big as a beach towel! Wish I had a pile of them!

[Lucinda]

7. To prevent fraying maybe?

:shrug: Not sure though...

[david13]

11. Close. It's to prevent unraveling. dc

[quakerboy]

19. Then why is it a few inches in from the end?

Where is does nothing to prevent you from losing a significant portion of the towel to unraveling.

[foxfeet]

9. To make sure your crack is free of thong lint.

Or so I've heard.

[Curmudgeoness]

12. Do us a favor. Cut off the band, see what happens

to a towel without it, and get back to us. I'm curious, but don't want to ruin my towels.

[quakerboy]

20. I own 8 that do not have bands

a couple are still ok. But they were target discount towels, so the almost all have corners where the edge has come unraveled.

Seeing as the band is a few inches into the towel, I feel safe in saying it has nothing to do with the durability of the towel that way, however.

[Inchworm]

13. It starts... Don't Panic

:P

[tigereye]

14. to keep the fabric from unraveling?

that's what I always assumed.

[kentauros]

15. But a standard hem can do that.

If it couldn't, then all clothing would have a dobby border ;)

[tigereye]

16. yeah but towel fabric is different than fabric for clothing...

otherwise, I have no idea. :D

[kentauros]

17. I guess then take a look at a terry-cloth bathrobe

and see if any of them bother with a dobby border. Although there may be such a thing as a "towel hem" that's a little more substantial than a clothing hem. Look at the non-dobby edge of the towels on this page:
http://www.rawganique.com/towelscolor.htm

I've also seen towels with a bit of fabric sewn over the edge instead of folding the fabric over itself for the hem. The added fabric seems to work pretty well, too.

Personally, I feel it's just for aesthetics, for the style-obsessed :P

[KamaAina]

18. To make them easier to snap?

:shrug:

[quakerboy]

21. An interesting thought

Though I would assume that the disruption of flow of having a different fabric and changing the aerodynamic qualities of the towel that way would actually have a detrimental effect on towel snapping qualities. I may have to experiment.

[csziggy]

22. It's where you have your monogram embroidered!

Or a holiday theme design stitched on. Lots of cross stitch designs are put out for embroidering that band. While machine embroidery can be done over terry cloth, hand embroidery or cross stitch cannot. That flat section us usually an even weave, meaning the thread count is the same both warp and woof direction so counted cross stitch designs will turn out with the correct proportions.

My mom has little hand towels with Christmas designs and other cute theme designs stitched on, some matching the color or design theme of the bathroom. I don't think she stitched any of them - she either bought them at fund raisers for local groups or my sister found them at thrift shops. But those suckers go out for holidays and no one wants to use them. Everybody comes out of the bathrooms wiping their hands dry on their jeans.

[quakerboy]

23. Most sensible reply yet

That said, I despair for the future of humanity.