You’ve tried Brooklinen Waffle Towels and you’re ready to try something new. You know all about the Dreamweave: soft out of the box, pre-washed, reliably well-reviewed, sitting near the top of most roundups. And you’re still moving on. So let’s jump into the alternatives.
Where you go next depends almost entirely on why you’re switching.
People leaving Brooklinen tend to fall into a few groups: those who want to spend less, those who have snag or durability issues, those who want more absorbency, and those who want the core waffle promise of fast drying and no-mildew freshness taken further.
Each of those priorities points somewhere different.
Why Buy Waffle Towels at All?
Waffle towels get their name from the raised honeycomb or grid pattern created by a specialized weaving technique.
The pockets increase surface area, which makes the towel more absorbent and faster to dry than its lightweight feel suggests.
Because they dry quickly between uses they’re less likely to develop the musty smell that builds up in dense terry towels left damp in a bathroom for hours.
They also fold flat, take up less linen closet space, and have a cleaner look than thick terry.
The tradeoff is that they’re not plush wraps. If being enveloped is the priority, waffle towels won’t give you that.
What the Brooklinen Dreamweave Does Well (and Where It Falls Short)
The Brooklinen Dreamweave is a genuinely good towel, it’s prewashed for immediate softness, dries in roughly 10 minutes on low, and holds its color after repeated washing. It’s consistently highly rated, and most people who try it like it.
A few things tend to create friction over time. The gauzy, borderless design that makes the towel look so clean and cohesive on a rod also means the edges have no reinforcement buffer. People have flagged fabric snagging as a recurring issue.
There’s no hanging loop, which matters more than it sounds: waffle weaves are more prone to stress tears when hung by the fabric itself rather than a dedicated loop.
The color range is limited to three core options plus seasonal shades that sell out and don’t return, and you can’t buy a single towel to test before committing to a set.
Now, if you want some other options that fill these gaps, we’ve got you covered:
Brooklinen Waffle Towel Alternatives At a Glance
| If You Want… | Best Alternative | What It Does Better Than Brooklinen | Tradeoffs | Best For |
| Maximum quick-dry and anti-mildew performance | Onsen Supima | Exceptional airflow, faster drying, stronger long-staple Supima cotton, improves with washing | Thinner feel; firmer at first touch | Humid bathrooms, frequent showerers, people sensitive to musty towels |
| A similar experience for less money | Quince Organic Turkish Waffle | Comparable waffle feel and quick-dry performance at a significantly lower price; organic cotton and OEKO-TEX certified | Less plush out of the box, shallower waffle pockets, some early shrinkage | People who liked Brooklinen overall but don’t want to pay premium DTC pricing |
| A waffle towel that holds up better long-term | Casaluna (Target) | More textured, resilient weave that’s less prone to snagging and wear | Rougher hand feel; less soft initially | High-use bathrooms, families, daily heavy rotation |
| More absorbency and a fuller “dry-off” feel | Boll & Branch Hybrid or Cozy Earth Hybrid | Terry backing absorbs more water while keeping waffle texture on the surface | Slower drying; bulkier storage | Anyone who found Brooklinen too thin or not absorbent enough |
| A premium waffle towel with a different texture | Parachute Waffle | Springier, more dimensional weave with a more structured feel than Brooklinen | Limited color range; still premium-priced | People who want a lateral move instead of a downgrade or overhaul |
1. Onsen: Best Overall Performance
100% USA-grown Supima cotton | OEKO-TEX certified | 60-day guarantee
Most waffle towels use long-staple Turkish cotton, the standard premium fiber. Onsen uses Supima cotton, a trademarked certification for American-grown Pima cotton with extra-long staple fibers that are roughly 50% longer than conventional cotton and up to 45% stronger. The result is a towel that gets softer and more absorbent with each wash rather than gradually wearing down. Onsen’s open honeycomb weave maximizes airflow so the towel dries fast enough that bacteria and mildew don’t get a foothold, which is a hygiene benefit as much as a convenience one. Architectural Digest gave Onsen their “Best Hand Feel” designation, and Wirecutter named it their top pick for truly quick-drying towels.
