These Gym Towels Passed Our Absorption and Sweat Tests

Cooling towels are designed for you to wet, wring out, and then wear around your head or neck to keep you cool during exercise. Grounded Fitness’ Cooling Towel stays cold for a while, is comfortable to wear, and doubles as a sweat rag or bench cover. And with three towels per pack, you probably won’t need to buy another for a long time.

Let’s start with what we liked the most about this towel. Grounded Fitness advertises this product as a towel you can wear to keep you cool, and it does this well. We tested this two ways: First, turning up the heat up at home, followed the instructions (wet, wring, wear), and set a timer to see how long the towel stayed cool. An hour passed before we noticed the towel felt dry in spots, and it never felt completely dry before we decided to stop wearing it. (It’s worth noting that since the towel stays wet for so long, don’t expect to be able to use it as a drying towel. You’ll have to let it dry overnight or run it through the dryer.)

We wore the towel as a headband while performing various dynamic exercises—dumbbell snatches, jumping jacks, dumbbell rows, and kettlebell swings. The towel stayed secure around our head during all the movements. The loose ends will wave around your face during explosive movements, but we didn’t find this annoying. (If the towel were any longer, the stray fabric would likely feel in the way.)

Whether this towel is for you depends mainly on the type of activity you do. If you’re an endurance athlete or hiker looking to stay cool during long treks, then this is a great product you can wet, wear, and forget about for hours. A cooling towel probably isn’t the most practical thing to wear while you lift or play a high-impact sport like soccer or Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but it still makes for a solid dry towel.

Overall, anyone looking for a compact towel (similar in size to the Rip N’ Rag or NanoDry Tek) should look elsewhere. Otherwise, this is a fine choice for folks who know they want a cooling towel or are at least cooling curious. Worst case, you don’t like wearing it, and you end up with a gym towel that absorbs moisture fairly well and costs less than $5 per towel.