Dish towels can an overlooked part of the kitchen (they’re just for drying and cleaning up messes after all), but they are a tool that is so present that it's easy to forget how hard they work. From drying dishes and polishing glassware to wiping up melted chocolate and covering a saucepan's hot handle, the right towel for the job can make the practice of cooking easier.

Yet too many dish towels can’t handle even the smallest kitchen mishap. Some have zero absorbency, while others wipe up spills easily but stain just as readily. Then there are towels that shrink to the size of a tissue in the dryer or break delicate stemware with their bulk.

So as I was sleuthing through the Internet looking for the BEST dish towels, I realized I was at the mercy of marketers. After all, every ad for every dishtowel is going to tell you how wonderful they are. So how do you know what’s true and who to trust, anyway?

The answer: you turn to a product review company. But here, too, you have to be sure they take no incentives so that they’re truly unbiased. I found one—maybe you already know about these folks—Best Reviews Guide (www.bestreviews.guide.com). On their ABOUT US page, they explain who they are and what they do:

“BestReviews.guide (BRG) is a data­driven assistance tool for your online shopping research. There's so much information available out there: social platforms, blogs, forums, comments, articles, and many more. At any given moment, there are thousands of new reviews published. It's impossible to keep track on all of them on your own, and it can be frustrating even just to try. It's time consuming, exhausting, and confusing.

“The idea behind BRG was to develop a technology that can collect all this data and analyze it ­doing all the hard work for you, so you could keep track easily over the crowd sentiment. We crawl through major online marketplaces and retailers in real­time, staying always up-to-date on all the recent products and prices. Our mission is to make your shopping experience simple and enjoyable, and allow you to save time and money.”

And on the FAQ page, under the WHO WE ARE and WHY TRUST US heading, they say “We employ a team of data scientists and editors who constantly improve our product selection using qualitative and quantitative data and DO NOT RECEIVE ANY INCENTIVES from retailers or brands that could skew our product recommendations.”

Good enough for me. So I stayed with ‘em to see what they had to say about the BEST dishtowels of 2022. Here’s what they’ve concluded (as of April) are the 5 best towels on the market. Ratings, on a 10-point scale (10 being the best), and all are available on amazon.

9.7 rating: Zeppoli Kitchen Towels 12 Pack - 100% Soft Cotton - 15" x 25" - Dobby Weave - Super Absorbent Cleaning Cloths. (16% off).

9.6 rating: KAF HOME Mixed Flat & Terry Kitchen Towels | Set of 6 18 x 28 Inches | 4 Flat Weave Towels for Cooking and Drying Dishes and 2 Terry Towels, for House Cleaning and Tackling Messes and Spills (Teal) (16% off).

9.1 rating: Sunny ZzzZZ 24 Pack Kitchen Dishcloths - Does Not Shed Fluff - No Odor, Premium Dish Cloths, Super Absorbent Coral Fleece Cleaning Cloths, Nonstick Oil Washable Fast Drying (Multicolor) (58% off).

9.0 rating: DecorRack 4 Pack Large Kitchen Towels, 100% Cotton, 15 x 25 Inch Absorbent Dish Drying Cloth, Assorted Colors (Set of 4).

8.7 rating: Infinitee Xclusives Premium Kitchen Terry Towels – Pack of 6, 100% Cotton 15 x 25 Inches Absorbent Dish Towels - Grey (21% off).