The Eunzel Yoga Towel with Grip Dots is on the left, and the Manduka Yogitoes Hot Yoga Towel is on the right. Both are made mostly of microfiber, and they performed about the same in our testing. Sri Rain Stewart NYT/Wirecutter
At 70.5 inches by 24.5 inches, the standard-size Yogitoes towel (left) is a bit shorter and narrower than the Eunzel towel, (which measures 72 inches by 24.8 inches). The Yogitoes towel is also available in a larger size. Sri Rain Stewart/NYT Wirecutter
The Eunzel Yoga Towel with Grip Dots is on the left, and the Manduka Yogitoes Hot Yoga Towel is on the right. Both are made mostly of microfiber, and they performed about the same in our testing. Sri Rain Stewart NYT/Wirecutter
The Yogitoes and Eunzel towels are both made mostly of microfiber cloth, a synthetic material prized for its durability and moisture-wicking abilities.
Manduka says its Yogitoes towel is a woven fabric made from 90% polyester (30% of which the company claims is recycled) and 10% nylon. Our testers said this towel had a slightly smoother texture than the Eunzel towel, but it was not slippery.
The Eunzel towel feels thinner and weighs less (14.5 ounces, versus 16 ounces for the similarly sized Yogitoes towel). But in terms of overall textile quality, these small differences in weight and texture are unlikely to be meaningful, explained Ajoy Sarkar, a textiles expert at the Fashion Institute of Technology. That’s because both towels are made from similar microfiber fabrics. Whatever the composition, and regardless of whether they’ve been woven or knit, microfiber fabrics are exceptionally durable.
They’re also great at wicking away liquid. When it came to the towels’ sweat management, our testers found that both performed similarly, including during our most extreme tests — several 90-minute hot yoga sessions.
The Eunzel towel’s microfiber in a red, gray, and purple tie-dye print. Sri Rain Stewart/NYT Wirecutter
The Yogitoes towel’s poly-nylon microfiber in Sanctuary, which is a rich combination of orange, green, and blue. Sri Rain Stewart/NYT Wirecutter
The Eunzel towel’s microfiber in a red, gray, and purple tie-dye print. Sri Rain Stewart/NYT Wirecutter
The two towels’ grip dots differ somewhat. The grip dots on the Yogitoes towel are made from 100% silicone, and they’re spaced farther apart. Meanwhile, the Eunzel towel’s grip dots are more tightly spaced, and they’re made from a silicone and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) composite — a material that likely costs less to produce, Sarkar said.
The Eunzel towel’s underside (top) has more silicone-PVC grip dots, and they’re closer together. There are fewer silicone grip dots on the Yogitoes towel, and they’re farther apart. Sri Rain Stewart/NYT Wirecutter
The grip dots on both towels helped them to lock onto our test yoga mats, which included the all-rubber JadeYoga Harmony Mat (Wirecutter’s top pick) and a PVC mat.
On bare flooring (without a yoga mat underneath), the Eunzel towel provided better grip than the Yogitoes towel. But neither one had enough cushioning to replace a yoga mat entirely.
All yoga towels should be laundered after each use. And the frequency of washing and drying will impact how long a towel lasts. Both the Eunzel and Yogitoes towels can be machine-dried (and no grip dots were harmed in our testing).