Of the towel sets we tested, the Utopia Kitchen Flour Sack Dish Towel Set is the best dish towel set. We chose these towels due to their 100% pure ring spun cotton construction, generous size, and for being versatile, highly absorbent, lightweight, and machine-washable. These are some of the useful kitchen products that you should always have in your home.
We assembled a list of the best dish towel sets to best suit your kitchen decor. We preferred towels that are made of 100% cotton or microfiber and are highly absorbent. We also favored hand towels which are machine washable in either normal or cold-wash cycles, are lint-free or low-lint, and feature a waffle weave for extra grip and faster drying of dishes. Keep reading to see other high-quality dish towel sets available for purchase.
Top 7 Best Dish Towel Sets
#1 Utopia Kitchen Flour Sack Dish Towel Set
Award: TOP PICK
WHY WE LIKE IT: Super absorbent for drying and cleaning and easy to wash, but also great for cheese straining, baking, embroidery, and more, they’re an incredibly versatile kitchen essential.
- Extra large and super-absorbent
- Multiple other uses such as cheese straining, fruit sweating, and even cloth diapers
- Professionally hemmed edges for long-lasting durability
- Thinner than some towels available for purchase
The Utopia Kitchen Flour Sack Dish Towel set consists of 12 28×28” 100% pure ring spun cotton towels. Ring spun cotton is finer, stronger, and softer than conventional cotton, making these towels extra durable, softer to the touch, and more absorbent than most kitchen towels on the market. Additionally, they’re lint-free for fuzz-free dish drying, and are machine washable.
The extra durability, absorption, softness, and good size of these towels make them not only excellent for dish drying and cleaning, but also great for use as dust cloths, cheese strainers, salad spinners, and even cloth diapers, to name a few other uses. They’re slightly thinner than some other dish towels, which doesn’t affect their performance but maybe a matter of preference for those used to conventional cotton and microfiber dish towels, but coming 12 in a pack makes them an excellent purchase. These will last you longer than a pack of your best paper towels.
#2 Zeppoli Classic Kitchen Dish Towel Set
Award: HONORABLE MENTION
WHY WE LIKE IT: Their unusual herringbone weave gives them a distinct look and feel and makes them ultra-absorbent, long lasting, and shrink resistant for countless washes.
- Elegant, farmhouse like clean blue and white design
- Herringbone weave stronger and more absorbent than waffle-weave
- Machine washable but shrink-resistant for long life
- Small 14” x 25” design
The Zeppoli Classic Kitchen Towel Set consists of 15 14×25” 100% cotton towels in a reusable sealed polybag. They’re machine washable and highly resistant to shrinkage even after many wash cycles. Their unique “herringbone” weave is more absorbent and tougher than waffle weave or common towel weaves and gives them a distinct look and feel that’s complemented by their attractive, elegant blue and white design. They’re also lint-free and dry extra-quickly to prevent mildewing. You can always use this after cleaning your utensils with the best dish soap.
Though smaller than many popular dish towels, they come 15 to a pack for plenty of value, and their extra durable, extra absorbent special weave means dishes dry quicker and spills come up faster. If you’re looking for a washcloth to take on your next camping trip, try our guide to the best cooling towel. This makes them top performers with a distinctive look and construction.
#3 DG Collections Kitchen Dish Towel Set
Award: MOST UNIQUE DESIGN
WHY WE LIKE IT: They’re equally effective for both drying and cleaning up spills, thanks to a large 16”x28” size, and their variety of vibrant colors and designs will add a lot of flair to your kitchen.
- Large enough to handle big spills
- Come in sets of a dozen with four different vibrant, fun colors
- Manufactured with zero chemicals making them eco-friendly
- Can shrink slightly after first wash
DG Collections Kitchen Dish Towels come in sets of 12 16×28” 100% cotton, machine-washable dish towels with four different bright, festive colors. They feature the popular “waffle weave” texture that increases absorption and helps the towels dry fast to avoid mold and mildew buildup. They’re made using no harmful chemicals, making them both eco-friendly and safe to use, and are designed to be lint-free for clean drying of dishes and other surfaces.
They’re highly absorbent, easy-care towels that are large enough to handle fairly large spills, but their fairly busy patterns and bright, non-primary colors may not be a good fit for every home and kitchen aesthetic or taste. Still, they’re excellent-around towels with a fun look that make them good for students and anyone looking to add some flair to their kitchen. Or you could add flair with any of these wine bar accessories.
#4 KAF Home Pantry Pineapple Kitchen Dish Towel Set
Award: BEST FOR A VINTAGE LOOK
WHY WE LIKE IT: Their attractive vintage design, good size, and convenient sewn-in loops for hanging make them great for displaying but functional enough for everyday use.
- Built-in hanging loops for effective drying
- Generously sized
- Machine washable
- Will shrink slightly after first wash
- Thinner than many dish towels
The KAF Home Pantry Pineapple Kitchen Dish Towel Set consists of four 18×28” 100% cotton dish towels, one featuring a beautiful, vintage pineapple illustration and the remaining three in a variety of attractive, muted-color designs. The towels are machine washable, though some slight shrinkage will occur after first washing. Each towel has a sewn-in loop hanger that makes the towels easy to hang on any kitchen hook.
While their lovely vintage design and aesthetic make them a standout, they’re thinner in construct than most towels and their lack of a waffle weave makes them somewhat less absorbent. Still, for the kitchen that prioritizes form but still wants some function, their reasonably large size, all-cotton construction, and convenient hook-hanging loops make them great for displaying style while still being practical for kitchen use. For while you’re cleaning your kitchen, you may also want a pair of the best rubber gloves.