The towel is thinner and more drapey than the Dreamweave, and some people find it slightly firm at first. It softens noticeably after several washes. It runs larger than most at 31″ x 57″ (bath sheet: 38″ x 67″), which gives better coverage than Brooklinen’s standard sizing. The 60-day money-back guarantee means you can test it without fully committing.
2. Casaluna (Target): Best for Durability
Cotton | OEKO-TEX certified
Casaluna is Target’s elevated home brand, and its waffle towel is consistently underrated in the premium DTC conversation. It has the same deep-pocket waffle aesthetic as Brooklinen’s, but the fabric is noticeably more textured, closer to a linen-flax hand feel, which makes it structurally more resilient. Less plush, but less likely to snag on a hook or catch on a ring.
Reviewers who’ve lived with Casaluna for over a year report consistent shape and color retention, with gradual softening over time. They also dry in about 20 minutes. The feel is rougher than Brooklinen’s, so if softness was the part you liked most, this isn’t the move. But for a waffle towel that holds up well to daily use at a fraction of the price, it earns its spot. The low per-towel cost also means testing it is a low-stakes decision.
3. Boll & Branch or Cozy Earth: Best for Absorbency
Organic cotton | Reversible waffle/terry
Both Boll & Branch and Cozy Earth make reversible waffle-and-terry towels, with waffle aesthetics on one side and traditional terry absorbency on the other. They’re the right call for someone who liked the look of waffle weave but consistently felt incompletely dry.
Boll & Branch’s hybrid is made from 100% organic cotton and absorbed meaningfully more than standard waffle-only options in testing. Cozy Earth’s version uses a cotton-bamboo blend with a slightly wider color range. Both held up well through repeated wash-and-dry cycles. The trade-off is dry time: plan on 30-plus minutes. These aren’t the answer if slow drying was your frustration with Brooklinen. But for someone who found the Dreamweave too thin or too light for cold-morning use, they solve the right problem.
4. Quince Organic Turkish Waffle Towel: Best Value
Organic long-staple Turkish cotton | OEKO-TEX certified
Quince is the most direct budget replacement for the Dreamweave. The towels are made from 100% long-staple Turkish cotton (organic, unlike Brooklinen’s) and carry OEKO-TEX certification.
The differences are real but manageable. Quince’s waffle towels aren’t pre-washed, so they’re more prone to early shrinkage. Follow care instructions carefully for the first few cycles. They run two inches shorter (30″ x 56″ vs. 30″ x 58″), the color range is more limited, and the waffle pockets are shallower than the Dreamweave’s signature deep pockets. At roughly 44% less per towel, those are reasonable trade-offs for most people. If your situation with Brooklinen is purely about price and the product otherwise worked for you, Quince is the cleanest lateral move.
5. Parachute: Best for a Different Feel at the Same Price
Long-staple Turkish cotton | OEKO-TEX certified
Parachute’s waffle towel is worth considering for people who want to stay in Brooklinen’s price range but try a meaningfully different texture. The honeycomb weave is springier and more dimensional than most waffle options, and reviewers consistently describe an almost elastic snap to the fabric that other towels in this category don’t replicate. It dried in about 20 minutes in testing, shrank minimally across multiple cycles, and held its color well.
Where Onsen leans into function and Brooklinen leans into softness, Parachute sits somewhere in between: more structural than the Dreamweave, more approachable than Onsen. It comes in a limited color range (four options), which is a drawback if variety matters to you, but the core neutrals are all represented. If you want to stay in the premium DTC waffle space and try a different hand feel without fully committing to a new brand, it’s a solid lateral move.
How to Pick the Right Brooklinen Alternative for You
Waffle towels, as a category, reward patience. Most options, including every one on this list, get noticeably better after several washes as fibers open up and the weave settles. Whichever option you land on, give it a few wash cycles before deciding how you feel about it.
Switching towels sounds like a small thing, but it’s one of those daily-use purchases where getting it right actually matters. You reach for a towel every single day. Pick the wrong one and it ends up at the back of the linen closet, taking up space and never getting used. The right one is the one you reach for every time without thinking twice.
The options above cover a real range of what the waffle category can be. There’s a version here for almost every preference and budget. The only bad outcome is buying on impulse and landing in the same place you started. Give it some thought, pick the one that matches your actual situation, and you’ll be in good shape.