Bathroom Towel Holders

A bathroom towel holder keeps the towel off the floor and within reach of the basin, and the right one comes down to the towel itself: a ring or a short single holder for a hand towel by the sink, a rail for bath towels, single or double depending on how many people use the room. Wall mounting keeps the worktop clear, and the finishes here run chrome, brushed brass and matt black, so a holder can sit alongside the rest of your bathroom accessories.

If you are kitting out a whole room, buy the holders, the towel rails and rings and the hooks in one finish and the room ties itself together with no further effort from you. The guide below covers the three formats, the finishes and what fitting actually involves, with quick answers at the end.

What to look for in a bathroom towel holder

Start with the towel, not the fitting. A hand towel by the basin wants a ring or a small single holder. Bath towels want a rail, and ideally a double one if more than one person uses the room. Get the format right first and the finish second, matching it to your taps and the rest of your accessories. The one thing worth knowing before you order: a wall-mounted holder is a drilling job, not a sit-it-on-the-shelf job.

Ring, single holder or rail. Three formats, three different jobs. A towel ring is the neat choice for a hand towel next to the basin, because it takes up the least wall space. The Alpha chrome wall-mounted towel ring at £38.89 is the plain chrome version and comes with its fixings. In the warmer metal, the Roma brushed brass towel ring is made for hand towels and built to match other brushed brass accessories, and at £29.99 it is the cheaper of the two rings here, so the warmer finish costs you nothing extra.

A single hand towel holder is a short bar for that same hand towel, for the spots where a ring would not suit the look. The Litchfield ORO brushed brass hand towel holder at £24.99 is solid brass with knurled, finely ridged detailing on the bracket, comes with all its fixings and carries a 5-year guarantee. If brushed brass is the plan, it also undercuts the Roma ring. The Mono Black hand towel holder at £29.99 does the same job in matt black, with a space-saving wall-mounted design that is easy to clean.

Rails are the bath towel answer, because a bath towel needs room to hang flat and dry. One bar is plenty for one person, but where two of you share the room the Roma brushed brass double towel rail at £67.99 puts two bars in a single footprint, so the towels dry side by side instead of lying on top of each other.

Match the finish to your taps. The finish is what makes a bathroom look deliberate rather than assembled, so buy the holder to go with your taps and your other accessories rather than picking each piece in isolation. Chrome is the safe all-rounder and sits happily next to almost anything. Brushed brass is the warmer metal and works when your taps already lean that way, and between the Litchfield ORO holder and the Roma ring and double rail you can carry it from basin to bath. Matt black is the bolder, more modern choice, and the Mono Black holder is made to pair with other black bathroom accessories. Mixing finishes can be done well, but one finish across the ring, the rail and the hooks is the low-risk route, and nobody has ever walked into a bathroom and complained that it matched.

Fitting is a drilling job, so plan it. Into plaster or masonry a wall-mounted holder is straightforward. On a tiled wall you need a tile or diamond bit to get through the glaze without cracking the tile, and the patience to go slowly and let the bit do the work. On a plasterboard wall, use fixings rated for the load or, better still, land the screws on a timber stud, because a bath-towel rail carrying wet towels can work loose from a poor plasterboard fixing over time. Set the height so the towel hangs clear of the floor and the skirting, and keep a hand towel ring close enough to the basin that you are not dripping across the worktop to reach it. As for what is in the box, the Litchfield ORO holder comes with all its fixings and the Alpha chrome ring is supplied with fixings. For anything else, check the individual product page, and have wall plugs to suit your wall type ready before you start, because the plug that works in masonry is the wrong one for plasterboard.

Quick answers

What is the best towel holder for a bathroom? It depends on the towel. For a hand towel by the basin, a towel ring or a small single holder is the neatest. For bath towels, go for a rail, and a double rail if more than one person uses the room. Then match the finish to your taps. There is no single best holder, just the right format for the towel and a finish that fits the rest of the room.

What is the difference between a towel ring and a towel rail? A towel ring is a hoop for a single hand towel by the sink, and it takes up very little wall space. A towel rail is a horizontal bar, single or double, sized for bath towels, so the towel has room to hang flat and dry properly. Most bathrooms end up with both: a ring or a holder at the basin, and a rail by the bath or the shower.

Do bathroom towel holders come in matt black and brushed brass? Yes, and in chrome. The Litchfield ORO hand towel holder at £24.99 is brushed brass, and the Mono Black hand towel holder at £29.99 is matt black. The Roma range adds a brushed brass ring and a double rail, so one finish can run from the basin to the bath. Chrome is the safe middle ground if the rest of the room has not committed to a colour yet.

Are wall-mounted towel holders hard to fit? For most people it is a straightforward DIY job. You are drilling and screwing into the wall, so the part that matters is matching the fixings to the wall you have. On tile, use a tile bit to get through the glaze without cracking it. On plasterboard, use proper fixings or land the screws on a stud, particularly for a bath-towel rail, which takes real weight once the towels on it are wet.

What is the best hand towel holder for a bathroom? For a hand towel at the basin, a ring or a single short holder works best. If you like the brushed brass look, the Litchfield ORO hand towel holder at £24.99 is the tidy pick, with a knurled bracket and all fixings included. Prefer a ring? The Alpha chrome towel ring at £38.89 keeps it simple.

Do I need a single or double towel rail? Single is fine for one bath towel. Go double if two people share the bathroom, because a double rail gives you two bars in one footprint, so two towels dry side by side rather than sitting on top of each other. The Roma brushed brass double towel rail at £67.99 is the brushed brass option here.