#5 Cotton Craft Kitchen Dish Towel Set
Award: BEST FOR EMBROIDERY
WHY WE LIKE IT: Made of tough but super-soft high-quality cloth with a simple, modern design, they’re especially great for embroidery use but also work well on dishes and spills.
- Incredibly soft to the touch
- Simple, sleek, modern design
- Machine-washable
- Slightly less absorbent than conventional cotton and waffle weave varieties
Cotton Craft Kitchen Towels come in packs of 12 16”x28” 100% ring spun 2-ply cotton terrycloth towels. Ring-spun cotton is finer and tougher than conventional cotton and combined with their thinner terry cloth design and simple, sleek available colors, they’re especially good for embroidery purposes but absorbent enough for regular kitchen use. They’re also low-lint and machine washable. You can always use the best dishwasher soap for your utensils and clean with the dish towel later.
While they’re as durable as waffle weave cotton and microfiber towels, they’re thinner and slightly less absorbent than many similar towels. Still, that thinness, combined with their simple, modern design and color and their reasonably good size makes them especially suited for embroidery while still retaining their usefulness for drying dishes and kitchen cleaning. Speaking of cleaning, you might also want to take a look at our guide to the best disinfectant.
#6 DII Kitchen Dish Towel Set
Award: BEST FOR LARGE JOBS
WHY WE LIKE IT: Oversized (18×28”) and highly effective for all normal tasks, easy to wash, and featuring convenient hanging loops. These dish towels are ideal for larger jobs of all kinds.
- Very easy to wash and maintain
- Low lint for muss-free use
- Muted colors in a variety of simple designs to fit in with any aesthetic
- Only come five to a set
DLL Kitchen Dish Towels are 18×28” 100% cotton towels that come in a set of 5. Their light grey and white color scheme and simple design patterns will fit in with most any kitchen style and their sewn-in hanging loops make them easy to display and store anywhere. They’re also 100% machine washable and lint-free and exceptionally absorbent and fast-drying, so they’ll last a long time with regular washing and care.
Coming only five to a pack, they’re not quite as economical as many similar towels, but their large size and super-absorbent cotton construction make them especially suited to larger dishes and big spills, and their hanging loops make them great for display and easy access when emergencies happen.
#7 Gryeer Microfiber Kitchen Dish Towel Set
Award: BEST FOR HEAVY SPILLS
WHY WE LIKE IT: They’re super thick and generously sized, with material designed to take in more liquid than cotton per surface area, making them great for heavy spills and very wet surfaces.
- Dries faster than cotton competitors
- Super soft material won’t scratch delicate surfaces
- Lint-free
- Should not be washed in high temperatures
- Can be damaged easily by hot surfaces
Gryeer Microfiber Kitchen Towels come in sets of 8 26×18” 100% microfiber towels. Microfiber kitchen towels typically absorb more liquid more quickly than cotton towels and dry fast as well, making them good at drying large items and especially good at cleaning up liquid-heavy messes and other applications where large amounts of liquid need to be absorbed.
They’re machine washable, but an initial cold water hand-washing without soap before first use is recommended, and they should not be washed at higher temperatures. Their light gray on white and white on light gray pinstripe patterns will fit into any kitchen, and they’re lint-free for clean dish drying, but they’ll damage easily on hot surfaces and are more difficult to wash. Still, their superior absorption and generous size make them a great choice for heavier, wetter jobs.
How We Decided
There’s no shortage of dish towels, all-purpose pantry towels, tea towels, and other kitchen towels on the market. We looked at towels that were made with either 100% cotton or high-quality microfiber material made to be highly absorbent, durable, and long-lasting.
We preferred towels that were machine washable, either in a normal laundry cycle or a cold-wash and low-heat tumble dry cycle. We also favored towels that were either lint-free or low-lint that wouldn’t leave fibers on dishes being dried or surfaces being cleaned.
We also preferred towels that had dimensions of at least 14×25” that could handle larger dishes and big spills if need be, and which featured attractive prints or clean, modern design. Finally, we favored towels with a waffle weave that offers a “grippier” texture, which helps dry dishes faster than smoother terry cloth textures, and we mostly avoided thin tea towel-type cloths meant more for napkin and table setting use rather than dish-drying and kitchen cleaning.
Best Dish Towel Set Buyer’s Guide
The Most Important Features to Consider
- Machine Washable
Dish towels aren’t fine linens and in a busy household they’ll see constant use- therefore most of the time, you’ll want the towels you purchase to be washer & dryer safe in a normal cycle, just like the rest of your laundry. Thankfully most 100 percent cotton and microfiber kitchen towels on the market are machines washable- but it’s a good idea to always check before you purchase- and keep in mind that microfiber is more susceptible to heat damage than cotton, which may affect how you are able to wash them. - Highly Absorbent
It almost goes without saying that kitchen and dish towels should be made to be super absorbent since they’ll be used primarily for drying dishes and cleaning big spills, but not all dish towels are made equal, so be sure to look for it in product descriptions. Cotton and microfiber are both highly absorbent materials and are what most dish towels, tea towels, and kitchen cleaning cloths are made of, though the exact method of construction, design, and the quality of the material used can make absorption qualities vary significantly. - Lint-Free or Low Lint
If you’re purchasing them mostly for cleanup, it’s not quite as crucial, but if you’ll be drying a lot of dishes with your towels, be sure to look for towels described as low lint or lint-free. The lesser quality or non-purpose-built towels aren’t guaranteed to not leave lint and loose fiber on surfaces when they’re used, and if you dry your clean dishes only to wind up covering them with lint, you’ll only create more work for yourself. Most dish and kitchen towels will specify this in their descriptions, so be sure to look for it. 100 percent cotton towels tend to be the most lint-free on the market.
