Fluffy towels that enrich everyday life. Towels from ROYAL-PHOENIX of the seas, to be used matched together like in a hotel

The "mismatched towel" problem in the bathroom

That happy moment when you soak in the bath, step out feeling warm all over, and bury your face in a fluffy towel. Recently, I realized that I had been unconsciously choosing which towel to use after a bath or after washing my face.

"This one is stiff, so I won't use it to dry my face," "this one is fluffy, so I'll grab it right away if it's out"... In fact, I had been ranking my towels, dividing them into a first string, a second string, and everything else. If a fluffy towel happened to be freshly washed, I felt happy; if only a stiff towel or an awkward size was available, I used it reluctantly. Using towels this way, my favorite ones ended up being used the most, and, as a result, they were the first to wear out. Thinking it over, I realized that if you use and wash towels in the right way, they can last for years, and if a fluffy towel can bring you happiness so easily, it's not such an expensive purchase after all.

Is there anything about the towels in your bathroom that bothers you? Mismatched sizes, thicknesses, and colors that never quite look stylish on the shelf; and because the feel of each towel is so different, your favorite ones keep wearing out while the ones you don't care for stay pristine and pushed to a corner of the shelf. You dream of towels lined up neatly on the shelf, matched in size and color like in a hotel, but you keep telling yourself "someday, someday..." and putting it off because some of them are still in good condition.

Towels are something we rarely reconsider unless there's a major event like moving house, but if you replace them all at once with towels you truly love, your evening bath and morning face-washing routine become something to genuinely look forward to. This might be a good opportunity to repurpose towels you received as gifts for other uses, and to fully replace the towels in your bathroom all at once.

Owning towels that feel truly wonderful to use—genuinely "good towels"

Towels you force yourself to use just because they were a gift, or towels that have lost their fluffiness but you're not sure when to replace. They are consumable items, but if you rotate through several of them and use them gently, they will last much longer than cheap towels.

Here, a "good towel" is defined by these three qualities:

・It stays fluffy and feels wonderful over time (imagine pressing your face into it and leaving an impression of your face on the towel)

・A timeless design that doesn't chase trends (making it easy to repurchase even years later)

・A clean, fresh feeling

Some towels feel soft when you touch them in the store, but quickly become stiff, so choosing one is surprisingly difficult. If absorbency declines and you end up rubbing your skin hard, the burden on your skin increases, so it's especially important that the towel you use to dry your face after washing be soft and low in friction.

For example, a luxury towel costing several thousand yen apiece can completely change the perspective of anyone who has never really paid attention to towel quality, thanks to its texture. That said, the price per towel may come as a shock, but if you do laundry every day, having 2 to 3 towels per person, or 4 if you wash every other day, is enough to enjoy a towel of the caliber used in luxury hotels every single day. Of course, having even more towels makes them last even longer, and if you use a wash towel in the morning for washing your face and a face towel or bath towel at night, you can stay clean while also making laundry easier.

Here's one episode that really made me feel the power of a luxury towel. In a household with children, even a child who normally runs away after a bath without being dried off stopped running and let themselves be dried properly once wrapped in this towel, after the family introduced good-quality towels. It seems that with a fluffy, soft towel, being wrapped up in it simply feels wonderful. Not just for children—adults, too, might find great satisfaction in treating themselves to a set.

A difference you can feel with your hands: towels from ROYAL-PHOENIX of the seas

I still remember how genuinely moved I was the first time I touched a towel from ROYAL-PHOENIX of the seas. Fluffy, moist to the touch, the kind of texture that makes you want to stroke it without thinking. This brand was born from a towel maker in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, called "Kusuhashi Monori."

If you press it with your hand, it leaves an impression. You can clearly feel how plump and moist it is.

Imabari, in Ehime, is known as a towel-producing region. But alongside towels, there's actually another major industry in Imabari: shipbuilding. ROYAL-PHOENIX of the seas is a brand born from inspiration drawn from this land of Imabari, built around the story of a luxury cruise ship that does not exist anywhere in the world.

