Does anyone have any experience with microfibre washcloths, towels and other microfibre personal items for travel?
I just bought an assortment of Norwex products...3 facecloths, luscious suede towel and a couple of other items. I'm thinking these will be great for travel, because they pack flat, dry fast and can be used for a variety of things, besides the obvious ones...facecloths, handwipes, hair/bath towel, wringing out hand-washed laundry in the towel to get it to dry faster, just for starters.

Has anyone else used these products or others similar?
What do you like about them?
What is your favorite use for them for traveling?

"You got to be careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there." ~ Yogi Berra
Brenda

I've used them on hiking trips.The ones I had at least were not as nice as just using a cloth towel. But when hiking the towel has to dry or potentially you have mold,frozen towel etc.

when not hiking I am not sure how essential they would be don't regular towels pack flat and are light etc.? RR

I suppose it depends on what kind of travel one does, but we absolutely adore our microfibre travel towels.

They are on our list as one of best choices for our trip around the world. They do pack flat so take up no room, can also be used as blankets on trains, planes or buses, beach blankets or used as a sarong or shawl.

They dry almost instantly which is a fantastic feature for travel. They are great at drying long hair quickly. They are a little odd to get used to after terry towels, but one adjusts quickly.

I would have to look up which brand we bought at a travel store online. I hesitated because they are not cheap and I was not sure about their value before going. Now I am sooooo glad that we bought them as they are worth their weight in gold.

We got one in dark blue and one in gray ...just large towels. For wash cloths we use a typical Japanese long ( lufah like) washcloth which dries even faster that backpackers recommend. Really nice too!

My daughter wanted a kid's towel so we indulged her, so really get to see the difference, because that terry one is a pain!

Following is a quote by me from the current thread on washing clothes in the sink . . .

"I took a microfiber (once again, guys -- from Rick Steves' store Garlic Man ) towel which does a super job of soaking up water in the clothes by wringing them in the towel. The great thing about the microfiber is that you can then wring out the towel, and even though it seems to be sopping wet, you can still roll another batch of clothes in it to wring out.

So much for the laundry. I just wanted to mention that I also used the towel on the plane as a blanket. It takes up almost no room in your bag and it extremely light weight."

I agree that they are rather expensive. Mine was $14.95 2 or 3 years ago. But it is showing no wear as of today.

I also use mine when not traveling at the pool for water aerobics. It just generally makes for light weight packing.

quote:

I just wanted to mention that I also used the towel on the plane as a blanket.

I understand that a lot of airlines are no longer providing blankets and pillows, so that's a good double-duty item.

I just bought a travel pillowcase that can be stuffed with clothes. I thought it would be a good way to have that pillow I like behind my back on the plane, but not take up extra packing room. I got it at Walkabout Travel Gear, which also has a good assortment of microfiber towels, and pretty good prices. That pillowcase, for example, was half the price of one I saw advertised elsewhere.

- Roz

I too, wouldn't travel again without a microfibre towel. We didn't have full size towels, just smaller ones, but it's amazing how much water they absorb! Even at home I use it for my (long) hair - it saves heaps of drying time!

I just bought a new one hoping it would be much better than the 4 year old feels like hard felt model we had.

They are marginally better but for drying much less comfortable than cotton. For hiking in freezing weather as I am doing in Dec. fine ( I don't want to put a block of ice in my pack) but for Europe no way. RR

Thanks for the tip. My husband just ordered two from separate companies just to compare if there is any difference. We're sending them to Ireland with one of the girls. Barb Cabot

I never travel without my large towel. I bought it 8 years ago at REI. It's still fabulous. We just returned from France where we did day hiking along the coast and carried it in our day pack. It's a great for picnics and the beach. Dries super fast.

Cameron

Thanks so much for letting me know what you like about the microfibre products!
I bought a few pieces from the Norwex selection, and hopefully will have figured out why I'm taking them with me this summer, when we are in London and Paris.
Here are a few things I hope to use my microfibre towel and facecloths for:

Towel size~ wringing out the extra moisture from handwashed clothing.
~ a lap cloth on that l-o-n-g flight...a gigantic napkin while eating my
ga-zillions of snacks that get me through a long flight.
~ a back pillow while napping on flights.

Facecloth size
~ facecloth
~ glasses and camera lens cleaning cloth.
~ face and hand wipe, packed wet in a ziploc in my carry-on for flights and train travel
and ziploc'd wet in my purse, for daily use when we are there.

What else have I missed?
I'm sure I'll find other uses while we are traveling!

Travel agents' favorite requests :
A client called in inquiring about a package to Hawaii.
After going over all the cost info, she asked,
“Would it be cheaper to fly to California and then take the train to Hawaii?”
Brenda

I'm with Robert--these are okay when backpacking (on the trail), and I took a big one with me when I was in my 20s and did the backpacker style of travel (if you have to carry a wet towel around, it's a better bet than a cotton towel), but I can't imagine a scenario in Europe where I'd need one. I've never had a problem drying my handwashed clothes, btw, by just rolling them in the hotel towel (which dries just fine by morning).

quote:

I understand that a lot of airlines are no longer providing blankets and pillows, so that's a good double-duty item.

Is that true on international flights? I've never been on a transatlantic flight that lacked pillows and blankets.