A towel warmer is a great addition to any home!
Recently I purchased a towel warmer from Bed, Bath and Beyond manufactured by Brookstone. It is white in color with a stainless steel base and clear, poly carbonate top that you can see through. It has a on/off button on the front side that turns green when it is on and red when it is cooling down. There are a lot of other things besides towels that you can warm as well – sheets, gloves, hats, etc.
It is interesting how these things actually work. They use a safe silicone heating element on the inside wall of the unit to evenly distribute heat to warm a towel. The instructions say to fold the towel before inserting, but I did not have good warming results this way. So I take one end of the towel and drop it in and then push the top part of the towel down to place the lid on top. This process allows all sides to be heated. It is such a luxury to grab a warm towel after a shower in the morning!
So what rating do I give it? Here is my thoughts:
Positives -
- This product warms your towel in ample showering time – 10 minutes. I suggest using the thicker towels because they retain heat better than the thin ones. There is an automatic shutoff after 10 minutes so you don’t get out of the shower and burn yourself on a towel that is too hot.
- The overall looks for product are very nice. Our entire house has oil rubbed bronze fixtures, so of course it would have been nice to have an “oil rubbed bronze” option, but even though it is white, it still looks very nice.
- Very well-made, safe and sturdy product! There is no way it can be knocked over unless you are just careless. It is very simple and so easy to use. The On/Off switch has to be pushed twice for the unit to start warming a towel. I think this is a great safety feature to ensure the button is not accidentally hit.
Negatives -
- It says you can fit two large towels in at once but they don’t BOTH get completely warm if you stuff them both in the unit. When I say large, ours are 5′ x 7′ towels. You can really only do one at a time. This is a negative especially if you and your spouse shower one after the other. It will not allow you to do one and then immediately after do another. It takes it between 15-20 minutes to cool down before you can even turn it on to use again.
- Plastic smell at first. Initially I thought this was a big deal but after you use the product several times the plastic smell that gets into the towel goes away. It is a new smell, so it isn’t an awful smell. The first few times your towel will not have that fresh smell from the dryer, but it goes away eventually. Think about it, this product is enclosed in this warming device, there is no where for the smell to go but on your towel. Again, it was an issue at first but after using it several times it is no longer an issue.
Overall, I have to give this product 4.5 stars out of 5. Overall, it is a nice addition to my morning routine, especially during the crisp winter months. Compared to other units I researched before buying this Brookstone unit, this was the best price point at $90, and it does a phenomenal job of warming a towel completely! If you want to add a little luxury to your day, check them out here.
