Clean SkinClub didn’t win our test of these cloths, which are perfect for drying and makeup removal and that derms say are good. No germy towels here.
CR’s Lisa Fogarty (above) was one of three testers who tried out dry facial towels at home—CR’s José Amézquita also put them to the test in our labs to find the strongest and most absorbent sheets.
By Lisa Fogarty
Any time I wash my face and look up to see one lone used towel hanging on a hook, my soul cries. Drying your clean face on a towel someone else has used—or on a towel you set aside just for yourself but don’t wash in hot water after every three to five uses—leaves you vulnerable to bacterial exposure. If you have small children, I don’t have to tell you how often they wipe their dirty hands on towels—and how that dirt can then be transferred to your clean skin when you use that same towel. Yikes.
“Dirty towels can contain oil, bacteria, dead skin cells, sweat, and product buildup, which may clog pores, worsen acne, cause body odor or eye/face irritation, and potentially lead to bacterial/fungal infections or other serious skin problems,” says CR chemist Eric Boring, PhD.
One study found that 89 percent of the kitchen towels researchers tested contained coliform bacteria, an indicator of fecal contamination, and 25.6 percent contained E. coli. A separate study, in which researchers collected and tested 50 bath towels and 50 toothbrushes, found e.Coli on every single towel (and on 48 toothbrushes).
Dry facial towels may not be widely used—yet—but there’s a significant need for them.
Do Dermatologists Recommend Dry Facial Towels?
We prefer skincare products that have been vetted by dermatologists with expertise in skin health, so we reached out to Alexandra Bowles, D.O., board-certified dermatologist at MONA Dermatology, to get her take on whether dry facial towels are recommended for use.
“I think disposable facial towels can be a helpful addition to a skincare routine, particularly for people with acne-prone or very sensitive skin,” Bowles tells CR. “Because they’re single-use, you’re starting with a clean towel each time you wash your face, which may help reduce exposure to bacteria, oil, and leftover skincare products that can build up on a towel between washes.”
Bowles stresses that they’re not a stand-alone solution for preventing acne. “Breakouts are influenced by many factors, including hormones, genetics, excess oil production, and clogged pores. I think of disposable facial towels as one simple way to support good skin hygiene, especially for someone who doesn’t change their regular face towel frequently or prefers using a fresh towel with each cleanse.”
If you have sensitive skin—or if you are shaving your face and leaving it vulnerable to short-term sensitivities—Bowles recommends proceeding with caution. “For sensitive skin, I recommend starting with the smooth side of the towel, particularly if the skin has recently been shaved or is already irritated,” Bowles says. “While the textured side can provide gentle exfoliation, it’s important to use light pressure and avoid scrubbing, since over-exfoliation can disrupt the skin barrier and lead to additional irritation.”
Think of the textured side as something to use occasionally rather than with every cleanse, she stresses, especially if you have conditions like eczema, rosacea, or active acne. “Following up with a fragrance-free moisturizer can also help support the skin barrier and keep the skin comfortable. The goal is to cleanse the skin gently, not to create unnecessary friction.”
How to Use Disposable Facial Towels From Clean Skin Club, Costco, and Other Brands
Here’s where dry facial towels enter the chat. These trendy disposable towels—popularized by the brand Clean Skin Club—are made from materials such as cotton, viscose, and other fibers. The best ones are softer than most paper towels, highly absorbent, resistant to tearing, and large enough to serve a few purposes. You can use them to gently dry your face after cleansing, remove makeup, and even apply products like micellar water and toner—all with the same towel.
According to Mintel data, 32 percent of adults who purchase personal care for health or hygiene benefits rank “gentle or safe for sensitivities” as a top attribute. The dry facial towels we tested are a perfect solution for sensitive skin. They have a soft, smooth side and a texturized side that offers exfoliation benefits, but they should never be irritating on sensitive skin, and as Bowles explained, it’s important to use light pressure and avoid scrubbing your face with them.
Even though dry facial cloths all look the same, they don’t all perform the same way. Lab tester José Amézquita tested them in our labs for absorbency, tensile strength, and abrasion resistance. CR writers Angela Lashbrook, Jodhaira Rodriguez, and I also put them to work at home, evaluating how soft and gentle they are, and whether they left lint behind (which is my biggest pet peeve).
For Clean Skin Club Clean Towels, we included information and safety ratings from a CR partner, SkinSafe, which uses Mayo Clinic data to assess overall safety, potential for irritation, and allergenicity. SkinSafe “scores” products based on how many of the 11 most common allergens each contains. The higher the score, the fewer allergens the product contains (the highest possible score is 100). SkinSafe does not provide data for the other products we tested.
Meet Our Testers
Four CR testers teamed up to find the best and worst disposable facial towels.
