Best Microfiber Towel For Travel, Beach or Gym

You might have heard the term but were unsure how you could benefit from buying one. Thankfully today we’re going to show you the best Microfiber Towel Australia has to offer.

What is a microfiber towel?

Microfiber has been around for over half a century now but has only come into its own fairly recently.

Made out of synthetic materials (like polyester or polyamide) microfiber has threads so fine that they individually measure only 1/5th or so of a human hair.

The remarkable attribute of microfibers is that they remove moisture without actually absorbing it. In other words, they don’t retain water – the fibres don’t take any water into their structure.

To overcome this non-absorbent quality manufacturers ‘split’ the fibre to create spaces within the material to pick up and hold the dirt, dust, liquid etc.

And because microfibers aren’t absorbent they also dry remarkably quickly, meaning that they are far less prone to becoming mouldy or mildewy.

Anything made from microfiber is also very light and compact so suits travelling better than the bulkier materials do. So microfiber is a popular alternative for garments because it doesn’t crush either.

It makes sense then that towels made from microfiber are ideal for use either at home or at the pool or the beach. And ideal for the gym bag as well where the last thing you want is another damp smelly item!

Best Microfiber Towel Australia

You can buy microfiber towels from a range of places including Big W, Target, Kmart and online retailers such as Kogan.com.

We recommend buying direct from Amazon.com.au which offers fast delivery and an easy returns process. They have the largest inventory of towels available too.

1. Journext Microfiber Towel

Best Microfiber Towel Australia
  • Multi-purpose design
  • Multiple colours available
  • Quick try functionality
  • Super soft
  • Highly rated online.

The Journext Microfiber Towel has been designed and manufactured with the outdoor active lifestyle firmly in mind.

Whether it’s a day at the beach, a camping holiday or a longer backpacking trip you’ll need a towel. Or perhaps it’s sport or the gym that you’re into.

And towels are not all the same these days. What the active person needs is a superior microfiber towel.

Why microfiber? Because microfiber is an incredibly effective cleaning and drying material. It’s able to pick up the smallest particles of dust, dirt and water.

A microfiber towel is lightweight (their largest size 180x90cms weighs in at an amazing 349gms).

Microfiber is also very compact – because the fibers themselves are ultra-thin (about 1/5th the diameter of a hair) they take up very little space and can be packed tightly together (the large size packs into a roll approx. 8” long and 4” diameter).

Microfiber dries at about three times the rate of cotton so you’re not carrying around heavy wet towels at the end of your day.

And because we are mindful that out microfiber towel will be sitting for long periods without being washed itself we have treated it with anti-bacterials. And for your comfort, we’ve made sure it’s super soft!


2. SYOURSELF Microfiber Towel

  • Multi-purpose design
  • Multiple colours available
  • Easy to clean and fast drying
  • Popular reviews online.

SYOURSELF Microfiber Towel comes in four sizes to suit whatever activities you engage in where a towel is either a must-have or a maybe.

From yoga to swimming to hot weather walking to camping to backpacking there is a size to suit your need.

If you’ve not experienced microfiber you may not appreciate just how great it is as a material for towels. It’s a synthetic material which is super absorbent, dries really quickly, is amazingly lightweight and extremely compact.

It travels beautifully and doesn’t need to be washed after each use. It is totally different to, and in many ways vastly superior to, cotton towels.

The SYOURSELF range of microfiber towels is designed to meet pretty well every conceivable use. Because of this, the microfiber is antimicrobial and mould-resistant.

It’s machine washable (follow the instructions though). The towels come with a breathable mesh travel bag. And they are luxurious to the touch for the sake of comfort.

The Small size (32”x16”) is ideal for use as a sweat-band on hot days or at the gym.

The Medium (40”x20”) is suited to an exercise class, a hike, or camping.

Large (60”x30”) is a typical beach towel size so it simply replicates that traditional towel.

And then there’s the Extra-Large (72”x32”) which is like a bath sheet and good as a ground mat when camping or on a backpacking trip. SYOURSELF Microfiber Towel.

So all of that and a wonderful range of colours to choose from as well. Worth a try at such reasonable prices.


3. Sinland Multi-Purpose Microfiber Towel

  • Larger than usual towel
  • Fast water absorption
  • Durable design
  • Limited colours available.

Sinland’s multi-purpose gym and travel towels are a 3-pack of small microfiber towels (80x40cm) for convenient use when travelling or exercising.

Microfiber towels are rapidly becoming very popular as an alternative to cotton towels for travel, exercise and other activities outside the home.

There are quite a few reasons for this. Microfiber is lightweight, compact, fast drying and durable. It’s a very efficient cleaning and drying cloth so it wipes away sweat as well as water.

The Sinland towels are thirsty – they absorb more water than cotton towels. The trick is to pat your body dry, not rub. Ideal for sweat at the gym or water at the pool or beach. The length is perfect for around the neck when exercising, or over the handlebars of the bike.

And they’ll be dry when you’re ready to pack up and leave.

Great size for everyday use – so compact that you can carry one with you everywhere you go, especially if you live in a warm climate and like to be able to wipe your face and neck.

The microfiber towel can and needs to be washed (always follow the instructions). But microfiber is not like cotton – it can be left for a few uses between washes because of its fast drying qualities. It doesn’t become as mouldy or mildewy as cotton towels can.


4. HOPESHINE Microfiber Towel

  • Very affordable pricing
  • Comes in a 3 pack
  • Unique spinning technology
  • Vibrant colours available
  • Chinese branded.

The Microfiber Towel set from HOPESHINE is a multi-purpose set of three microfiber sports towels (80x40cm) ideal for the gym, sports, backpacking, hiking, camping or the beach.

The Hopeshine secret to its microfiber quality is its unique Spinning technology which creates stunning colours and a professional woven fabric.

