Cariloha Review

About Cariloha

I first came across Cariloha in a beach shop in Hawaii a few years back, which is apparently the whole idea. The brand started in 2007, born out of island retail culture, and they’ve built their entire identity around that vacation-soft, breezy-living feeling. Their tagline is literally “Sleep, Live, and Feel Every Day Like You Do on Vacation.”

What makes Cariloha unusual in the towel space is the material. They don’t use pure cotton. Their bath towels are a blend of 42% viscose from bamboo and 58% Turkish-combed cotton. It feels different from a standard cotton towel the moment you pick it up (smoother, almost silky, with less of that classic terry loop texture).

The company is headquartered in Sandy, Utah, and they have physical retail stores scattered across resort towns, shopping villages, and a few major cities. They’re B Corp certified, which is not easy to get, and they partner with One Tree Planted for reforestation.

How the Bamboo Blend Actually Feels

Let me just say it: the first time you use a Cariloha towel, you’ll notice. The bamboo viscose gives it a smoothness that pure cotton doesn’t have. It’s lighter in hand than a 600 GSM towel usually feels, and there’s an almost cool-to-the-touch quality that’s genuinely pleasant.

For someone in a warm climate (or anyone who hates that heavy, damp-towel feeling after a shower), this blend has a real advantage. The towels dry faster than pure cotton, and the odour resistance is not just marketing. I’ve left one hanging for three days in a humid bathroom and it didn’t develop that musty funk that cotton towels inevitably do.

The flip side is that if you love a thick, plush, hotel-style towel that wraps around you like a blanket, this isn’t that. Cariloha towels are more “spa in Bali” than “suite at the Ritz.” That’s a preference thing, not a quality thing, but it’s worth knowing before you spend $39 on a single bath towel.

The Durability Question

This is where my enthusiasm gets a reality check. Cariloha’s Trustpilot rating sits at 2.1 out of 5 across 50 reviews, and while most of those reviews focus on sheets and mattresses rather than towels specifically, the pattern is concerning.

The recurring complaints are about pilling after minimal use, fabric that doesn’t hold up after repeated washing, and customer service that can be slow when things go wrong. Several reviewers mention that products bought years ago were great, but recent purchases feel like the quality has declined.

For the towels specifically, I’ve seen reports of colours fading faster than expected and the bamboo fibres starting to feel less smooth after about six months of regular use. That’s not terrible, but for $39 per towel, I’d expect longer than that.

The brand does offer a 30-day satisfaction guarantee and a one-year quality guarantee against manufacturer defects. That’s reasonable but not exceptional.

The “Bamboo” Branding (and What It Actually Means)

Cariloha leans hard into the bamboo angle. The stores are decorated with bamboo, the brand name evokes tropical islands, and every product is “Bamboo This” and “Bamboo That.”

Here’s what they’re less upfront about: turning bamboo into wearable (or usable) fabric requires serious chemical processing. The bamboo stalks get dissolved using sodium hydroxide and carbon disulphide to create viscose, which is then spun into fibre. The end product is technically “viscose from bamboo,” not bamboo fibre in any traditional sense.

The FTC has actually fined companies over $3.1 million since 2021 for mislabelling viscose rayon as “bamboo.” Cariloha does label their composition correctly (they say “viscose from bamboo”), so they’re legally compliant. But the branding definitely gives the impression of something more natural than the production process actually is.

To their credit, the B Corp certification does show they’re making genuine efforts on sustainability across their operations. It’s just that “bamboo towel” sounds a lot greener than “chemically processed viscose fibre derived from bamboo pulp blended with Turkish cotton,” which is what you’re actually buying.

How Cariloha Compares

Feature	Cariloha	Pure Cotton Turkish	Certified Egyptian Cotton
Material	42% bamboo viscose, 58% cotton	100% Turkish cotton	100% Egyptian cotton (ELS)
GSM	600	550 to 700	600 to 900
Odour resistance	Excellent	Average	Average
Drying speed	Fast	Fast	Moderate
Softness over time	Decreases	Stable to improving	Improves significantly
Price per bath towel	~$39	~$20 to $40	~$40 to $60
Certifications	B Corp, OEKO-TEX	Varies	Pyramid Mark

Who Should Buy Cariloha Towels?

You’ll probably love these if:

• You live somewhere warm and humid (the odour resistance and quick drying are genuine perks)
• You prefer a lighter, smoother towel over thick terry cloth
• Sustainability matters to you (not perfect, but the B Corp effort is real)
• You can visit a store first to see if the feel is right for you

Maybe skip these if:

• You want a thick, plush towel that gets better with age (go Egyptian cotton)
• Budget is a priority, $39 per towel adds up fast for a full bathroom set
• Long-term durability is more important than first-touch softness
• You’re specifically looking for Egyptian cotton (this is a completely different product)