Turkish Towel Weight Explained: What 280 g, 400 g and 900 g Mean

Towel listings throw a lot of numbers at you: 280 g, 400 gsm, 1.1 lb, 6 oz per square yard. They measure different things, and a bigger number doesn’t automatically mean a better towel. Here is what each figure means, how to convert between them, and what the weights in our own shop look like in practice, using the sizes and weights from our product pages.

Total weight and GSM are different numbers

Total weight is what the whole piece weighs on a scale. It’s the figure we give on our product pages, in grams.

GSM stands for grams per square metre. It measures density: how much cloth there is in each square metre, whatever the size of the towel. Many listings quote GSM, especially for terry bath towels.

The two answer different questions. Total weight tells you how heavy a towel is to carry and how much room it takes in a bag. GSM tells you how thick and dense the cloth is. A large thin towel and a small thick one can weigh exactly the same.

Some US listings give fabric weight in ounces per square yard instead of GSM. One ounce per square yard is about 33.9 gsm.

How to convert the numbers yourself

• Grams to ounces: divide by 28.35. So 400 g is about 14.1 oz.
• Grams to pounds: divide by 453.6. So 900 g is just under 2 lb.
• Centimetres to inches: divide by 2.54. So 180 cm is about 71 in.
• Total weight to GSM: divide the weight in grams by the area in square metres (length × width, both in metres). A 400 g towel measuring 1.80 × 0.95 m covers 1.71 m², which makes it about 234 gsm.
• GSM to ounces per square yard: divide by 33.9.

A caveat on the GSM figures in this guide. We have worked them out from the listed size and weight, and they’re approximate. Fringe adds weight without adding much cloth, and a listed length doesn’t always say whether the fringe is included. Ounces, inches and GSM below are our own conversions, rounded.

Beach towels and peshtemals, from 280 g to 500 g

Flat-woven peshtemals are light for their size. Here is how a selection of our beach towels compares:

• Akasya Beach Towel: 175 × 95 cm (69 × 37 in), 280 g (9.9 oz), about 170 gsm.
• Assos 011: 180 × 100 cm (71 × 39 in), 350 g (12.3 oz), about 195 gsm.
• Afrodit Beach Towel: 170 × 90 cm (67 × 35 in), 350 g (12.3 oz), about 230 gsm.
• Damla Beach Towel: 180 × 95 cm (71 × 37 in), 375 g (13.2 oz), about 220 gsm.
• Kilim Double-Face Towel, and the rest of our double-face range: 170 × 100 cm (67 × 39 in), 375 g (13.2 oz), about 220 gsm.
• Demre Beach Towel: 180 × 95 cm (71 × 37 in), 400 g (14.1 oz), about 235 gsm.
• Waffle Beach Towel: 170 × 80 cm (67 × 31.5 in), 400 g (14.1 oz), about 295 gsm.
• Artemis Terry Towel: 175 × 100 cm (69 × 39 in), 420 g (14.8 oz), about 240 gsm.
• Assos 014: 190 × 100 cm (75 × 39 in), 500 g (17.6 oz, or 1.1 lb), about 265 gsm.

Around 280 g: the light end

At 280 g, the Akasya is the lightest beach towel we sell. It rolls up small, adds almost nothing to a bag and dries fast after a swim or a wash. The trade-off is that it’s thin. It’s fine for drying off and lying on in the sun, and less useful as a wrap when the wind picks up. We’d pick this weight for travel, or for packing towels for the whole family into one beach bag.

350 g to 400 g: the everyday middle

Most of our flat-weave peshtemals sit here, along with the 375 g double-face jacquards. There’s enough cloth to feel substantial and to cover you on a lounger, and they still dry quickly. If you aren’t sure which weight you want, start in this range.

Above 400 g: more drape

Past 400 g a peshtemal starts to behave more like a light blanket. The Demre’s product description says it well: a heavier hand that drapes like a blanket when the evening wind picks up. The Assos 009 and Assos 003 are 450 g, and the Assos 014 tops our beach range at 500 g, with 30% linen in the mix. Heavier towels take a little longer to dry and a little more room in the bag. In return they feel more substantial and keep you warmer.

Why the same weight can feel different

Compare the Waffle Beach Towel and the Demre. Both weigh 400 g. The waffle is smaller, 170 × 80 cm against 180 × 95 cm, so its cloth is denser: about 295 gsm against 235. A weight in grams only means something next to the size.

