I Know What a Towel Is, but What the Hell Is a Bath Sheet?

No, they’re not just like bed sheets for the bathroom.

ikea bath sheet hanging in bathroom Ikea

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I own a bath towel. I think a majority of people reading this own a bath towel — you know, the thing you use to dry yourself after you’ve taken a shower or a bath. Then I learned about the bath sheet. And now I need everyone to know what a bath sheet is, which is essentially a super-sized bath towel. In order from smallest to largest in the bath linens realm it’s: face towel (or washcloth), hand towel, bath towel then bath sheet. I’m not sure how I hadn’t heard of the existence of bath sheets before, but I wasn’t the only one in the dark. Judging by the near-6,000 likes on this tweet asking, “‘What the hell is a “bath sheet?'” I figured it was time to enlighten us all. So now that you know about the existence of bath sheets, here’s how they compare to the more ubiquitous bath towel — plus, a few bath sheets to buy to get yourself acquainted.

What’s the difference between a bath towel and a bath sheet?

The difference between a bath towel and sheet is purely about size. That’s it. A bath towel can usually measure around 28 inches by 56 inches, while a bath sheet usually comes in at 40 inches by 70 inches. For you math nerds, a bath sheet can be around 50 percent bigger than a towel.

Who should buy a bath sheet?

If you’ve gotten this far in life not annoyed with your bath towel, then you probably don’t need a bath sheet. But if you’ve had some issues with bath towels, like questioning why it wasn’t any bigger then you can probably use a bath sheet. You might want one if you have ever tied a towel around your waist and complained it was too tight or if, for some reason, you reach for more than one towel at a time. Some see bath sheets as a luxury item, so there’s always that reason to buy one, too.

Ikea’s dual-sided Salviken bath sheet is made of a waffle knit on one side and soft terry on the other. All you should know is it’s cheap and absorbent.

These 700 GSM bath sheets will make you feel like you’re in a utopia.

Haven has a wide selection of colors for its bath sheets, and it helps that they’re also super absorbent, plush and resistant to pilling.

Dry off with Brooklinen’s bath sheets then tuck yourself into its ever-popular bed sheets.

Make your home bathroom feel like a hotel bathroom with extra-luxurious bath sheets from Crane & Canopy.

You need to discover the epic-ness of waffle knit towels, and you need to fully enjoy it with a bath sheet.

Here’s another waffle knit option for good measure except one side is velvety soft terry.

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