Which Shop Towels Brand Wins?
In our test we compared 11 shop towels options head to head. Wypall X80 came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
Wypall X80
Price shown in test: 15 cents per towel or $23.87 for 160 towels
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Sontara
Price shown in test: 27 cents for each towel or $16.79 for 100
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Great Value Ultra Strong
Price shown in test: 3 cents each or $3.67 for 120
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The quick take
The short version of why each pick lands where it does, built straight from the measured results.
“if you need a really strong towel especially one that needs to be reusable the white ball is going to be very hard to beat”
Best in 1 of 3 measurements, including Capillary Power.
The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Products are listed in the order they finished.
Dry Pull Strength
- 1Wypall X80133 lb
- 2Sontara86 lb
- 3Brawny Professional80 lb
- 4Tork Industrial53 lb
- 5Krew 60038 lb
- 6Super Tough29 lb
- 7Great Value Ultra Strong23 lb
- 8Tork Shop Max22 lb
- 9toolbox21 lb
- 10Bounty20 lb
- 11Scott14 lb
Wet Pull Strength
- 1Wypall X80105 lb
after brake parts cleaner saturation
- 2Sontara85 lb
after brake parts cleaner saturation
- 3Brawny Professional69 lb
after brake parts cleaner saturation
- 4Tork Industrial28 lb
after brake parts cleaner saturation
- 5Krew 60034 lb
after brake parts cleaner saturation
- 7Great Value Ultra Strong19 lb
after brake parts cleaner saturation
- 8Tork Shop Max8 lb
after brake parts cleaner saturation
- 9toolbox6 lb
after brake parts cleaner saturation
- 10Bounty13 lb
after brake parts cleaner saturation
- 11Scott6 lb
after brake parts cleaner saturation
- 6Super Toughnot tested
Abrasion Resistance
- 1Wypall X80
made 7 passes across a wet concrete paver before a small wear through formed, did not tear, best result among the shop towels
- 2Sontara
made 8 passes across a wet concrete paver before wearing through, best result of all towels tested
- 3Brawny Professional
made 6 passes across a wet concrete paver before wearing through, tied with Wypall X80 for second
- 5Krew 600
tied with Wypall X80 and Brawny near the top of the abrasion rating
- 6Super Tough
moderate wear after 2 passes across a wet concrete paver, worn through on both sides by the third pass
- 7Great Value Ultra Strong
tore after about 5 in across a wet concrete paver, weakest paper towel tested
- 8Tork Shop Max
did not complete a full pass across a wet concrete paver before tearing
- 9toolbox
made it most of the way across a wet concrete paver before wearing through in two small areas, better than Great Value and Bounty
- 10Bounty
fell apart about halfway across a wet concrete paver, about the same as Great Value
- 11Scott
tore across one finger after a single pass across a wet concrete paver
- 4Tork Industrialnot tested
Capillary Power
- 1Wypall X803 in1st
of water climb in 1 minute, finished first overall
- 2Sontara25th
and 7/16 in of water climb in 1 minute, finished fifth overall
- 3Brawny Professional2 in
of water climb in 1 minute, beat Krew 600 in their paired test
- 4Tork Industrial23rd
and 5/8 in of water climb in 1 minute, beat Tork Shop Max in their paired test, finished third overall
- 5Krew 6001
and 1/2 in of water climb in 1 minute, lost to Brawny in their paired test
- 6Super Tough2 in
of water climb in 1 minute, lost to the toolbox brand in their paired test
- 7Great Value Ultra Strong2.5 in4th
of water climb in 1 minute, finished fourth overall
- 9toolbox2.25 in
of water climb in 1 minute, beat Super Tough in their paired test
- 10Bounty2.75 in2nd
of water climb in 1 minute, finished second overall
- 11Scott2 in
of water climb in 1 minute
- 8Tork Shop Maxnot tested
Shedding
- 1Wypall X80
about the same as Super Tough, minimal lint left behind
- 2Sontara
no fibers located under the microscope, best result of all towels tested
- 3Brawny Professional
very few fibers left behind, rated a 4 out of 5
- 4Tork Industrial
quite a bit of shedding, along with Tork Shop Max
- 5Krew 600
very little shedding, rated a 4 out of 5, one of the best results
- 6Super Tough
shed noticeably less lint than Great Value, Bounty and the toolbox brand
- 7Great Value Ultra Strong
left a lot of lint material behind
- 9toolbox
shed about as much lint as Great Value and Bounty
- 10Bounty
shed about as much lint as Great Value
- 11Scott
about the same as Super Tough
- 8Tork Shop Maxnot tested
Oil Absorption
- 3Brawny Professional20.85 g
of motor oil absorbed, worst of all towels tested
- 4Tork Industrial29.7 g
of motor oil absorbed
- 5Krew 60028.5 g
of motor oil absorbed
- 6Super Tough27.5 g
of motor oil absorbed
- 7Great Value Ultra Strong31.6 g
of motor oil absorbed
- 10Bounty40.7 g
of motor oil absorbed, best result of all towels tested
- 11Scott35.8 g
of motor oil absorbed, second behind Bounty
- 1Wypall X80not tested
- 2Sontaranot tested
- 8Tork Shop Maxnot tested
- 9toolboxnot tested
How it was tested
- dry pull apart tensile strength using a clamp tester
- wet pull apart tensile strength after saturating with brake parts cleaner
- abrasion resistance dragging a wet towel across a concrete paver against padded fingers
- oil absorption capacity measured in grams of 5W30 motor oil absorbed by a 9x9 in section
- capillary and absorbent wicking power measured by water climb height in 1 minute
- lint and fiber shedding across dry concrete rated under a microscope
- reusability and durability test using the top performing towel as a head gasket in a small engine
“if you need a really strong towel especially one that needs to be reusable the white ball is going to be very hard to beat”
