7 Best Yoga Towels in 2024

Unless you’ve been meditating in a secluded temple for the past decade, you probably witnessed the meteoric rise of yoga. Among the most popular varieties is hot yoga, commonly known as Bikram Yoga. It’s very similar to regular yoga, only the heat is cranked up to 100 (quite literally). Those who’ve tried hot yoga understand the necessity for one of the best yoga towels. Hint: you’ll be sweating like a maniac. Even if you’re not doing hot yoga, other challenging yoga routines can make anyone drippy, and it is always wise to have a towel at the ready near the side of your mat.

Yoga towels are the best way to keep cool, calm, and collected. Our favorite is the Yogitoes Yoga Towel — made by Manduka — for its comfort and well-rounded features. But there are a bunch of great options out there. Here, we’re reviewing several towels to help you find the best yoga towel for your practice.

Our Top Picks: Best Yoga Towels

Here’s a quick overview of our favorite picks:

• Best Overall: Yogitoes Yoga Towel. If you’re seeking a reliable yoga towel, the Yogitoes Yoga Towel from Manduka features a silky soft finish and silicone dots to keep you grounded with the mat.
• Best Eco-Friendly: Jade Microfiber Yoga Towel. Thanks to Jade Yoga’s eco-friendly supply chain and partnership with The Water Project, the Jade Microfiber Yoga Towel is the best ‘green’ option on the market.
• Best Budget: Youphoria Yoga Towel. Coming in under $15, Youphoria’s yoga towel is a fantastic budget choice that features a lovely blend of polyester and cotton and absorbs seven times its weight in water.
• Best Hypoallergenic: Gaiam Yoga Mat Towel. With a polyester finish and absolutely zero silicone, the Gaiam Yoga Mat Towel is the best hypoallergenic choice.
• Best Hand Towel: Manduka eQua Yoga Towel. The Manduka eQua comes in two sizes — hand towel and mat towel. Either way, you’re in for a luxurious yoga experience, and one that pairs beautifully with Manduka mats.
• Best Non-Slip: Lotuscrafts Yoga Towel. If you’re looking for a yoga mat towel that stays put, the Lotuscrafts Yoga Towel offers a superhuman grip thanks to its unique ribbed pattern and silicone coating.
• Best Durable: Hugger Mugger Bamboo Yoga Towel. Consider yourself a dedicated yogi? The Hugger Mugger Bamboo Yoga Towel is as durable as… well, bamboo. It can hold up to intense regular use.

The Yogitoes Yoga Towel is our pick for the best yoga towel overall.

Need a hypoallergenic towel? Yogitoes is perfect for people with allergies and skin sensitivities. Need a towel that won’t slide or bunch up? Yogitoes has silicone dots all over the underside, giving you plenty of grip for those extra-serious downward dogs.

Plus, it’s made of 50% recycled material, using recycled polyester and recyclable plastic bottles, so you can feel good walking into class and rolling this one out. And did we mention that it’s available in more than 15 colors? If you’re picky, we challenge you to be disappointed by this towel. It’s an uphill battle.

As a bonus, the Yogitoes is one of the best hot yoga towels to come in a variety of patterns!

Seeking an eco-friendly yoga towel? While several of the options on our list boast eco-conscious materials and designs, the Jade takes the cake. While the towel itself is a simple blend of microfiber and polyester, Jade Yoga’s entire supply chain is environmentally sound, as the towel is made right here in the USA from thoughtfully-sourced suppliers. Moreover, the company partners with The Water Project to deliver one month of clean drinking water to a person in need per every towel sold!

And that’s not to mention how great the towel is on the yoga floor. Jade Yoga’s towel is so soft and silky, you just want to hug it. Which sounds like a pretty nice option if you’re dying in the middle of a Bikram class. It’s not just soft, though. The Jade Towel is also highly functional — in fact, it can absorb up to six times its weight in water, and it’s perfectly moisture-wicking (it dries really fast).

Next up, we have the Youphoria Yoga Towel, one of the best budget yoga towels on the market.

Just because the Youphoria Yoga Towel comes in well under $20 doesn’t mean it’s lacking. In fact, it’s packed with features! Most noticeable is the smooth and lightweight polyester exterior that holds up to seven times its weight in water! Not only does this make the towel heavier (good for remaining grounded), but the polyester blend becomes grippier when wet — an incredible boon for Bikram. As for hygiene? Slip the towel in the washer, and it’s ready to go for the next session.

