Checkerboard Plus Cotton Towel

A checkerboard ground with a small plus sign dropped into alternate squares: the pattern is simple enough to be restful and odd enough to be noticed. It comes in four colours against natural cotton — black, rose, goldenrod and forest green — each strong enough to anchor a plain bathroom without needing anything else to go with it.

The pattern is woven, using a jacquard structure that leaves one face slightly raised against the other. That texture is not decorative alone: it increases the surface area of the cloth, so the towel dries you faster and then dries itself faster on the rail. The cotton is combed and pre-washed, which takes out most of the initial shrinkage and softens the hand before it reaches you.

Available as a 35 x 75 cm hand towel and a 70 x 140 cm bath towel, so a set can be built across two colours without anything clashing. Wash at 40°C. Skip fabric softener — it coats the fibres and blunts absorbency — and a low tumble dry will restore the loft. A single bath towel in a strong colour is often enough on its own; hung on a plain rail, it does more for a white bathroom than most decorative objects would.

• Woven jacquard checkerboard and plus-sign motif
• Colours: black, rose, goldenrod, forest green
• Sizes: hand towel 35 x 75 cm, bath towel 70 x 140 cm
• Combed, pre-washed cotton
• Textured face for faster drying
• Machine wash at 40°C; avoid fabric softener