How to choose a towel holder or towel rack?

Currently, the towel holder completely replaced the rope for drying towels from everyday life. This was due to the fact that modern hangers are distinguished by a variety of designs that allow you to harmoniously fit this accessory into any interior. Before choosing a towel holder, be sure to familiarize yourself with its varieties. It is very important that the towel holder satisfies exactly your needs and requirements: it is convenient, reliable, harmoniously fits into the interior of the room and, of course, matches the budget.

So, where to start this difficult choice?

Towel rack classification

We were unable to find any generally accepted classification of towel racks, for this reason we will try to structure the information ourselves, using several criteria for classification.

According to the material of manufacture, towel racks are:

• plastic;
• metal;
• wooden.

By functional purpose:

• simple holders or hangers;
• heated towel rails: water and electric.

Depending on the mount:

• with open mount;
• with closed mount;
• with suction cup mount.

By installation method:

• wall mounted;
• floor;
• to the sink.

By type of towel fixation:

• holders in the form of hooks or hangers with hooks;
• tubular;
• with swivel mechanism;
• in the form of rings, half rings or rectangular frames;
• holder with a shelf.

Towel rack materials

When choosing a towel holder, be sure to pay attention to the material from which it is made. This directly affects its service life. Most often, towel holders are made of plastic, iron or a combination thereof, but wooden ones are also found. What to choose?

• For wet rooms (bathroom, pool or sauna) It is important that the towel holder be made made of stainless materials. In the case of wooden models, it is necessary to take into account the type of wood. Moisture-resistant wood can include: conifers (pine, spruce), mahogany and iron, larch, cedar.
• Plastic.When buying plastic products, you must remember that they are cheaper, but short-lived and less aesthetic.
• Metal. If you choose durable metal products, you need to pay attention to products stainless steel or non-ferrous metals (copper, brass, aluminum). Painted or laminated ferrous metal products susceptible to corrosion in case of damage to the protective coating. Often coatings for metal products leave much to be desired. In this case, we can only rely on the reputation of the manufacturer.

Functionality

You also need to consider what function will the towel holder perform: only holding towels, or quality towel drying is also important to you. On hooks, for example, towels cannot dry completely, so you have to use towel dryers in addition, or batteries. If you want to combine these two functions, either a shelf for towels or a heated towel rail is perfect.

Heated towel rail

We will not dwell on this type of towel racks-dryers, you can familiarize yourself with the features of their choice in our article.

Methods for attaching towel holders

In total, there are three ways to attach towel racks: open, hidden and Velcro or suction cup.

• Velcro and suction cup are not a good type of attachment hangers. This type of fastening is able to withstand only a light construction. Basically, these are plastic hooks for one towel. In addition, Velcro has the ability to leave unsightly marks on the surface, which are quite difficult to remove.
• open mounting method is a hole in the hanger through which it is installed self-tapping screw for its fastening, the method is the most simple and reliable. To do this, attach the hanger to the wall, put marks for the holes, drill them and insert plastic plugs. After that, attach a hanger and screw the screw. This method of fastening is used for ordinary hooks and hangers.
• hidden fasteners - this is the most advanced and accurate type of fastening for towel racks. It is characterized by the fact that a so-called embedded part is used, which is attached to the surface in a standard open way, then the hanger itself is put on it and covered with a small beautiful decorative element.

Installation method and room features

First you need to decide which room you need a towel holder. These are rooms where towels should be at hand: bathroom, kitchen, sauna, pool, or well balconymaybe even a porch. Depending on the size of the room, we can determine the size, type of location of the towel holder, design, material and method of attachment.

Floor models

In big spacious roomyou can afford floor towel holder. It is very convenient to operate. Most often they have additional shelves for clean towels, or various accessories for the bathroom. But the placement of such hangers will be inappropriate in small rooms, since they occupy a very large space.

Floor hangers have their advantages:

• it is a mobile home decoration. It can be moved from place to place an unlimited number of times;
• during installation, you will not have to drill walls and spoil their coating, and its assembly takes several minutes.

Wall models

Such holders are attached to a flat surface of a wall or door at any level by horizontal mounting. Wall models take up little space, therefore they allow rational use of space small rooms.

Wall holders have various designs: hooks, rings, half rings, tubular slats, turntables, etc. We will consider in more detail below.

