If you’re totally sand-averse, the experience of getting schnitzelled at the beach thanks to sand specks via your beach towel can really dampen the mood. The greatest betrayal, though, is sand absolutely everywhere your towel goes, such as inside your car and house.
Enter the sand-free towel – visually similar to a regular terry-towelling beach towel, but made using microfibre, a material known for its powers of absorbtion. Because the fibres are so fine, microfibre prevents sand from being collected within them.
While the benefits of a sand-“repelling”, moisture-wicking towel are obvious, sand-free towels are also typically thinner than a classic beach towel. So they’re not as soft or as comfortable to lie on.
But if avoiding sand is paramount, they’re worth considering. Here are some of our favourites from Australia.
Sand Society says its towels are two to three times thicker than most microfibre sand-free towels, so they’re a better choice if you want something more like a classic beach towel. Microfibres aren’t usually considered the most environmentally-friendly material, but Sand Society uses plastic recyclables to create its material; each towel is made from 20-plus plastic bottles.
A label created by two young Aussie guys at after work drinks, Dock and Bay is more about a quick-dry towel than a sand-free one. Its towels are made from post-consumer plastic, and the company aims to be 100 per cent recyclable-made by 2021.
Sumoii sand-free towels also feature a waterproof pocket where you can keep important bits and pieces like your keys and phone hidden, as well as corner products you can fill with sand to weigh down your towel on windy days.
One of the first to release sand-free towels, Tesalate has a diverse array of designs, from geometric, colourful prints to towels that look like bohemian rugs. The XL towel is our pick; it’s big enough for two people comfortably (or one if you like lying on the beach like a starfish).
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