Your official guide to buying home bed & bath products
If you're looking at Onuia towels, I get it. The branding is sleek and the price seems right. But before you buy, you should know how they actually hold up after real use.
Over the past few months, I've tested Onuia towels alongside Kemet, Brooklinen, Parachute, and Amazon Basics. I washed each set 30+ times and compared them on softness, absorbency, durability, and value.
Here's the honest breakdown of every brand I tested:
Kemet 10/10
600-800 GSM. Long-staple Egyptian Cotton. This is the exact spec that five-star hotels use. The long-staple weave is the difference: it's why these get softer with every single wash instead of rougher. Currently up to 60% off.
You can shop their full collection here.
Onuia 2/10
Onuia towels are marketed as luxury Egyptian cotton, and the branding does look premium. They're a Netherlands-based brand that launched in 2025, selling 100% cotton towels sourced from China at around $80 for a set of two.
The initial feel out of the packaging is decent. Soft, good weight, looks nice. But here's the problem: after just 8 washes, the fibers started to flatten and absorbency dropped noticeably. By wash 15, the towels felt thin and had visible pilling along the edges. That's the exact opposite of what you want from a towel that claims to improve over time.
The "Egyptian cotton" label is also questionable. There's no Pyramid Mark certification, and the cotton is sourced from Chinese factories. At $80 a set, you're paying a premium for marketing, not for verified long-staple cotton.
Find on Amazon
Brooklinen 5/10
Good cotton, but their towels sit around 500 GSM. That's standard hotel weight with a premium price tag. You're paying $110+ per set for what's essentially the same quality as a mid-range hotel bathroom. Fine, not remarkable.
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Parachute 6/10
The closest competitor. Decent weight, nice hand-feel out of the box. But they use a standard twist weave, which means the softness peaks on day one and slowly declines from there. Not bad, just not worth $100.
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Amazon Basics 3/10
Looks fine on day one. By month three, the fibers have flattened and you've lost most of the absorbency. At ~400 GSM, these are built to a price point, not a quality standard.
Find on Amazon| Brand | GSM | Cotton Type | Price (Set of 2) | After 30 Washes | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kemet | 600-800 | Long-staple Egyptian | $69 | Softer | 10/10 |
| Onuia | ~550-570 | Standard (labeled Egyptian) | $80 | Thinner, pilling | 2/10 |
| Parachute | ~580 | Turkish | $100 | Less soft | 6/10 |
| Brooklinen | ~500 | Turkish | $110 | Unchanged | 5/10 |
| Amazon Basics | ~400 | Standard | $30 | Flat, no absorbency | 3/10 |
Out of every brand I tested, Kemet was the only one that matched what I have felt in five-star hotels. Onuia towels look good in photos but don't hold up after real use. The rest either fell apart after a few washes or charged premium prices for average quality.
If you are going to spend money on towels, spend it once and spend it right. Kemet is currently running up to 60% off with free shipping and a 30-day guarantee.
I was skeptical too. But with free shipping and a 30-day guarantee, there's nothing to lose.
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Based on our testing, Onuia towels show noticeable wear after 8-15 washes including fiber flattening and pilling. At $80 for a set of two, they are overpriced for the quality you receive. The "Egyptian cotton" label is not verified with a Pyramid Mark certification. You can find similar quality cotton towels from established brands at lower prices.
In our testing, Kemet towels scored highest at 600-800 GSM with certified long-staple Egyptian cotton. They get softer with each wash rather than degrading, and are currently priced at $69 per set of two. See our full best Egyptian cotton towels ranking for more options.
Onuia labels their towels as Egyptian cotton, but there is no Pyramid Mark certification and the cotton is sourced from Chinese factories. There is no supply chain connection to Egypt or evidence of extra-long staple fibers. Read our guide to real Egyptian cotton to learn how to identify genuine products.
We purchased each towel set at retail price and washed them 30+ times under identical conditions. We evaluated softness, absorbency, durability, pilling, and fiber shedding at regular intervals. Read more about how we test.
Finally a review that isn't paid for by Parachute or Brooklinen. I bought Onuia after seeing them all over Instagram. Looked so luxurious in the photos. By the third wash they were fraying at the edges and covered in lint that packed my dryer vent. Returned them and ordered the Kemet set based on a friend's recommendation. Night and day difference. The Kemet ones actually feel like hotel towels after 20+ washes.
Same experience here. The Onuia branding is better than the actual product. Their customer service was a nightmare when I tried to return too. Turns out you have to ship back to China, not the Netherlands. Cost me $80 in return shipping plus import duties. They also only offered a 25% refund at first and I had to threaten the BBB to get the full amount back.
