For the price, these towels are great. My one complaint is that they make a lot of fuzzies... no, really, like a LOT. I washed them several times before using them per the reviews I read, but they still left an almost comical amount of little fuzzies all over my skin. I washed them several more times (with vinegar, not fabric softener) and the fuzzies have diminished, but not quite normal yet. I'd say I've run them through the machine 15 times now - I think by 20 or 25 they'll be fine. If that sounds like too much work for you, then I'd suggest more expensive towels. For the price though, I'm happy. I'm not a towel connoisseur, but I think they're very soft and plenty absorbant. (BTW, If you ARE a towel connoisseur, I would ask why you're shopping for these in the first place...?). For the average household, they're the perfect balance of price and looks/quality.

I ordered 4 sets of towels in 2 different colors. All good towels are going to shed lint in the beginning so I put them through a couple washes before using. There was no residual lint on the towels.
They arrived flattened in the package but fluffed up very nicely after the first wash. They are thick with a nice weight.
They are so soft. And, most importantly, since I don't use fabric softener, the towels are super absorbent.

Update #2. Cocoa set 14 months old washed and dried on high heat 2-3 X's a Wk are still in great condition. Colorado is still the same as day one, supersoft, no strings. Navy are 12 months and same great condition as. Cocoa, great color-no fading at all, no thinning, no strings, absorbent and soft, would buy again in a minute! Linen is the same as above but the Colorado has always looked a little dingy and still does but still its ok. The Burgundy towels are a sad sad state if affairs. I bought them with the others but never opened them until the end of november 2012 and they were stringy by end of january. First a few strings here and there but then suddenly the edging came apart on all of the towels-bath, hand, and washcloths. These are a mess and it is ridiculous to use them for so short a time, assuming I would pack them up and use them for years and years at Christmastime. They are the same weight and absorbency, softness, staying Color etc. BUT CLEARLY they are poor quality in comparison. I am not docking stars because the 5 other sets have been treated brutally with great results. One use and towels get washed on heavy and dried on high heat. For the price-i guess I can spend $20 again to have holiday towels. Will I? Hmmm...its really an unnecessary luxury-but then its summer- by fall I might think its worth it again. I have continued to use them rather than pack them up because they were too stringy to save and use as "NICE" TOWELS this Christmas and they will be rags for cleaning in the next few months no doubt.

UPDATED: THESE ARE SO SOFT AND PLUSH WITHOUT BEING HEAVY AND WEAR SO WELL THAT I CAME BACK FOR THE LINEN/TAN COLOR AND MOST RECENTLY FOR THE DARK BLUE AND BURGUNDY (FOR CHRISTMAS TOWELS.) THE DK BLUE IS A BEAUTIFUL JEWEL TONE AND IS THE BEST COLOR OF THEM ALL.THE RED IS A JEWELTONE TOO-ALMOST BURGUNDY. MY CHOCOLATE TOWELS HAVE BEEN WASHED 3 TIMES A WEEK AND ARE STILL CHOCOLATE AND ONLY ONE STRING FOUND SO FAR AND NOW I HAVE ENOUGH WITH THE BLUE AND TAN SO I DON'T HAVE WASH AS OFTEN. THE TAN COLOR IS MY LEAST FAVORITE BECAUSE ITS THAT IN-BETWEEN TAN THAT LOOKS A LITTLE OLD WHEREAS THE OTHERS ARE CRISP AN LUSH AND WONDERFUL. BY FAR MY FAVORITE TOWELS NOW THAT I'VE HAD THEM FOR AWHILE. THANK GOD FOR THE PRICE OR I WOULD STILL BE USING MY SHAGGY FADED STRINGY TOWELS FROM YEARS GONE BY!

I added the 5th star sooner than usual for a towel because of the excessively frequent washing-they have earned it by looking like the day I got them.

ORIGINAL REVIEW: 4STARS
Finally I found a great set of towels and they are cheap enough that I can get more than 1 towel!
Here's what I was looking for:

Really Soft Towels-Not stiff, not rough, very soft on the face and body, soft enough to lay it on the pillow when I have wet hair without feeling like my head is on a towel

Thick and cushy - Thin enough that they aren't massive and heavy without being thin towels-I hate thin towels, husband hates massively thick and heavy towels that don't wrap

Absorbent-thick is not enough, it must absorb water, dry my body easily and NEVER repel water, but not come off me soaking wet and heavy

Stops linting on me after a few washes
No strings after a few washes
No fading after a few washes
No color running

These towels in cocoa brown meet every single qualification above without any problem. I have now washed these towels 11 times. No strings, no fading, lint stopped filling the dryer screen after two washes. At first there was so much lint I had to clean the screen halfway through the dry cycle because they weren't drying as quickly as they should. the second time, it got through the whole cycle but filled the screen again. Third time there was almost none.