Photo: Angela Lashbrook, Jodhaira Rodriguez, Lisa Fogarty, Jose Amezquita (Consumer Reports)
Angela Lashbrook: My skin is very dry and, at the moment, quite sensitive: pregnancy has given me eczema (which I didn’t have before) and also causes me to break out—another issue that’s relatively rare for me (thankfully!). So I need products that are very gentle on my reactive skin.
Jodhaira Rodriguez: I have combination skin—oily around my T-zone but dry around my lips/cheeks. I’ve been using Tretinoin for a while, and my skin has still not totally adjusted to it. I also have rosacea, so I’m super prone to redness. I don’t think I’m ever not a little bit flushed.
Lisa Fogarty (that’s me): I have combination skin that can get drier around the cheeks at certain times of the month. I’m prone to redness and try to never rub my face with towels or use irritating skincare ingredients.
José Amézquita: I am a Project Manager at CR with over 30 years of experience running rigorous tests on consumer products. These facial towels were subjected to a number of physical tests in our lab and then compared with real-world consumer satisfaction.
Here are our top picks—and our take on whether Clean Skin Club Clean Towels rose to the challenge.
Spascriptions Fresh Dry Facial Towelettes
Sometimes you get what you pay for: these dry towels from Spascriptions are the second most expensive we tested after Clean Skin Club, and they are also close behind the ForPro towels in terms of their generous size—our testers were able to cut them in half and get two days’ use from one cloth. They were the overall favorite for our home testers, and ranked second in our lab tests (after ForPro Professional Collection) for strength, absorption, and abrasion resistance.
Lab test findings: Spascriptions finished second overall in our lab testing and delivered consistently strong performance without any major weaknesses. It ranked second in absorbency, third in abrasion resistance (which tests how much rubbing it can withstand), and second-highest in puncture resistance. Even though ForPro towels scored higher in our lab tests, these were perceived to be softer overall, and possibly better for sensitive skin.
How we liked them: “I loved it,” Angela said of these, adding that using the towel immediately converted her to the dry-facial-towel category. Jodhaira and I agreed. These towels were soft, durable, absorbed water really well and fast, and we were able to dry our skin without rubbing it, which is a major plus. They worked well when we used them to apply micellar water and didn’t leave lint on our skin. “I didn’t note any tearing or anything else,” Jodhaira said.
Packaging: Even though Spascription’s towels are about the same size as ForPro’s, its box is much more compact. The lid is located at the top of the box, and there’s plenty of space to work with when pulling towels out. I was able to remove each towel one by one without any sticking to one another.
SkinSafe: This product is not in SkinSafe’s database.
ForPro Professional Collection Premium Pure & Simple XL Facial Towels
ForPro Professional Collection earned the highest overall laboratory ranking, and we loved how large, thick, and absorbent they were. At 18 cents per towel, these are the fourth most expensive sheets we tested.
Lab test findings: These delivered the best abrasion resistance, and were also the most absorbent (one towel held 72.7 grams of water—impressive!). They also achieved the highest puncture resistance, making them especially resistant to tearing during skincare routines.
How we liked them: At home, we found that we liked using Spascriptions towels slightly more than these—but the differences were mostly subtle. Angela described the towels as “pretty good,” saying they “absolutely did the job without issue” and that they were “very effective for micellar water,” even noting they worked better than her usual cotton rounds. Jodhaira reported that she dried her face with this towel without rubbing, and that it worked well with micellar water and presented no durability issues. There are two reasons this one came in second for us: it feels slightly thinner than the Spascriptions towel, and it has a “slightly funky” scent, despite the package claiming they are free of fragrance and odors.
Packaging: Its packaging is the largest of the towels we tested, so you’ll need more storage space on your bathroom cabinet, and when I pulled wipes from the top, the ones beneath became tangled.
SkinSafe: This product is not in SkinSafe’s database.
Kirkland Signature Dry Facial Towels
Although Ourmed Life towels cost one cent less per towel than Costco, Kirkland Signature sells them in bulk, and they were more absorbent and less likely to burst when wet. They’re made in Korea and are also much larger than Ourmed and can be cut in half, so that one sheet lasts two uses.
One thing stood out to us, though: these are the only towels that are vague about their material, and when we contacted Costco to find out specifics about “FSC-certified fiber,” which means the fibers used were certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, Costco responded that it can not “accommodate our request” at this time.
Lab test findings: Kirkland excelled in our lab tests for resistance to bursting when wet, and it ranked third in water absorbency and puncture resistance. It performed less well in our abrasion resistance tests, finishing fourth.
How we liked them: We found these towels to be absorbent and effective for applying micellar water. They didn’t leave any lint behind, and we agreed we’d use them again. But we thought they weren’t as soft as some of the others, especially Spascriptions and ForPro towels. “They’re quite smooth and synthetic feeling,” Angela said.
