Towel Size Chart: Washcloth to Bath Sheet Dimensions

How towel size is worked out

A towel is sized by two numbers: how wide it is and how long it is. The width tells you how much of you it covers, and the length tells you how far it wraps. The table lists the seven common household towels, smallest first: a washcloth is 13 × 13 in, a fingertip towel is 11 × 18 in, a hand towel is 16 × 28 in, a bath towel is 27 × 52 in, a bath sheet is 35 × 60 in, a beach towel is 30 × 60 in, and an oversized beach towel is 40 × 70 in. The centimetres are the inches times 2.54, rounded to whole numbers, and the area in square feet is the area in square inches divided by 144. The lookup picks the towel by name and returns that row, and the reverse takes a length and returns every standard towel with that length.

At the defaults — Bath towel, length 52 in — the bath towel is 27 × 52 in, 69 × 132 cm, 1,404 sq in, or 9.75 sq ft, and it is for drying off after a shower or bath. The reverse of 52 in is the bath towel itself, the reverse of 60 in is the bath sheet or the beach towel, the reverse of 13 in is the washcloth, the reverse of 28 in is the hand towel, the reverse of 70 in is the oversized beach towel, and the reverse of 18 in is the fingertip towel.

This is a size chart, not a thread-count, GSM, or drying-time chart: it does not list how many threads per inch a towel has, how heavy the cotton is per square metre, or how fast a towel dries, because how fast a towel dries depends on the cotton and the air, not just on the size.

The worked example, line by line

Setup: Bath towel, reverse length 52 in.

Line 1 — the size. The bath towel is 27 × 52 in: 27 in wide and 52 in long, which is the size the towel rail is cut for.

Line 2 — the size in centimetres. The bath towel is 69 × 132 cm: 27 × 2.54 = 69 cm, and 52 × 2.54 = 132 cm.

Line 3 — the area. The bath towel covers 27 × 52 = 1,404 sq in, which is 1,404 ÷ 144 = 9.75 sq ft.

Line 4 — the reverse. A length of 52 in is a bath towel, a length of 60 in is a bath sheet or a beach towel, a length of 13 in is a washcloth, a length of 28 in is a hand towel, a length of 70 in is an oversized beach towel, and a length of 18 in is a fingertip towel.

Every branch, checked

Washcloth: the washcloth is 13 × 13 in, 33 × 33 cm, 169 sq in, or 1.17 sq ft. It is the small towel for face, hands and babies, and it is the 1.00× reference for the area comparisons: one bath sheet covers 12.43× its area, and one bath towel covers 8.31× its area.

Hand towel: the hand towel is 16 × 28 in, 41 × 71 cm, 448 sq in, or 3.11 sq ft. It is the towel for drying hands after washing, and it is about a third of a bath towel: 448 sq in against 1,404 sq in.

Bath sheet: the bath sheet is 35 × 60 in, 89 × 152 cm, 2,100 sq in, or 14.58 sq ft. It is the big towel for wrapping up after a bath, and it is half as big again as a bath towel: 2,100 sq in against 1,404 sq in.

Beach towel: the beach towel is 30 × 60 in, 76 × 152 cm, 1,800 sq in, or 12.50 sq ft. It is the towel for lying on at the beach, and it is the same length as a bath sheet but narrower: 30 in wide against 35 in.

Oversized beach towel: the oversized beach towel is 40 × 70 in, 102 × 178 cm, 2,800 sq in, or 19.44 sq ft. It is the biggest towel in the chart, for two people or extra coverage at the beach, and it covers almost twice the area of a bath towel: 2,800 sq in against 1,404 sq in.

Extra — the bath sheet against the washcloth: one bath sheet covers 12.43× the area of one washcloth: 2,100 sq in against 169 sq in. One bath towel covers 8.31× the area of one washcloth: 1,404 sq in against 169 sq in.

Reverse — the lengths: 52 in is a bath towel, 60 in is a bath sheet or a beach towel — the width decides, 35 in for the sheet and 30 in for the beach towel — 13 in is a washcloth, 28 in is a hand towel, 70 in is an oversized beach towel, and 18 in is a fingertip towel. A length that matches no standard towel — 45 in, for example — has no standard towel: measure again, or check whether the towel is a less common size.

What the defaults assume

The model assumes the towels are the standard sizes, the sizes are measured flat and unfolded, and the areas are the width times the length. It assumes the towel you buy is the size the chart lists for it: a towel sold as a bath towel is 27 × 52 in, and a towel sold as a bath sheet is 35 × 60 in. It leaves out thread count, GSM and drying time — this is a size chart, not a thread-count, GSM, or drying-time chart. Rounding convention: sizes to whole inches and centimetres, areas to whole square inches and 2 decimals in square feet, and all figures are taken from the table, not rounded from other values.

Output · formula · meaning

Who uses this

• The homeowner buying new bath towels: they learn a bath towel is 27 × 52 in, 69 × 132 cm, 1,404 sq in, 9.75 sq ft — so they know the bath towel is the standard size for drying off after a shower or bath, and they buy the right size the first time.
• The guest with a small bathroom: they learn a fingertip towel is 11 × 18 in, 28 × 46 cm, 198 sq in, 1.38 sq ft — so they know the fingertip towel fits a small guest bathroom, and they know it covers only 1.38 sq ft.
• The beachgoer buying a beach towel: they learn a beach towel is 30 × 60 in, 76 × 152 cm, 1,800 sq in, 12.50 sq ft — so they know the beach towel is longer than a bath towel but narrower than a bath sheet, and they check the width before they buy.
• The parent buying washcloths: they learn a washcloth is 13 × 13 in, 33 × 33 cm, 169 sq in, 1.17 sq ft — so they know the washcloth is the small towel for face, hands and babies, and they know one bath sheet covers 12.43× its area.

Accuracy & limitations

The math is exact for the table: the centimetres are the inches times 2.54 rounded to whole numbers, the area in square inches is the width times the length, and the area in square feet is the area in square inches divided by 144. What the model cannot do is measure your towel for you: measure the towel flat and unfolded, and check the size printed on the label. It is a size chart, not a thread-count, GSM, or drying-time chart — it does not say how many threads per inch a towel has, how heavy the cotton is, or how fast a towel dries. It assumes the sizes are the standard sizes, and a towel sold as a bath towel can be a little bigger or smaller than 27 × 52 in. For the towels in the laundry, see bath vs shower; for more size charts, see TV size chart.