Why These 10 Dish Towels Make the Perfect Kitchen Sidekicks

The humble dish towel is the invaluable understudy of kitchen accoutrements. If the oven mitts and trivet are out of reach and a pan needs to come out of the oven, a large, thick cotton dish towel can fill both roles. If a jar of tomato sauce spills and you're on your very last paper towel, you can sacrifice a microfiber dish towel to do the dirty work — just rinse, launder, and bleach it afterward if necessary. Though there's no shortage of beautiful kitchen textiles out there, many run the risk of being all style and no substance.

The best dish towels are inexpensive, absorbent, cushy, and a bit more rough-and-tumble than your average textile. Ideally, they should be machine-washable and totally unprecious, and they should actually dry your hands with just a quick wipe (we've owned so many gorgeous towels that frustratingly seem to repel water). Anything that you'd feel hesitant about staining wouldn't do the job, although you can certainly splurge on a prettier set as a kitchen decor accent.

Conveniently available in sets of all sizes, here are the 10 best dish towels that'll never let you down.