Hotel pool towels: built for chlorine, sun and daily turnover.

Solid white is the default most first-time buyers reach for, and it's usually the wrong one for a pool programme specifically. Chlorine bleaches unevenly rather than all at once, so a white pool towel develops patchy, faded areas that read as dirty well before the fabric has actually worn out. Sunscreen and tanning oil leave marks that don't fully launder out of white cotton either. Striped and patterned colourways hide all three problems, which is why almost every established resort pool programme has moved away from solid white — the ones still using it are usually the newest programmes, not the most experienced ones.

Cotton terry remains the right base fabric for the absorbency guests expect straight out of a pool, at a weight chosen for reasonable dry time rather than maximum plushness — pool towel turnover is higher than an in-room programme, since a towel is typically used once per lounger session rather than reused across a stay, which puts more pressure on laundry throughput than a standard guest-room order does. Sizing also differs from a bath towel: a pool towel is used lying on a lounger as much as for drying, so buyers tend to specify larger than an equivalent bath towel while keeping the weight moderate.

Branding — resort logos, property names — needs to survive the same sun and chlorine exposure the towel does. Woven labels and jacquard borders hold up best in this specific environment; heat-transfer branding is usually the first element to crack or fade poolside, faster than it would on an indoor towel that never sees direct sun.