Weave changes things too. The Artemis Terry Towel is only 20 g heavier than the Demre, but one face is terry loops, so it holds more water per use than a flat weave of similar weight.

Why a 900 g bath towel is a different category

The Damask Bath Towel measures 180 × 90 cm (71 × 35 in) and weighs 900 g (31.7 oz, just under 2 lb). That works out to about 555 gsm, more than twice as dense as the typical peshtemal in our range. It’s terry, with the damask pattern sculpted into the loops, and the pile is where the weight goes.

A dense terry towel absorbs more in one go and feels plush and warm out of a hot shower. It also takes much longer to dry, and in a damp bathroom with poor airflow it can start to smell musty if it never dries fully between uses. A peshtemal used as a bath towel gives up some of that plushness in exchange for drying much sooner.

For terry bath towels sold by GSM, roughly 400 to 600 gsm is common for everyday towels, and towels sold as plush or hotel weight usually sit higher. The Damask is at the upper end of that everyday range.

Hand towels, from 150 g to 220 g

• Waffle Hand Towel: 90 × 50 cm (35 × 20 in), 150 g (5.3 oz), about 335 gsm.
• Rainbow Terry Hand Towel: 96 × 45 cm (38 × 18 in), 220 g (7.8 oz), about 510 gsm.
• Dot-Design Hand Towel: 96 × 45 cm (38 × 18 in), 220 g (7.8 oz), about 510 gsm.

The light waffle dries fastest and suits a kitchen or a guest bathroom, where a towel gets used briefly and often. The 220 g terry towels are much denser and hold more water each time you use them, which is what you want next to a basin that sees a lot of hand washing.

Throws and blankets

• Waffle Throw: 260 × 150 cm (102 × 59 in), 820 g (1.81 lb), about 210 gsm.
• Anatolian Throw: 180 × 135 cm (71 × 53 in), 800 g (1.76 lb), about 330 gsm.
• Muslin Single Blanket: 160 × 220 cm (63 × 87 in), 950 g (2.09 lb), about 270 gsm across its four layers.
• Waffle Blanket: 255 × 220 cm (100 × 87 in), queen size, 1.7 kg (3.75 lb), about 305 gsm.

This is where total weight misleads. The Waffle Throw and the Anatolian Throw weigh almost the same, 820 g and 800 g. But the Waffle Throw covers 3.9 m² and the Anatolian Throw 2.4 m², so the Anatolian’s cloth is far denser, about 330 gsm against 210. The waffle is a big, airy throw for draping over a sofa or the end of a bed. The Anatolian is smaller and feels heavier in the hand.

The Muslin Single Blanket gets its weight from four thin layers of cotton muslin rather than one thick cloth. Layered muslin holds air between the layers, so it’s warmer than its weight suggests and still breathes.

At 1.7 kg, the Waffle Blanket is the heaviest piece we sell. Per square metre, though, it’s a medium-weight cloth. Most of that weight comes from covering a queen-size bed.

Picking a weight for the job

• Travel and full beach bags: a lighter peshtemal, roughly 280 to 350 g.
• Everyday beach and pool: 350 to 400 g.
• Cool evenings, or a towel that doubles as a light throw: 400 g and up, or a terry-backed towel like the Artemis.
• The bathroom, if you love plush: a terry bath towel like the 900 g Damask. If you want fast drying: a peshtemal or a waffle.
• Kitchen and guest bathroom: a light waffle hand towel.
• Sofa and bed: look at density as well as total weight, because a large throw can be light per square metre.

Does the weight change after washing?

A little, sometimes. New cotton can shed some lint in the first few washes, and cotton can shrink slightly, especially in a hot dryer. What changes more is the feel: flat-woven cotton softens noticeably over the first few washes. Skip fabric softener, which coats the fibres and makes them less absorbent, and dry on a line when you can.

Every towel, throw and blanket named here is in our shop, and the sizes, weights and compositions above come straight from their product pages. We ship from Istanbul to 21 countries, with free shipping on orders over $120. Details are on the shipping page.

Further reading: How to Tell a Real Turkish Towel From an Imitation · Buying Turkish Towels in Bulk: A Guide for Hotels, Spas, Beach Clubs and Boutiques