Buying Bath Towels, Bathrobes and Bath Linen from India

India grows a large share of the world cotton crop. The yarn, the weaving, the dyeing and the stitching can all happen inside the country. That keeps cost down and makes it easier to trace what went into a towel.

Towel making is grouped in a few regions. Karur and Erode in Tamil Nadu, Solapur in Maharashtra and Panipat in Haryana are the best known. Each has its own strengths, from heavy hotel towels to light kitchen and bath items.

India is not the only choice. Pakistan, Turkey and China also make good towels. India tends to win on cotton supply, range and price for mid to heavy weights. Turkey is often chosen for premium robes sold in Europe. Compare on your own spec, not on country names.

Six sizes cover nearly every order. The bath towel at 70 x 140 cm is the one most hotels buy. Larger hotels often add a bath sheet at 90 x 180 cm.

Hotel groups sometimes ask for their own sizes, such as 70 x 130 cm. That is fine. Just write the size you want after washing, because cotton shrinks a little in the first washes.

GSM means grams per square metre. It tells you how heavy the towel is for its size. It does not tell you the quality on its own.

Pick the weight for the job. Gyms, salons and pools need towels that dry fast, so they use lighter weights. Guest rooms in good hotels use 500 to 600 GSM. Spas and top hotels sometimes go heavier. Heavier towels cost more to wash and dry, so a laundry will feel the difference.

Two towels with the same GSM can feel and last very differently. The yarn matters most. Combed cotton has the short fibres removed, so it is smoother and sheds less lint. Ring spun yarn is stronger and softer than cheaper open end yarn. Zero twist yarn is very soft and absorbent but less strong.

The finish matters too. A towel can feel soft on day one only because of a softener that washes out. Ask for a towel that is pre washed and has no silicone finish, so it stays absorbent.

Most robes are one of three styles. The shawl collar robe has a thick rolled collar and feels warm and full. It is the classic hotel robe. The kimono robe has a flat band collar and feels lighter, so spas and warm places like it. The hooded robe has a hood and suits pools, beach clubs and children.

Terry has loops on both sides. It dries the body best and is the everyday hotel robe. Velour is terry with the outside loops cut and sheared smooth. It looks rich and shows embroidery cleanly, but dries a little less well. Waffle is a flat weave with small square pockets and no loops. It is light, packs small and dries fast, which is why spas use it.

Robes are sized by chest width and length. Many hotels stock one size that fits most guests, usually large, plus a few extra large. Spas often do the same. Retail buyers need the full range.

Bath linen is everything used in and around the bathroom. Besides towels and robes, buyers often add bath mats, washcloths and guest towels. Pools, gyms, salons and spas each need their own type of towel.

A good order line has eight parts: item, size, weight, fibre and yarn, border, colour, finish and quantity. When every supplier quotes on the same eight points, you can compare prices fairly. When one point is missing, the cheapest quote is often the one that left something out.

These are our published price ranges per piece, FOB Cochin. FOB means the price covers the goods loaded on the ship in India. Freight, insurance and import duty come on top.

Price moves with weight, yarn, size, colour, order quantity and any logo work. White costs less than dyed colours. Larger orders get a lower price per piece.

Trial runs start at 500 pieces per item. Wholesale pricing starts at 2,000 pieces per SKU. A trial run costs a little more per piece, and we say so up front.

SKU means one exact item: one size in one colour. So 2,000 white bath towels is one SKU. 1,000 white and 1,000 grey is two SKUs.

Bathrobe trial orders start at 200 pieces per style.

Samples take 7 to 14 days to reach you by courier. Production takes 30 to 45 days after you approve the sample and pay the advance. Then add sea transit to your port.

A first order usually takes two to three months from first email to goods at your port. A repeat order is faster, because the sample is already approved.

Payment is half in advance, before production starts. The other half is paid when production is finished, before the goods ship.

It depends on the carton size, so ask your supplier for the carton measurements and weight. A 20 foot container holds about 25 cubic metres of cartons. A 40 foot holds about 57. A 40 foot high cube holds about 66.

Towels and robes are bulky but not very heavy. That means space usually runs out before the weight limit. If your order is too small for a full container, it can travel as a shared load, called LCL.

Duty depends on your country and on the product code. Cotton terry towels usually fall under HS code 6302 60. Bathrobes fall under clothing codes that differ for men, women and children, and for woven or knitted fabric. Confirm the code with your customs broker before you order.

Trade deals can lower the duty on goods from India in some markets, such as the UAE. Newer deals, such as the one with the UK, phase in over time. Check the current rate for your exact code before you work out your landed cost.

OEKO-TEX Standard 100 is the one most buyers ask for. It means the product was tested for harmful substances. GOTS is different. It covers organic cotton and how it was processed. You only need GOTS if you sell the product as organic.

Some markets have their own rules. Saudi Arabia needs SABER registration for many textiles. The EU, UK and US all have labelling rules for fibre content and country of origin.

Do not trust a logo on a website. Ask for the certificate number and check it on the website of the body that issued it. Make sure the certificate names the right company and covers the right product.

Six quick checks will catch most problems. Four use free government or certifier websites. Two are tests you run yourself. None of them need a visit to India.

First make sure every quote is for the same spec. Then make sure every quote uses the same delivery term. FOB, CIF and DDP include very different costs. Then look at cost per wash, not only cost per piece. A towel that lasts twice as long at a little more money is the cheaper towel.

Yes. Common options are a logo woven into the dobby border, embroidery on the towel or robe, your own sewn label and your own retail packaging. Private label orders start at 2,000 pieces per SKU.

Woven border logos need the most lead time, because the border pattern has to be set up on the loom. Embroidery is quicker to set up and works well on robes.

Anabyn is an export house based in Thrissur, Kerala. We take your spec, run the order from sample to shipment, check the goods before they ship and handle the export papers. Orders ship from Cochin or Vizhinjam.

If you want to see the products first, the digital catalogue shows the current range. If you already know what you need, send us your spec and we will reply with a quote.