Towel Rails

Towel rails

Towels can quickly become musty and even mouldy if they are stacked or left hanging scrunched up after use. The atmosphere in a bathroom is often damp and water droplets can easily form on most surfaces after a steamy hot bath or shower. 

This is when one really appreciates the value of a towel rail to ventilate and dry your towels. You’ll also find there’s nothing better than stepping out of a shower into the comfort of a fresh, warm towel from a heated towel rail.   

Types of towel rails

This important bathroom accessory brings a perfect blend of hygiene, freshness and style to any bathroom. There’s a wider range of colours and designs to choose from in New Zealand than you might think as well. For instance, crisp white towel rails can give a bathroom a spa-like appearance. Matte black towel rails on the other hand greatly enhance a monochrome decor style.

You can also think about them with respect to your other bathroom fittings such as toilet roll holders, basin taps, mixers and more, toilet brush holder through either an exact match or contrasting styles and colours. 

The greatest benefit of towel rails, however, is their functionality in allowing towels to dry more easily. The different types you can choose are:

• Towel bars: Flat, cube-shaped, or round, they are the most frequently used style to hang towels. These can be wall-mounted or free-standing on their own pedestal.

• Towel rail or double rail: Another popular option, especially for smaller bathrooms, is a bathroom rail or double towel rail with several bars swivelling out from a single wall mount. These arms can easily be moved together and against the wall for greater space. When flipped open the towels can air and dry.

• Eco-friendly towel rails: Choices include reclaimed wooden towel racks, industrial piping, bamboo, and more. They can also be made from various metal alloys and brushed metals. Brushed bars are very trendy in New Zealand right now.

• Heated towel rails: Connected to an electrical source that heats an electric element inside the bar, through a process of convection. Another type of heated towel rail is connected to the plumbing and runs through a home’s central heating system similar to a radiator.

Towel racks

Elegant and stylish, this is one of the most attractive ways to display clean, dry towels in an eye-catching way. Storing neatly folded towels on a sophisticated free-standing towel rack, easily enhances the ambience in a bathroom. 

Towel rack stands are another graceful way to neatly display fresh, dry towels, especially in a guest bathroom. As with the other products mentioned, they come in various shapes, sizes, materials, and colours. Other options for storing multiple towels in New Zealand include wall-mounted towel racks or free-standing towel stands.

You can also find combinations like a towel rack at the top with rails attached to the bottom. Similar to other in-vogue bathroom accessories, racks are made from all kinds of materials.

Towel ladders

Towel ladders are a different form of bar-type rail. They can be wall-mounted or free-standing. There are towel ladder options for any size bathroom. 

Freestanding towel rails are practical since they can be positioned anywhere in a bathroom and moved at anytime.

Wall  mounted towel racks can hold several towels and give a lot of space.

Ladder towel rails are made from various types of materials. These include a wide selection of wood, plastic, chrome, brushed brass and stainless steel.  

The style of the ladder steps may be tubular, square, triangular or rectangular. They can be staggered to allow the towels to have more space to breathe or be in a straight line from top to bottom.

Towel holders for small towels

There are a few other types of towel holders that you can consider for your bathroom in New Zealand. Hand towel holders or towel rings have been a regular fixture in many bathrooms as practical hand towel holders. Towel stirrups are also great solutions for doing the same. You can also get small, single vanity towel rails that are fixed to the side of a vanity making great use of unused space. 

You’ll also find vertical towel bars for small single towels and towel hooks as well which again take advantage of unused space.

Cleaning and maintenance

A soft cloth can be used for normal dusting, wiping or drying off water droplets. It is a good idea to wipe all surfaces with a damp cloth at intervals, followed by wiping or buffing dry with a similar soft cloth made from microfibre or soft towelling. 

Smooth chrome and stainless steel will retain a pristine shiny finish when buffed regularly. It is, however, extremely important to ensure that any material used to wipe or buff metal surfaces is totally non-abrasive. 

Most surfaces, including wood towel racks, may on occasion be cleaned with a soft cloth dipped in soapy water, followed by rinsing off the soap with a cloth dampened in clean water. Rub or buff dry with a soft absorbent non-abrasive cloth.