A color that is not currently available (the towel shown is CABIN)

Try to imagine it. In the spacious staterooms of a luxury cruise ship, there is a large bed that lures you into deep sleep, a study, and a private bar. From the bathroom window you can look out over a perfectly blue horizon, and once you step outside your room there is a lounge where people traveling the world gather just as you are, a sun-drenched pool and tennis court, a grand cinema, and a dazzling casino. And then there are the wonderful meals prepared by a top chef, served in a cozy dining room. It is a space where all the richness of daily life is condensed into one.

Because towels are something we have around us every day, we wanted to offer the finest quality—the kind you'd find aboard a luxury ocean liner. We wanted to create towels that people simply can't help but want to touch. This is the story of a brand devoted to towel-making with that spirit in mind.

The towels of ROYAL-PHOENIX of the seas are made from an original yarn, developed in pursuit of that moment of wonder you feel the very first time you touch them. The yarn combines extra-long staple cotton grown in southern India—known for its fine, smooth fibers and distinctive sheen—with high-quality medium-staple cotton from America that contains few impurities. Beyond that, the yarn is spun with a looser twist than usual, staying true to cotton's natural texture and delicate feel. This allows the fibers to hold more air, resulting in an overwhelming softness and smooth touch. The finished towels also offer excellent absorbency.

If you like a crisp texture, choose SPA

The SPA towel is a series that pursues a light, airy finish by adjusting the pile to a unique length. Its organic form suits those special moments of blissful relaxation you might find in an onboard spa salon. As the name "SPA" suggests, it's perfect for quickly wiping down a body that's flushed with warmth. While the towels in this brand are generally thick and soft, this particular fabric—with its shorter pile—offers a crisper feel among them. The fluorescent-colored hem adds a refreshing touch, evoking the mood of a resort.

For something soft and fluffy, the standard choice is CABIN

Soft, smooth, fluffy, and full of substance—a towel that wraps you in a feeling so pleasant it's almost dreamlike. If you want to discover what makes ROYAL-PHOENIX of the seas towels so special, we recommend starting with CABIN. Imagine it as the towel used in a spacious stateroom facing the sea—the essential, basic model for cruise life. Its long pile and densely woven fabric suit a luxurious moment in time. Its distinctive hem, inspired by an anchor rope, also makes it easy for family members to tell their bath towels apart.

For those seeking something even more refined, there's SALON

The SALON TOWEL series face towel set stands out for its color-block design, combining multiple colors. Extra care has gone into the finishing process as well, achieving a uniform softness that reaches all the way to the edges. Picture it as the towel used in the salon room of a luxury liner, where travelers from around the world gather to read and chat—a soft, comforting blanket that accompanies these moments. It offers a quality experience that goes well beyond the usual notion of a "towel."

Available in 4 sizes.

WASH TOWEL: SPA, CABIN

Size: W34 × H35cm

A wash towel slightly larger than a handkerchief. It comes in handy in all kinds of everyday situations.

FACE TOWEL: SPA, CABIN, SALON

Size: W34 × H90cm

A face towel suited to a wide range of uses, from the bath and bed to toiletries. It's designed longer than the typical towel of this kind. It also works well as a hair wrap after washing, as a pillowcase, and even as a sports towel thanks to its convenient size. Recommended for anyone who doesn't use a bath towel after bathing!

BATH TOWEL: SPA, CABIN, SALON

W64 × H135cm

A bath towel with excellent absorbency and a generous sense of volume. Its size is both practical and perfect for wrapping the whole body. It also works well as a light blanket while traveling, as a swaddle, or for sports scenes like swimming and yoga. This is the one to choose if you use a bath towel after bathing.

BATH SHEET: SALON

W80 × H160cm

A luxurious bath sheet fit for the finest bathing experience, sized to match those found in Western hotels, large enough to wrap around the entire body. It can also be used widely as a bed sheet, blanket, or beach sheet. For taller people, a bath sheet may prove more convenient to use than a bath towel.

Tips from devoted users on keeping your towels fluffy and long-lasting

Here are the key points for enjoying your towel comfortably for a long time:

・Don't use fabric softener

・A vertical-axis washing machine is preferable to a drum-type one

・Having a dryer makes an even bigger difference

・A little extra effort before hanging up your towel changes its texture

These are the four points.

