Best Outdoor Towel Rack: Dry Towels Quickly!

Best outdoor towel rackBest Outdoor Towel Rack

Towel racks can help keep the spa and pool space organized, keep things clean, and keep all the towels in one convenient spot. After an extensive examination of many outdoor towel trees, we have found that the best outdoor towel rack is the TowelMaid PVC towel rack. It is constructed with furniture-grade PVC, which really is a good material for outdoor towel racks. There’s no chance this will rust!

The towel rack is stable, and it can handle up to five towels. It can also be used to house pool noodles and toys. And most importantly, the customer service TowelMaid provides is top notch, which is always a plus! For a complete review of the TowelMaid, see our Product Reviews section below.

If you don’t mind attaching your towel rack to the wall, the FloatStorage wall-mounted towel rack is an ideal choice for towel storage. It requires mounting to a wall, which is a negative for many who don’t want to permanently mount things to the outside of the house. But if that’s ok with you, this towel holder is very well built, and hits a great price point. Just beware that the mounting hardware is not included.

For a complete review of the FloatStorage, see the Product Reviews section below.

For those who are watching the pennies, the Outdoor Lamp Company PVC towel tree is a good choice. The base can be filled with sand or water, and the tree can hold up to six towels.

See our Product Reviews section for more on this Towel Tree.

Pool Towel Storage Tips

In this section, we’ll look at the common formats and materials towel racks come in,. We’ll also briefly discuss beach towel clips, which can help hold the towels to the rack to prevent them from blowing away.

Types of Spa Towel Rack

The major types of towel racks available are as follows:

Free-Standing Towel Racks

These towel racks are essentially towel trees, with a central pole supporting several hooks or other towel supports. These are compact, but they tend to be wobbly, as the central pole is the main support for all of the towels. Often these central poles can be filled with sand or water for additional stability.

Framed Towel Racks

Framed towel racks are more structural than towel trees, with a frame allowing support from multiple points. These frames tend to be more stable, and less likely to topple over than towel trees.

Wall-Mounted Towel Racks

Wall mounted towel racks attach to a wall, and if properly installed, can be quite sturdy and secure. There’s very little chance these will fall over, assuming they’re installed correctly. They’re also often very compact and are an efficient choice for towel drying and storage. However, these racks require you to drill into your siding or masonry, which many people don’t want to deal with.

Towel Tree Materials

When shopping for an outdoor towel rack, the natural inclination is to go for sturdy, strong materials like metals. However, you’re dealing with wet towels here, so metal may rust. Buyers should avoid stainless steel, even if it’s powder coated. That wiill rust over time. Aluminum is a better choice, and should not rust, even if the powder coat fails in spots. PVC is a pretty common alternate material, and while it inherently feels cheap, it’s really not a bad choice for a towel rack material. It’s completely waterproof and will not be damaged by prolonged water exposure. There’s also no chance of rust, or of staining the ground or anything like that.

Beach Towel Clips

Once you have your outdoor towel rack, you’ll be able to easily dry your towels outside in the sun. However, wind gusts may still take your towels for a ride! Many will find that using beach towel clips with their towel racks will help secure the towels to the rack. These clips are pretty inexpensive, and can guarantee that your towel doesn’t blow away in a wind gust.

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Outdoor Towel Rack Reviews

In this section, we’ll look in depth at five interesting choice for outdoor spa towel racks. We’ll start with a comparison table to get the lay of the land, and then go in depth into each one. We’ll conclude with our favorites.

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1. Cover Valet TTBR Spa Towel Tree

Key Points at a Glance

• Standing towel rack made from light-weight aluminum
• Powder coated for rust protection
• Hang up to four towels
• Available in two color options (brass and pewter)
• Removable end-caps allow users to add sand to the interior for added stability

Dimensions

Dimensions64" x 13" x 5"

Weight6lbs

Cover Valet is a well-known brand in the spa accessories category, and they consistently make high-quality outdoor products like hot tub cover lifts and spa steps. While this tree is made of light-weight aluminum, it can easily be filled with sand for stability. And when it is filled with sand, it is quite stable and is unlikely to topple over, even with a few heavy, wet towels hanging from it. Just try to balance out your towels (i.e. don’t hang all the towels on one side!). This tree is capable of handling up to four towels, and is pretty tall at 64“. It is capable of supporting some shorter robes, but full-length robes won’t fit on this. There are no towel bars on this rack, just hooks. Some may prefer bars that will enable them to spread the towel out for quicker drying. When assembling, make sure you use the long bolts for the top of the tree. It can be unclear in the instructions, but the key is that you want the longer bolts to go on the top of the tree.