Their premium quality microfiber is soft and comfortable to the touch – it feels like cotton but has all the wonderful qualities that we want from microfiber.

These towels will clean even the pores of your skin because the fibres are so very fine. And they’ll dry you beautifully because they’re super absorbent – remember don’t rub, pat.

These towels dry three times faster than normal towels. And they’re durable – the manufacturer states that they can last up to 500 washes!

They are so thin and light and compact that they’ll take up next to no space in your gym bag or travel pack.

The towels are machine washable – always follow the instructions when washing synthetic fabrics, and do definitely wash before use.

The Hopeshine microfiber towels have received excellent customer reviews, especially in relation to their feel (even described as ‘soft and fluffy’), their absorbency, and their durability.

One point worth noting though is that the size of these (and other microfiber exercise/gym towels) is probably too small for effective replacement as a bath towel for travel purposes.

These are an ideal size for the face and neck and a wipe over other parts of the body where you may sweat. But they are probably too small to dry off after a shower or swim.

All in all, as an exercise towel, these are a very good buy.


5. Dock & Bay Microfiber Towels

  • Featured on Dragons Den UK
  • Original sand free beach towel
  • Quick dry material
  • Over 20+ colours to choose from.

Made from a mix of polyester (80%) and polyamide (20%), Dock & Bay Microfiber Beach Towels have the feel of luxurious suede, a thin yet strong chamois, smooth and sand-resistant.

Microfiber has changed a lot over the years since it’s development over half a century ago. It’s now used for many purposes, and towels is a big one.

All sorts of different types of towels – travel, exercise, sports, backpacking, camping, bathing, showering, cleaning, and of course a day at the beach.

Dock & Bay microfiber towels featured here are for the beach (or beside the pool. They dry the water off you really quickly, and then dry themselves three times faster than a traditional cotton towel does.

The sand just doesn’t stick to them, even when wet. They are lightweight, and compact, folding up into a handy travel bag in a jiffy.

They even have a hook so you can hang them up when you want. Once you’re done for the day simply rinse and hang to dry (if you want to – microfiber doesn’t have to be washed after every use necessarily).

The Dock & Bay towel comes in two sizes:

Extra-Large (200x90cm) and Large (160x80cm).

Both extremely comfortable for a day at the beach or the pool. They are big and bright and colourful. Fun is a word that is used in connection with this brand. Soft is another.

A fact we should all be applauding is the fact that this company has made their packaging biodegradable, and used 30% recycled plastic in at least some of the towels themselves.

Microfiber is of course essentially a plastic so all efforts to use recycled materials should be encouraged.


How long does a microfiber towel last?

Nothing lasts forever and microfiber is no exception to that. Because microfiber is made from synthetic materials (polyester, polyamide, nylon etc) it is not biodegradable or recyclable.

You might expect that to mean that it has a long shelf life. In fact, that depends on what you are using the towel for and how you care for it.

If looked after properly, a high–quality microfiber body towel can potentially last five years or so. That presumes that you are using it as a body towel at home, at the beach or at the gym.

Microfiber towels used for cleaning and so on have a much shorter life because they need to be cleaned after each use with very warm water and strong detergents.

Having said that, microfiber body towels can be simply line dried after use and washed occasionally to keep them fresh.

You can machine wash with warm water and a gentle liquid detergent, then line dry or dried in a cool dryer for a few minutes only.

You should never use harsh detergents, bleach, fabric softeners, or powder detergents on your microfiber towels.

And they need to be washed separately from other fabrics because they will stick to other items.

Why are microfiber towels better?

There are quite a few advantages that microfiber towels have over conventional cotton towels.

Because the fibres are so very thin and plentiful they can pick up very small particles of dust and dirt. That includes dirt in the pores of your skin.

They are not harsh on your hair because they collect the water rather than absorb it, and leave your hair still moist rather than frizzy.

They dry very quickly – three times as fast as a cotton towel.

Microfiber towels are very lightweight and pack into very compact spaces and are therefore great for travelling, especially backpacking, camping or day trips to the beach. Or even in your gym bag.

But not all microfiber towels are the same and choice is important.

You really do need to do your research and buy a towel that suits the activity you’re buying it for.

For example, there are microfiber towels which are especially absorbent and also antimicrobial treated and are therefore ideal for times when they won’t be washed for long periods.

Many come with breathable travel pouches as well, also great for travel.

Microfiber towels can feel just as luxurious as cotton towels – again that will depend on their manufacture and stated purpose.

All in all, there are a lot of reasons to try a microfiber towel at home or on the go.

Are microfiber towels best for the beach?

A trip to the beach is always fun – once you get there! Packing the car and carrying all the gear you need just for that day in the sun? Not so much fun.

One idea that will help – use microfiber beach towels instead of those heavy terry-cotton beach sheets to lighten the load just a bit.

Microfiber towels are so much better than cotton. They’re so light – an extra-large (200x90cm) weighs in at just 500gms.

A dry cotton towel of that size weighs 1.9kgs.

A wet sandy towel at the end of the day probably weighs quite a few extra grams, but a microfiber towel doesn’t really get very wet or sandy so that’s not a problem!

And a large microfiber towel can pack into such a compact space.

Microfiber towels dry you off really quickly (up to 3 times faster than a cotton towel) but don’t absorb the water so they’re good to go back on the sand pretty much straight away and won’t get all soggy and sand-logged like the cotton ones do.

And at the end of the day, you’ve got the same towel you started the day with: dry, clean and compact.

Verdict

Choosing the best microfiber towel for beach outings can be a difficult process but hopefully we've given you some insights into the best ones you can purchase to suit a wide variety of use cases. 

Yves Matthews
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Last Updated: December 31, 2019 by Rhys