Color - the cocoa brown is a nice deep brown but not so dark that it might be black, they are a pure and absolute Cocoa Brown. I washed the towels alone the first and second time. The third time I washed with other similar colors - lighter browns and beige and khaki and some forest green fleece, there was no color running on any of the clothes/towels, everything came out in its original color. I wouldn't stretch the color mix much farther anyway but its nice to know I can wash with lighter shades of brown and greens without any problem. They look the same as the day they arrived, no fading at all. I also noticed that there are no places where my face soap or hand soaps or makeup remover or anything I might have had on my face/hands has caused any lightening - this happens no matter how careful I am somehow and I don't know which soaps cause it or if its face medicine or whatever but so far, I haven't been careful at all since they are cheap, and still there are no spots or fading or lightening.

They are perfectly soft after the first wash and I was thrilled, now they are the second softest towels I have ever had. They are thick enough to soak up water, dry my whole body, soak water from lots of hair, and yet they wrap around your body or waist without a problem - AND they never seemed to be heavy and soaking wet. No stiffness, no roughness, really soft towels. They are the second thickest towels I have ever had without them being the "too thick to use" and "too thick to wash".

Why 4 stars?

No towels gets 5 stars unless I've had them for at least a year and they are still in good condition
I have been looking for towels that are as good as my favorite towels and these are 1 star behind that set of towels. However, I have tried 5 other kinds of towels, one of them being radically too expensive, out of complete desperation - none of the 5 towels came even close to the towels I had before that were discontinued. Truly horrible experience with towels over the last 5 years. Each time I think I have found it, I get one towel, 1 hand, 1 wash and am so thankful I didn't get more because they are so dreadful for all of the reasons above note being true. This time I got what I wanted - not exactly the same quality as the ones I wanted but close enough that I can stop looking.

The only problem and it doesn't effect the rating, is the no bath sheet and the colors. None of these colors are colors I actually wanted. Seriously, I can not understand the "towel industry" or my limited interest in the colors of towels out there right now.

Please make bath sheets available. I would love a color blue other than "wedgewood". It looks like a country blue. A rich jewel tone navy or a medium shade of pastel blue like seashells or even go crazy with a teal, turquoise, or aqua, both are nice...Jewel tone burgundy is a nice color, pale pink is okay for one set on my girly feeling days just for myself, I would even buy black before I would buy what is here. on-screen, the cocoa is the same as in person and I like it, but it doesn't match my bathroom, its just the only decent color. White gets ruined too fast, same as cream, which gets ruined fast and sometimes looks like a white towel that got old, the green looks like puke on screen, the khaki/beige/driftwood is my own problem - I like the color but it seems everytime I get the color, it is a rougher towel than the same towel in another color, and the grey isn't a nice grey, it looks like a faded gray, its just flat! a light steel grey would be nice and a charcoal rich looking grey would be nice but in-between looks like it was charcoal and got old and faded. Obviously I like rich colors and a few pastel colors but this company makes neither (except for the cocoa). Perhaps my screen color is wrong, but since it was perfect for the cocoa, I doubt it.

I'm happy with my purchase. These are a little on the thin side, but they are also inexpensive, so I wasn't expecting anything superb. But they do still have some nice thickness to them. They are better quality than you would expect at this price, let's put it that way. I mostly bought these as bathroom decor, I have my own separate bath/shower towels that I use, So I won't be using these regularly. I unfortunately can't comment on longevity. However I had no problems with snags or imperfections on the towels. I would recommend washing these in cold water before using them. My mother used one of the washcloths to clean something with, and when she ran it under the water, she could see some of the dye come off. Cold water will remove excess dye and seal in the color.

Love this product! In fact I bought more sets for my household and for my grandson. They are so silkey soft, fluffy and thick! Yes, thickI Good value for your money. Washable & dryable on low heat. I would highly recommend them. They should be rated up with the best sellers. I would like to see more color assortments.