To the sink

A very convenient solution for the kitchen and bathroom - towel holder on the sink, since most often the need for a towel arises near a water tap. Such towel hangers are often attached either to the sink itself or to a cabinet under the sink, so towels will always be at hand if necessary. In addition, on such a holder you can fix a roll with cling film, foil or parchment paper, which will save space and ensure order in the kitchen.

Be sure to decidehow many and what size towels do we need to place. If you need to place several towels, single towel holder will not do. In this case, you must use either a group of single hangers made in the same style, or use a model for several towels. If the space of the room allows, you can take the floor version with two or more holders.

Placement

Of great importance when choosing a towel holder is its location in the room. Its dimensions and fastening also depend on this. To ensure that towels are always at your fingertips, the towel rack should always be located close to the sink, bath or shower stall. Having entered the room, think about where you most often use towels and at what level it will be more convenient for you to take it. Note for yourself what size and style it should be, and you can begin to choose the look of this interesting accessory.

Towel Hold Type

All towel racks are divided into two types, depending on the installation method. It is floor and wall.

The most popular models are considered wall mounted. They are universal, compact enough in size, therefore suitable for a room of any size, and such products can be of different designs and made of a wide variety of materials, which allows you to fit this accessory into any interior. It’s very convenient that usually wall surface free, so the towel holder can be installed exactly where it will be necessary and convenient. Wall hangers are divided into hooks, rings and half rings, tubular crossbars and turntables, electric dryers. In order to determine the type of wall towel holder, we will consider each of them individually.

Hook

A hook is the easiest and most common type of towel holder. They are very convenient to use, lightweight and versatile in mounting. Hooks are easily attached using self-tapping screws, as well as Velcro and suction cups, if the surface of the wall allows it. True, this mounting option can withstand the smallest and lightest towel. Hooks are made in a variety of shapes and from a wide variety of materials, which makes it easy to pick up a hook for the most diverse interior. Another significant advantage in the hooks is the favorable price.

With all this, there is one significant flaw: insufficient towel drying. This must be taken into account when choosing a towel holder.

Rings and half rings

This type of holder is compact. They can be of any shape (oval, triangular, round, semicircles, beveled semicircle), of various materials and with various decorations. They are also referred to as decorative elements. Such a towel holder is easy to choose for the interior of the room.

In addition, they are more are safesince they do not have sharp corners or protrusions. This should be noted if in the family have kids.

Due to the variety of their configurations, you can choose rings for different types of towels. You can find a ring of such a size that will provide quick drying of the towel.

On such holders it is advisable to hang no more than two small towels, and if it is a bath towel, then certainly one. Otherwise, the towels will be crumpled and will not dry until next use. The cost of such pendants varies depending on their size and materials.

Tubular crossbars

Tubular crossbars - more efficient towel racks for drying. They are single-row and multi-row. This type of towel holder takes up a little more space, but they allow you to dry the towels much faster and more thoroughly. This is ensured by their design. The crossbars are arranged according to the principle stairs, but each next one is at a different distance from the wall, which allows the towels not to touch and to be properly ventilated. When buying such a hanger, you must consider the number of towels used.

Towel rack turntable

Turntables in their design are very similar to tubular crossbars. Several beams are attached to one base, but unlike stationary, the beams can be moved apart in the turntable and this ensures thorough ventilation of the towels and, accordingly, their quick drying.

Another advantage over the tubular crossbeams is that when the dryer is free, you can push all the holders against the wall and make room.

Towel racks with shelf

Such an interior item is either tubular with a shelf, or in the form of hooks with a shelf.Its advantage is that additional clean towels or shower accessories can be placed on the shelf.

Towel racks in the interior

How to choose this accessory for the style of the interior of your room? There are several recommendations:

• if the room is made in classic style, metal towel racks made of brass or bronze will look great;
• for country style wooden hangers will do. In this case, be sure to pay attention to their processing;
• modern styles, such as the high tech, accept the simplicity of lines and materials. A simple choice would be chrome-plated accessories.
• bright and non-standard products will be very handy for various creative styles.

In conclusion, I would like to add that the high competition of manufacturers makes them constantly improve the design of towel racks, change products and come up with various modifications. Sometimes abandoning their acquisition is almost impossible. But you need to remember well why you are buying this product and then you will get a really useful and suitable quality item for you that will serve you for many years and delight you and your loved ones with its beauty.