Packaging: The package has one of the largest countertop footprints, so make sure you have cabinet space to accommodate it. Its lid folds back into the box, which makes it easy to open and close. When I pulled the towels, they mostly came out one at a time, though a few folded up in the box and I had to unravel them.
SkinSafe: This product is not in SkinSafe’s database.
Swisspers Face The Day Premium Dry Facial Wipe
Swisspers came through in our tests with above-average strength and respectable durability and functionality (though they weren’t as impressive as Spascriptions or ForPro towels). Their texture was what truly won us over: Angela and Lisa appreciated their exfoliating properties, while Jodhaira was less enthusiastic about these sheets. At 32 cents per wipe, they rank third by cost among the dry facial towels we tested, behind Clean Skin Club and Spascriptions.
Lab test findings: These towels ranked second in wet strength, fourth in puncture resistance, and last in abrasion resistance. They came in fourth in absorbency. Overall, they weren’t the most impressive in our lab tests, but they were saved by our home evaluation findings.
How we liked them: Angela and Lisa thought these cotton wipes had the most effective textured side for exfoliation, but with one caveat, according to Angela: They’re the “roughest” and “most exfoliating” of the bunch, so proceed with caution if you have eczema or experience acne flare-ups. Jodhaira pointed out that these wipes were thinner than our other top picks, and that although they absorbed water well from her skin without needing to rub, and there were no issues with them falling apart, it “took a little more time than the others” to get her skin truly dry.
Packaging: Each wipe is noticeably smaller than those from our other top picks, but that trade-off allows for the most compact, easy-to-store packaging of the bunch. The box features a lid that tucks neatly inside to create a secure closure, and the wipes dispense from an opening at the top. We did notice, however, that pulling out one wipe sometimes caused the next one to twist inside the box, making dispensing slightly less convenient.
SkinSafe: This product is not in SkinSafe’s database.
Other Dry Facial Towels We Tested
We were shocked to find that one of the dry facial towels we tested is considered a cult classic, but didn’t fare as well in our tests as our top choices.
Clean Skin Club Clean Towels
We found these cult-classic dry facial towels by Clean Skin Club to be adequate—but uninspiring. At 40 cents per towel, they are the most expensive towels we tested and also among the smallest. You aren’t likely to get more than one use out of a single towel.
Lab test findings: Mixed results. It ranked second in abrasion resistance, which means it resists rubbing well, but it ranked fifth in both wet strength and puncture resistance. It also came in last in its ability to absorb water.
How we liked them: We thought they worked just fine. The towels didn’t rip, leave lint, or irritate our skin. But we also couldn’t find much to rave about. “They felt more synthetic,” Angela says, adding that they were thin, a little too smooth, and “pushed the water around more” (which makes sense considering they were the least absorbent in our lab tests). Jodhaira and I agreed. “I had to spend more time patting my face dry,” Jodhaira says.
Packaging: Its packaging was the smallest and easiest to store. Its lid folded back into the box, making it simple to open and close. I was mostly able to dispense the towels one at a time, though sometimes the top towel folded up in the box. A little annoying, but not a deal breaker.
SkinSafe: SkinSafe gives Clean Skin Club Clean Towels a score of 100. They are free of the top 11 most common allergens.
Ourmed Life Disposable Face Towels Skin Wipes
Ourmed Life face towels consistently performed the worst in all lab tests; they were also the smallest towels we tested, and we were not impressed with their performance at home. At 9 cents per towel, they were the most affordable, but the Costco-brand towels were much larger, stronger, and absorbent.
Lab test findings: These towels had the lowest water absorption and puncture resistance, and were the weakest when tested for strength while wet. They were the thinnest towels we tested and the least resistant to abrasion.
How we liked them: These were our least favorite dry facial towels for a few reasons. To start, they left lint behind on Jodhaira’s wet skin, as well as on mine—an immediate deal breaker for me. They felt flimsy and thin, and though they didn’t tear, it took much longer for our skin to dry using them than it did with the other towels. These were a “no” for all of us.
Packaging: These towels were the only ones we tested that came in packaging similar to baby wipes, with a soft plastic exterior and a resealable pull tab on top for easy dispensing. The towels pulled out one at a time, tissue-style, and never bunched up or became tangled during use.
SkinSafe: This product is not in SkinSafe’s database.
How We Tested Dry Facial Towels
We evaluated six dry facial towels in our lab for absorbency, durability, and strength. Lab tester Amézquita measured each towel’s size and packaging, tested how much water it absorbed, measured how well it resisted tearing from rubbing, and determined how much force it could withstand when wet and when punctured dry. These tests helped us compare the durability and absorbency of each towel under consistent conditions.
To see how the towels performed in everyday use, three CR testers incorporated each product into their regular skincare routines. They evaluated absorbency, softness, durability, comfort, linting, and performance during face drying and micellar water application. Where possible, we incorporated SkinSafe data on each towel’s ingredients.
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