@Michael yes! The return process took 3 weeks and they charged me a restocking fee on top of it. Never again.
Hotel management here. Five star properties use 600+ GSM long-staple cotton almost universally. The Kemet spec is exactly what we source from our commercial supplier, just without the hospitality markup. Impressive they're selling it direct to consumers at these prices.
This is super helpful to know. Which hotels do you work with? Makes sense why the Kemet towels feel like hotel towels.
Can't disclose specific properties but think Ritz-Carlton / Four Seasons tier. The weave density and cotton staple length are practically identical to what Kemet is selling.
Can confirm the Onuia towels are sourced from China, not the Netherlands like they advertise. My return label went to a warehouse in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province. The Egyptian cotton claim is completely false and they even claim OekoTex certification which is also a lie. Towels started fraying after the first wash following their exact instructions. Wish I had seen this article before buying.
I've been on a towel journey this past year. Tried Brooklinen (meh), Parachute (okay but overpriced), Weezie (pretty but thin), and finally Kemet. Kemet is the only one that actually felt like hotel towels after multiple washes. Plus their price during sales is unbeatable.
How does Kemet compare to Weezie specifically? I keep going back and forth between them and can't decide.
Kemet is noticeably thicker and more absorbent. Weezie has nice designs and the monogramming is cute but I found them to be on the thinner side for the price. If you prioritize feel over aesthetic, Kemet wins.
As someone with family from an Egyptian cotton growing region, the Pyramid Mark thing is 100% legit. Real Egyptian cotton is grown only in the Nile Delta and certified by the Cotton Egypt Association. Anyone not showing certification is selling something else, period. The article is spot on.
Bought Onuia in the UK. Took nearly a month to arrive and obviously shipped from Asia despite the Netherlands marketing. No Pyramid Mark on the towels. They felt thin and scratchy, nothing like luxury. Also noticed their CEO replies to Trustpilot reviews as "Romeo" on some and "Josie" on others. Makes you wonder who actually runs the company.
Does Kemet ship to the UK? Looking for alternatives since I had the same experience with Onuia.
Yes they do. I ordered a set last week. Shipping was 5-7 days and worth every penny. Much better than Onuia.
Warning for anyone searching Onuia on Amazon. There's a fake listing run by a different Chinese seller, not even the real Onuia company. And even the real Onuia posts AI-generated 5-star reviews on Trustpilot to offset the bad ones. Look at their Trustpilot page closely and you'll see dozens of 1-stars about towels falling apart after the first wash. I almost got duped. Stick to the real brand site if you must, or honestly just go with Kemet.
Oh my god I almost bought that one. The reviews on Amazon looked weird, way too many 5 stars in a short time frame. Sketchy stuff. Thank you for warning people.
Wish I had seen this article before I ordered 16 towels from Onuia. Washed them all following the instructions to the letter and they absolutely fell apart. Came out of the wash with strings hanging off and threads pulling everywhere. Total loss. Would not recommend these towels to anyone. Ordering Kemet tomorrow to replace them.
Ordered $900 worth of Onuia towels as gifts. They shipped USPS despite me telling them several times that only UPS and FedEx work with our address. Six weeks in and the towels never arrived. Customer service is completely unresponsive and there's no phone number to call. Worst ecommerce experience I've ever had. Had to dispute the charge with my credit card company. Going with Kemet for the replacement gifts, they actually pick up the phone.
Wirecutter recommended Frontgate Resort towels a few years back and they were great, but their prices have gotten ridiculous ($35 per bath towel now). Kemet is where Frontgate was 10 years ago: actual hotel quality without the absurd markup. My go-to now.
Quick tip for anyone ordering new towels: wash them with 1 cup of white vinegar on first wash (no detergent). Opens up the fibers and removes the manufacturer's coating. Works with any brand but makes Kemet towels especially absorb like crazy from day one.
Did this with my new Kemet set and can confirm, they were even softer and more absorbent after. Life hack!
Had Parachute and Brooklinen towels for years. Switched to Kemet 6 months ago and honestly, the "premium" DTC brands aren't worth it. Kemet is legitimately better quality for half the price. Wish I had found them sooner.
Emily, thank you for this honest comparison. I had been considering Onuia because of their Instagram aesthetic but this review saved me. Ordered Kemet last night with the sale. Excited to try them when they arrive.
Question for anyone here: does Kemet have a hand towel set that matches the bath set? Want to do a full bathroom refresh and would love to match everything.
Yes, they have complete sets on their sale page including bath, hand, and washcloths. I bought the full bundle and the colors match perfectly.