Huck towels are typically made of cotton and are designed to be both absorbent and lint-free. They are often sold sterile and are designed for medical use. As with anything purchased for a medical purpose, it’s always important to check the specifics of the product and research the seller.
Some huck towels are reusable, but many are sold in bulk and intended to be disposable. Recycled huck towels are fairly common. These are made of recycled cloth, which helps reduce their environmental impact.
Commercial Uses
Medical Use
While not all huck towels are appropriate for medical use, many are. The surgical towel moniker is well earned. Huck towels can be useful in surgical settings because they are disposable. This is often desirable because it reduces the risk of accidentally spreading contaminants.
Glass Cleaning
Because huck towels are highly absorbent and don’t leave behind lint, they are often used to clean glass. The soft cotton can wipe down glass without any serious risk of damage and clean the glass with fewer passes than a traditional towel.
Car Detailing
Huck towels are popular with car professionals because they can handle grease, oil and other staining liquids without issue (especially if disposable towels are used). They’re useful in car detailing, where even small traces of material a towel leaves can impact the final quality of the work.
Dusting
Many people use huck towels to dust, especially in high-dust environments. Huck towels don’t leave behind excess material. They are also disposable and pick up large amounts of dust. Furthermore, huck towels can absorb any liquid mess they pass through during the dusting process because of their absorbency. There are other, more specialized dusting methods, but huck towels can be a useful tool to include in a dusting arsenal.
General Use
Huck towels may not be as cheap as paper towels, but they can still serve as a general-purpose cleaning tool in most commercial settings. Huck towels are soft and absorbent. In addition, they usually don’t leave behind materials during cleaning and can handle most messes and spills.
Benefits of Huck Towels
The primary benefits of huck towels include the following:
Absorbent
Cotton is highly absorbent, capable of taking up to 24 to 27 times its weight in water. While the properties of different liquids mean a huck towel won’t necessarily be able to absorb this much weight for other liquids, cotton remains extremely absorbent. Few options can outperform it in terms of absorbency, especially if one also wants to benefit from cotton’s other properties.
Durable
Huck towels are durable. Reusable towels are often capable of undergoing many washes without any significant change to their quality. This is, in large part, due to the fact that many are made of 100% cotton, which is a fairly durable material.
Lint Free
High-quality huck towels are lint free. This is an essential feature in medical settings, where even small bits of introduced material can be dangerous. It’s also a useful feature to help reduce the need for additional cleanup after use.
Biodegradable
Cotton is a natural fiber, meaning huck towels deteriorate once they finally enter a landfill. This isn’t to say all cotton is equally “green.” There are some criticisms of the standard cotton growing process. However, huck towels made of cotton aren’t going to sit in landfills for decades to centuries like some other materials.
Are Huck Towels Worth It?
As long as you source your huck towels correctly and avoid low-quality sources, you will get a useful, durable and absorbent tool that can help with various spills and messes. If this is a topic you’re still interested in, we also have this article about how cotton huck towels compare with microfiber towels, another material often used in cleaning.
At Alsco, we can equip your company with a variety of linens and cleaning supplies, including utility towels, like huck towels, designed for healthcare and other sensitive purposes. Click here to read about all the ways our company can serve you. You can also contact us today to learn more about whether our services are a good fit for your commercial setting.
References
Analysis of Water Absorption of Different Natural Fibers. (November 2021). Journal of Textile Science and Technology.
Materials That Linger: An Embodied Geography of Polyester Clothes. (2017). University of Wollongong.