Splurge or Save: Should You Buy Brooklinen’s $89 Waffle Bath Towel Set or Quince’s $50 Alternative?

I strive to live a soft life, and I mean that literally. This entails furnishing my home with plenty of upholstered furniture, adding lots of fluffy layers to my bed to make it as comfortable as possible, and only wearing cozy loungewear at home. When it comes to bath towels, however, I’ve found that my affinity for plush, fuzzy linens doesn’t translate well — especially during the warmer months. After all, the thicker the towel, the more likely it is to dry slowly and develop mold and a funky smell in the summer humidity.

Now that the temperatures are heating up, I want to swap my high-pile towel with something that’s thinner but still durable and absorbent. My colleagues at Apartment Therapy have reviewed many, but their waffle towel reviews in particular stood out to me. With so many options on the market, it’s hard to know which brand to go with, but AT’s Splurge or Save series is here to help. For this installment I’ll be comparing two towels that have been tested and recommended by our editors. 

Specifically, I’ll look at Brooklinen’s Dreamweave waffle bath towel set, which retails for $89, and Quince’s organic Turkish waffle bath towel set, which has a price tag of $49.90. Keep reading to learn whether you should splurge on the more expensive option or save with the budget-friendly alternative.

Although Brooklinen and Quince are both widely known for their bedding products, they’ve both become go-to destinations for a wide variety of home goods. Whether we’re raving about Quince’s carry-on suitcase or Brooklinen’s dreamy-smelling laundry detergent, there’s always something new and exciting to look forward to from each company. This holds true for bath essentials, as well. Both brands have a wide variety of towels to choose from, including lightweight options like their waffle towels. The only question is whether you should opt for Brooklinen’s $89 set or try Quince’s $50 bundle.

Sometimes when you find a specific product type that works well for your lifestyle, you want to buy it in multiples. That’s been the case for Britt, AT’s senior shopping editor, with waffle towels. When she initially reviewed Brookline’s Dreamweave towels, she noted that even before getting them, most of her towels had a waffle weave. It wasn’t until she received these, though, that she felt she’d found the perfect ones. (Britt has also tested and recommended Onsen’s waffle towels — another good option on the pricier end.)

Brooklinen’s towels are made from 100% long-staple Turkish cotton and feel soft and lightweight, yet durable. Because they’re pre-washed, they resist shrinking, as long as you follow the proper care instructions. What’s more, their weave creates a motif of deep, honeycomb-like pockets, resulting in a spongy texture that’s especially effective at absorbing moisture. 

“Although I never expected waffle towels to have the same plush feeling as terrycloth, I ran with the assumption that they make up for the texture difference by being more absorbent and drying quicker,” Britt’s review reads. “They also dry quickly, and they don’t get that sour smell from being wet for too long.”

The Dreamweave towels come in multiple sizes and bundles, including a hand towel set. Oddly enough, our sister site, The Kitchn’s, former executive lifestyle director found them to be perfect for cleaning up in the kitchen. “They are shockingly absorbent … they’re also shockingly fast-drying, even after I’ve used one to dry a sink’s worth of dishes,” Lisa’s review reads. “I love that they don’t leave little pieces of lint behind and how soft they are to the touch.”

I totally get it if you don’t want to use what are technically bath towels in your kitchen, but Lisa’s experience goes to show that these towels are made to last, not to mention highly versatile. That said, how do Quince’s waffle towels compare?

Like Brooklinen’s Dreamweave towels, Quince’s waffle towels are also made from 100% long-staple Turkish cotton. Their material is also organic. Contributor Tamara had been on the hunt for absorbent towels that didn’t take forever to dry, and when she found these she deemed them to be the “Goldilocks” towels out of all the other ones she’d tried.

“Its one-of-a-kind weave is so soft (you won’t be able to stop touching it!) and durable, so they’ll last for years to come,” her review reads. “Although they’re super lightweight, they’re also super absorbent. I used to use ultra-plush towels that would absorb the water after I showered, but they took what felt like a lifetime to dry after I washed them.”

Not only are Quince’s towels great for tiny bathrooms with poor ventilation, but they also won’t take up a ton of space in small linen closets. Any plushness you feel while touching them is because of the volume created by the waffle weave; in other words, they’re airy instead of high-pile. So the towels fold flat and therefore don’t take up a ton of vertical space the way fuzzy towels do. Even if you stock up on a full set or two, you’re unlikely to run out of shelf space.

Visually, the Quince towels look very similar to Brooklinen’s. Both sets come in a variety of colors and feature thick borders on the short edges. So even if you opt to spend less on waffle towels, you can at least get the same aesthetic as those that are more expensive.

Clearly our editors love and recommend both the Brooklinen and Quince towels, so ultimately there’s no wrong decision here. But more of our staffers have tested the Dreamweave collection — whether it’s the bath towels, hand towels, or the waffle robe — and they’ve only had amazing things to say about it.

Because of this, I suggest splurging on Brooklinen’s towels. Although they’re not organic like Quince’s, they are OEKO-TEX-certified, so you can rest assured that they’re still made without harmful chemicals. Also, Brooklinen’s bath towels are two inches longer than Quince’s, and Quince’s towels are not pre-washed, so they’re more prone to shrinking. 

Ultimately, Quince’s towels are not far off, and they’re still a great option if $90 feels too steep for a set of bath towels. But considering that towels are something most people keep for a long time and also that Brooklinen’s towels have proven themselves to be especially versatile, I think spending the extra cash is justified in this situation.

Buy: Brooklinen Dreamweave Waffle Bath Towels, Set of 2, $89
Buy: Quince Organic Turkish Waffle Bath Towels, Set of 2, $49.90