Top 8 Yoga Towels to Buy in 2025

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Not every yoga class requires a towel, but the ones that need them really need them. When you’re sweating buckets during a hot Bikram or Ashtanga session, you definitely want something that keeps your mat from getting soaked—or at least something to easily wipe your brow with. 

While you could theoretically use any towel on hand, yoga towels are specifically designed to absorb moisture as they grip the mat beneath you. “Yoga towels absorb sweat from your hands, feet, and body, providing better grip, stability, and safety during your practice,” says registered dietitian and yoga teacher Eliza Whitaker, MS, RDN, LDN, CDN, CYT. “They also provide a barrier between you and the mat, which can be hygienic when using shared mats.” 

Looking for the right grippy towel to hold you in place as you stretch and flow? No sweat! We tried 20 of the market’s best, narrowing them down to these eight options.  

Size: 26” x 71”

This yoga accessory from lululemon is iconic enough that it simply goes by the name “The Towel.” We’re crowning it the best yoga towel overall, due to a blend of efficient absorbency, firm grip, and comfortable, smooth microfiber material. When we placed this towel over our yoga mat, we sun saluted to our heart’s content, never feeling any slippage. Even when we tried tugging on The Towel, it didn’t stretch—signifying it could hold us in place throughout yoga sessions from Hatha to Yin.

Really, our only complaint about The Towel is its price point, as it’s among one of the pricier options on the market. Then again, you might consider it an investment in the stability of your practice.

Size: 24” x 72”

Any form of yoga can be hot and sticky, but hot yoga is where you really get your sweat on. For classes where the heat is cranked, we recommend Slow Tide’s Rock Solid Quick-Dry Yoga Towel. We found it quickly sucked up moisture without beading or pooling—not surprising, since, according to the manufacturer, it absorbs four times its weight in water. 

We appreciate how snugly the towel’s waffle-weave construction grips our yoga mat and how its soft yet durable fabric resists fraying. It held so firmly that we almost forgot it was there! Just note that it’s on the pricier side, and it may be a bit long for some yoga mats.

Size: 24” x 72”

When it comes to yoga towels, sticky is a good thing. In our testing, Shandali’s Sticky Fiber Towel lived up to its name by hanging onto our yoga mat like Velcro. We were also fans of the towel’s easy foldability, excellent grip, and multiple, cute color options, including jade green, lotus pink, and forget-me-not.

With all it has going for it, it’s nice to know this option comes in at a budget-friendly price that’s significantly more affordable than many other yoga towels. For quality and comfort, we couldn’t tell the difference between the Sticky Fiber Towel and other, pricier choices. But note, it’s a bit narrow so it may not work as well on larger mats.

Size: 24” x 72”

Complete mat coverage and excellent absorption make JadeYoga’s Lightweight Great Grip towel a great budget-friendly option. This full-sized towel won’t leave the edges of your mat unprotected from sweat. And its soft texture felt luxuriant (but dry) on our skin as we progressed through several sun salutations. 

Our only critique of the JadeYoga towel was its slight shedding of fibers, which left our hands and feet feeling a little furry. However, the brand recommends washing the towel prior to first use and we'd also advise doing so to prevent fuzzy palms and soles.

Size: 16” x 30”

This compact, easy-to-fold towel is perfect for those times when you don’t need full mat coverage, but could use something absorbent to mop up your dripping brow. The petite-sized Geometry’s Foundation Towel packs well in smaller gym bags or even a purse, making it ideal for everyday carrying. (You never know when you’ll want to pop into a last-minute class!) 

Despite its small size, we were pleased with the towel’s absorbency—though we did notice it had a somewhat clammy sensation on our hands when wet. This didn’t mess with grip, though. Plus, a non-pilling fabric means this handy little buddy will hold up well throughout multiple washes.

Size: 13” x 33”

In classes where the temp is set to 100 degrees or higher, a cooling towel is like a sip of refreshing ice water for your skin. In our testing, Frogg Toggs’ Chilly Pad Instant Cooling Towel’s hyper-evaporative material not only sucked up moisture, it provided a cool sensation that was hard to put our finger on. In fact, when we had our hands on it, the towel felt wet, but when we lifted them, they were perfectly dry!

Though this towel stays firmly in place and comes in 10 cute color options, we wish it was available in a larger size. As is, it covers less than half a yoga mat. Its polyvinyl alcohol-based material is also somewhat controversial. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers it safe, but there’s speculation that its particles may pollute water systems.

Size: 30” x 72.5”

Whether you live near the beach or take your practice to the park, sometimes you need a towel that can withstand some sand. We’ve found it in Nomadix’s Original Towel, a lightweight polyester option that’s designed to resist sand and dirt. Its easy foldability gets another gold star for outdoor use—the towel folds up compactly, so you don’t have to haul it back to your car in a giant heap.

We appreciated that this towel also hung onto our mat like a champ, despite its relative thinness, and provided excellent grip, even when very wet. And even though it’s on the thinner side, it provided full mat coverage and felt soft and silky throughout use. Keep in mind that the material did occasionally bunch up a bit under our feet and it’s a bit pricier than some other options.

Size: 24” x 72”

With 10 fun color and design options, Yoga Design Lab’s Yoga Mat Towel will be the envy of your fellow yogis in any class or studio. Plus, it’s stylish enough, you could even repurpose it as a poolside accessory. We found its microfiber fabric soft and durable, and we didn’t experience any slipping with it underfoot.

Its absorbency was pretty killer, too. We could literally see it soaking up moisture as soon as droplets hit the towel! All told, we’d keep this lightweight option in our gym bag as a multipurpose foundation for mat-based activities (despite a rather high price).

We took one more towel for a test run: Manduka’s Equa Yoga Mat Towel. We had mixed feelings about this one. Though it did a nice job of soaking up sweat and felt quite stable when wet, it wasn’t so grippy when dry. Since we found ourselves slipping and sliding on the dry version, we can’t give it our full recommendation.

Our team of testers tried out 20 yoga towels, paying close attention to absorbency, texture, adhesiveness, and mat coverage as we completed multiple yoga flows. To see how well and how quickly they dried, we even sprayed our hands to mimic sweat and sprayed the towels themselves to the point of soaking. And, of course, we took into account factors like price and attractiveness. We firmly believe a yoga towel is an opportunity to express your personal style!

Sarah Garone, NDTR, CNC, is a writer for Shape with eight years of experience covering health and wellness. She has written numerous articles on yoga, covering everything from its mental health benefits to its helpfulness for chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes. As a regular yoga practitioner herself, she understands that the right towel can be critical for an effective, enjoyable practice. For this article, she used her personal experiences and professional expertise to make informed product recommendations based on our thorough testing.