The relationship between towels and fabric softener

Using fabric softener on towels reduces their absorbency. It can be effective in small amounts on towels that have become stiff from repeated washing, but as a general rule, we recommend avoiding it.

A vertical-axis washing machine is recommended

If you use a drum-type washing machine, the texture of the towel may deteriorate, and it may become more prone to shedding lint. For this reason, a standard vertical-axis washing machine will help your towels last longer. (This is because drum-type machines wash by "beating," which differs from the "rubbing" action of a vertical-axis machine. If you use a drum-type machine, finishing with a dryer cycle is effective.)

Fluff towels up with a dryer

Towels that have been through the dryer come out fluffy, with the pile holding plenty of air. That said, if too much moisture is removed, the towel can end up flat and stiff instead. It seems best to run the dryer for about 20 to 30 minutes, then finish by hanging the towel to dry indoors.

One extra step before hanging to dry

Give the towel a light shake up and down before hanging it to dry, and the pile will stand up, leaving you with a fluffy towel. It depends on preference, but around 20 shakes is usually enough. Drying outdoors tends to make towels too dry, so drying indoors or in the shade is better.

This time, we borrowed towels from people who actually use them regularly.

Towel A is a CABIN face towel that's been used for about 8 months. It's washed roughly twice a week and is clearly well-loved. While the melt-in-your-hands softness of a brand-new towel has faded slightly, compared to a new one it hasn't lost much of its plumpness and still has plenty of life left. The washing machine used is a top-loading type with no dryer, so if it were run through a dryer, it might become even fluffier.

Towel B is a CABIN face towel that's been used for about 2 months. This one is also washed twice a week, yet its texture is nearly indistinguishable from a brand-new towel. When we asked about it, we learned that running it through the dryer for 30 minutes is part of the daily routine. Even with normal use, this towel holds up well, but having a dryer on hand seems to help it stay in even better condition for longer. Compared to a new towel, the texture hasn't changed much at all.

This one is a CABIN wash towel that's been used for about a year. It's been washed around 50 times, in a drum-type washing machine. When we touched it, we noticed the texture felt a bit different from the other towels.

The pile is standing up, though it's a bit stiffer compared to the previous two towels. On closer inspection, this was the only towel that had been dried outdoors after washing in a "drum-type washing machine," rather than being run through a dryer. Since it's a hand towel and doesn't look worn down in appearance, it's still comfortable to use even with a bit of stiffness. However, the drum-type washing machine may have caused more wear than a top-loading one would, and drying outdoors may have dried it out more than necessary. Even so, it still has plenty of life left as a hand towel.

For a More Pleasant Towel Experience

Towels might be something we don't pay much attention to in everyday life. They're not something we show to other people, so even if they absorb water a little less well, or don't quite wipe away dirt like they used to, or have become thin and flat compared to when they were new, we tend to think, "well, it still works." (Sometimes we don't even notice that it's gotten worn out.) But since we're using them anyway, wouldn't it be nice to end a bath or a face wash on a really pleasant note?

In the busyness of daily life, it's easy not to give much thought to towels. If you notice that a towel's absorbency has dropped or that it feels rough against your skin, it's worth going ahead and replacing it. Or you could decide on the right number of towels for your household and make it a rule to replace them all once a year, say at New Year's. Satisfaction with how a towel feels varies from person to person. Wanting to hurry home and bury your face in that towel—if you can find a towel that makes you feel that way, that's surely a kind of happiness. We hope you find a favorite towel of your own.

▽Find towel sets here

>> SPA series (crisp texture, neon-colored hems)

Set of 3 WASH towels

WASH towel and fabric mist set

Set of 2 face towels (2 varieties)

Face towel and bath towel set of 2 (2 varieties)

Bath towel, sold individually (3 colors)

>> CABIN series (standard line, anchor rope design)

Set of 3 WASH towels

Face towel and fabric mist set

Set of 2 face towels (2 varieties)

Face towel and bath towel set of 2 (2 varieties)