What more could you want from a hot yoga towel?

Gaiam is a budget brand that provides highly functional yoga gear for a fraction of the price.

The Gaiam Yoga Mat Towel is ideal if you’re the person practicing in a puddle of your own sweat faster than anyone else in the room. That’s because Gaiam’s hypoallergenic towel absorbs twice as much moisture (and dries twice as fast) as a standard towel, so you can continue to practice in comfort. Plus, it’s machine washable, so you don’t have to worry about the bacteria and smells that inevitably accumulate.

From one of the most respected names in the yoga world comes the eQua Yoga Towel, a superior towel that features split microfiber technology.

This Manduka eQua Yoga Towel comes in two sizes, as a hand towel or a mat towel. Either way, the towel boasts Manduka’s proprietary microfibers on both sides, meaning it feels ever-so-soft on the skin no matter how you use it. And, in the case of the mat towel, it doesn’t bunch up as your practice wears on. In fact, it provides better traction as it gets wet! Moreover, the oversize design and thick, luxurious finish mean the mat towel can double as a standalone yoga mat in a pinch. Or, wait a few minutes for it to dry after your session, and use it as a warm-down shawl.

Soft, smooth, and slip-resistant — that’s the eQua way.

If you’re seeking the best skidless yoga towel on a budget, look no further than the Lotuscraft. 

What makes this towel ideal for hot yoga? The Lotuscrafts Yoga Towel features a unique ribbed pattern across its entire surface. This, combined with the non-slip silicone coating on the towel’s underside, provides an unrivaled grip that stays put even under the most strenuous conditions. The polyester and polyamide fabric blend is also incredibly absorbent, so you don’t have to worry about it becoming too slippery mid-practice.

Hugger Mugger is another big name in the yoga industry, and for good reason. If you’re looking for a durable towel that provides excellent grip, the Hugger Mugger Bamboo Yoga Towel may be for you! It has a non-slip backing and a super soft surface to give you the best of both worlds. We also think it’s possibly the best towel for hot yoga in terms of longevity.

That said, because the towel is sturdier by design, it’s bulkier to lug around to class. But we still think the Hugger Mugger Bamboo Yoga Towel is well worth it, especially since it’s entirely latex-free and made of renewable fibers (mostly bamboo with a bit of nylon).

What to Look for in the Best Yoga Towels

Even if you know nothing about Bikram Yoga, you know the common factor that devotees rave about: it makes you sweat like you never thought possible.

Bikram Yoga is practiced in a room above 100-degrees Fahrenheit for 90 minutes at a time. The goal is to detoxify your body, ease stress on your joints, and help chronic pain. Of course, you’re in a sweltering room for more than 90 minutes, sweating like crazy. This means your mat, hands, and feet will all be sweaty, which is a recipe for slipping and injury.

All of that moisture is why you want to invest in the best hot yoga towel you can find. It’s not just about comfort (though comfort definitely helps). It’s about ensuring that you can properly grip the mat as the class wears, continuing your practice safely.

Essential Features

The best yoga mat towel is one that balances absorption with grip. It’s going to absorb a lot of sweat throughout a single class, so you need a towel you can trust to hold on, even after the sweat starts to pour. As a rule, it’s best to find a towel that’s the same brand as your mat if you can — they tend to work best together.

You also need to decide whether you want non-slip backing. This will help prevent bunching as you move through your practice. But, it also makes the towel bulkier and more awkward to use on your body. If you plan on using it for more than yoga, towels without the backing can be used for other workouts.

When you look for the best yoga towel, look for slip-resistant, lightweight, and preferably machine-washable attributes. Of course, we know your workout gear needs aren’t limited to finding the best yoga towel. Check out our blog for more reviews and products!

Our Process

For this guide on yoga towels, our team spent 4 hours researching the most popular options from over 25 brands and manufacturers big and small. We then read about one hundred user reviews (both positive and negative) to discover what shoppers thought about each towel. After comparing this data, we narrowed our list down to the top 7 yoga towels on the market. You can count on this research to guide you to a mindful purchasing decision.

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