The most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have……
Over the years we have looked at the usage of our products to ensure that we know who is buying our towels and thus we can ensure that we have the latest styles and designs. Towels have been used for many years for decoration, as apparel, for drying bodies, balls or golf clubs and for warding off the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal in the acclaimed Hitchhikers Guide to the galaxy which also describes the towel as the most ‘massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have’.
Towels are a part of daily life, so much so that most people have a favorite towel. It may carry the branding of their favorite football or sports club, or carry promotional branding but be a useful towel to take to the gym several times a week. If we look in our airing cupboards at home, most household will find towels that they have owned for not just years, but for decades. The towel really has all the attributes of an exceptional promotional brand carrier, longevity of life, high personal value, high perceived value and a competitive price point that is provides exceptional value on a ‘cost per use’ basis.
We brand towels for every business type, without exception from banks to undertakers, drugs companies to sports clubs, Dot com companies to cheese manufacturers. Towels are often seen on television, our own are often seen being used by golfers, tennis players, goal keepers and by thousands when they are used in the gym or on the beach. As we come into the New Year we expect to see an uptake from the world of Golf, as corporate days are booked and clubs wake up to the new season. This is followed by Football and Rugby Clubs looking to restock for the new season. Whilst the big holiday and tour companies will have placed orders in the Autumn, many promotional companies will be looking for beach and pool towels to support their marketing campaigns.
As with all things promotional, towels can be decorated in a number of different ways including, printing, embroidery, Jacquard weaving, double Jacquard panels and dobby borders. Whilst these names may sound technical they are all very cost effective, with printed beach towels costing from as little as £3.00 and Jacquard woven towels from as little as £4.00.
Sizes and names are a cloudy issue, with different weavers offering slightly different sizes, as such when you buy your towels specify firstly the size that you are looking for and then its purpose. Ranging in size from 30 x 30cm to 160 x 90 cm decorated towels can be given a name that outlines their purpose, from face and hand towels to golf, gym and sports towel and finally bath and beach towels. The defining difference between one towel and another is its size and fabric make up—not its name.
Prices are dictated in part also by the fabric make with traditional ‘terry towelling’ starting from 450gsm, which is probably the most popular weight for promotional towels. This can rise to 600gsm for the more luxurious private label retail towels. Finishes like Waffle weaving or ribbed effect and Velour are all available but can add to the price; Velour provides a lovely soft finish with its short pile, but by adding to another process to the towels manufacture and an element of wasted fabric you are also adding as much as 20% to the cost.
Since the inception of the internet we have been approached on a daily basis by organisations from Europe to the Middle East and Far East offering to supply our requirements. Hatton Textiles International have taken the stand to work only with ethical partners that are close to home. This means that for 90% of the products that we supply, we are able to offer an exceptional cost effective product with only a 5 week lead time! The parameters of manufacturing, especially Jacquard weaving are intricate and our manufacturing policy also provides a surety in the quality of our towels and simplifies the communication processes. In fact Bursa in Turkey is still widely accepted as the birth place of towels, and Joseph Jacquard the inventor of Jacquard weaving was born in Lyons in France, so when we are buying in Europe we truly are getting to the people who know best.
With opportunities like the World Cup and Golf Open in 2010 and the Olympics only a couple of years away, now is the time for you and your clients to renew your towels because in the words of Towelie in South Park, you never know when you’ll need a towel!
