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Hot yoga classes (and, at times, even non-heated practices) often call for an unsung accessory: the yoga towel. Extra for some, essential for others, the right towel can soak up your sweat, prevent you from slipping, even allow you to take your yoga practice to unexpected places.
Layering a yoga towel atop your mat delivers additional grippiness by ensuring that sweat and humidity don’t puddle. (In fact, these towels tend to become even more effective as they dampen. Icky but true.) The absorbent accessory is also something you can reach for to dab your face and sweaty palms during class. You may even decide to rely on it in lieu of a mat on occasion. (After all, yoga towels pack up nicely, offering an alternative to your mat when traveling or camping.)
But since the ultimate goal of a towel is to absorb, let’s start there. The following towels are machine washable, aesthetically pleasing, and majorly useful.
3 Yoga Towels We’re Using Right Now
We tested the following popular towels, which are go-to choices in YJ editors’ practices and average 4.8-star reviews online, in hot yoga classes that were 95 to 100 degrees with around 30 percent humidity. As a bonus, each offers playful color options and patterns, because yoga accessories can (and should!) be fun as well as functional. Here are our honest thoughts.
1. Manduka Yogitoes Yoga Towel
$68 at Manduka
As with its mats, Manduka makes yoga towels that are reliable and well loved. If you’re looking for an accessory that helps you stay grounded in your poses and leaves you feeling a touch less drenched after class, this quick-dry towel is hard to beat.
There’s something about adorning our Manduka Pros with a perfectly fitted towel that feels so right. The Yogitoes is basically mat-sized (24 inches by 71 inches) and designed to create an easy top layer. The poly-nylon is soft yet fully without fuzz, partially recycled, and super absorbent. As a bonus, silicone nubs dot the entire bottom of the towel to minimize slipping—seriously. During Scorpion Dog, Knee to Nose, Side Plank, and all the pivots in between, we stayed in place.
Although the towel is large, its thin fabric means it folds, rolls, and bunches up nicely—just don’t roll it up in your mat and forget about it. That said, given it’s the length of your mat, the towel is not not cumbersome, so mentally prepare to pack another piece pre-class. (The brand’s eQua Hot Yoga Mat Towel also has a fair number of fans, although lately we’re crushing on the Yogitoes.)
2. Rumpl Tech Towel
$39 at Rumpl
Have towel, will travel. The Tech Towel from Rumpl is thinner and softer than the competition, making it a useful accessory to your yoga practice. Its usefulness isn’t limited to yoga, as it also functions as a lightweight beach towel, camping towel, or pet towel.
Still, its versatility shines in a hot yoga room. Although the towel provides only a modest amount of additional grip, it’s the quick-drying qualities that really come through by keeping sweat from dripping or pooling on your mat. And post-class shower and pack-up is made so much easier with this all-in-one accessory. (If you’re anything like us, you’re not toting two towels to a morning class.) As the towel was made for on-the-go use, it’s also easy to store and clean.
At 30 inches by 60 inches, it’s a standard bath-towel size rather than mat length, which can be a pro or a con depending on your use. If you prefer a towel that sits near your mat for a quick grab or an easy-to-pack option, the size and thinness are ideal; if you want your whole mat layered, this may not be the choice for you.
3. Yune Yoga Towel
$50 at Yune Yoga
Anyone seeking maximum absorption (super sweaters, we see you) should consider Yune’s Yoga Towel. We brought this towel to the most muggy hot yoga classes (we’re talking 40 percent humidity) and this option held its own while holding us in Plank Pose.
As with Manduka’s Yogitoes, Yune’s yoga towel is designed to cover the entire surface of your mat (24 inches by 72 inches) and boasts grippy silicone additions along the bottom. When slightly dampened via your sweat or a splash of water, it refuses to budge, promising support in even the most challenging yoga poses and transitions.
Ours also came with a handy carrying strap that helps transport your towel and doubles as a stretching accessory. Although all the yoga towels on our list come in a variety of expressive colors and imaginative patterns, Yune’s ongoing partnership with Pendleton has resulted in some of our favorite prints.