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2. RoadRunner Outdoor Spa and Pool Towel Rack

Key Points at a Glance

• Made of lightweight plastic painted metallic paint or white
• Can hang up to six towels
• Can add sand or water to provide additional base weight
• Comes in a variety of colors and finishes

Dimensions

Dimensions5 x 25 x 14

Height is approx 42"

Includes 8" extension

Weight3lbs

The Roadrunner line of outdoor towel racks is a decent budget option, and are capable of handling up to six towels. However, the materials choice on these racks is not ideal, and while it looks like these are made of metal, they’re actually made of plastic with a metal paint on top. There are three bars that cross the pole at different angles, allowing users to hang their towels around the rack. However, these bars are not locked in place, and have a tendency to move around. If you’re only hanging up to 3 towels, you can pull the bars out, and hang them without folding. However, if you want to hang 6, you’ll need to pull them in halfway, and this will require you to fold the towels. Many find they don’t want these cross-bars to move. You may want to throw some glue on there to secure them so they don’t slide in and out when you’re adding towels to the rack. To fill the RoadRunner towel rack with sand or water, turn over the bottom base piece. There is a little red cap on the bottom that can be pulled off. You can then add sand to this area in order to provide additional stability. That said, even with sand in the base, if you’ve got six towels on the rack, on a windy day it still may be prone to toppling, so be careful with it in windy environments.

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3. TowelMaid 5 Bar Freestanding Outdoor Poolside Towel Rack

Key Points at a Glance

• Made of furniture-grade PVC plastic
• Has five towel bars
• Supports up to 5 towels
• Large base and frame ensures stability even in windy conditions
• Easy assembly and disassembly
• Can be used to store pool noodles

Dimensions

Dimensions37″ W x 50″ H x 23.5″ D

Height of lowest towel bar29.5"

PVC Outside Diameter1 5/8"

Weight19.5lbs

The TowelMaid towel rack is a large-sized five-bar towel rack made of PVC plastic. It is not wholly dissimilar to the PVC piping many people have in their house, but it is constructed in a pretty sturdy fashion and is easy to assemble and disassemble. If you have a rubber mallet on hand, the assembly process is quite simple and quick. There’s no need to worry about rust with this, as the PVC is certainly waterproof. Winter storage isn’t really necessary, and if you don’t plan on taking this unit apart, it may be worth gluing the pieces together when you assemble it. This will make the structure even more sturdy and will prevent the pieces from inadvertently coming apart. The TowelMaid is pretty lightweight and may have a tendency to blow away if there are no towels on it. You may want to consider adding some sand to the frame to provide additional support, but this depends on your circumstances. TowelMaid’s customer service is reportedly excellent, which is always a plus. There is a review on Amazon where a buyer reports that after commenting that a couple of the towel bars warped, the company contacted him and sent him replacements, even without his asking. That is certainly impressive customer service, among the best we’ve seen!

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4. Outdoor Lamp company 401BRZ Portable Outdoor 3 Bar Towel Tree

Key Points at a Glance

• Furniture-grade PVC towel tree with three 24" towel bars
• Can hold up to 6 towels
• Painted in an antique bronze color

Dimensions

Shipping Dimensions15" x 12" x 8"

Height50"

Crossbars24"

Base Diameter24"

Weight2.8lbs

This towel rack is extremely similar to the previous Roadrunner Towel Tree discussed above. It is a bit taller, at 50“, and can handle larger towels. However, much of the design is quite similar, and the advantages and disadvantages of this towel rack are pretty comparable to the Roadrunner. The furniture-grade PVC is a good choice for a towel rack material and is certain not to rust. The base is pretty sturdy, just be sure you fill it with water or sand. The intake spot is pretty small, and it can be difficult to get sand inside. If you have a small funnel, use that, otherwise consider using a piece of paper rolled up in a funnel shape. Alternately, just dip your base in the pool or the hot tub and you can fill it with water pretty quickly. Once it has water or sand inside, this towel bar provides reasonable stability. With heavy towels on one side it may topple over, but as long as you’re reasonably careful, this towel rack will work pretty well. It can support up to 3 towels unfolded, or up to six towels folded.

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5. FloatStorage Original Hanging Towel Rack

Key Points at a Glance

• Wall-mounted towel rack
• Capable of supporting up to six towels
• Arms swivel for ease of use
• No assembly required, but installation is required
• Made of furniture-grade PVC
• Comes in black
• Mounting hardware not included

Dimensions

Dimensions18" x 14" x 4"

Towel racks are 16" long

Bar diameter is 1"

Weight4 lbs

The Floatstorage Wall-mounted towel rack is a clever idea that allows for convenient out-of-the-way towel storage right on the walls of your spa or on an exterior wall of your house. Made of black furniture-grade PVC, this unit looks great and comes fully assembled. However, it does require installation. Each mounting point has three screws, so you can be sure that your rack is really strongly attached to the wall. However, in order to ensure full stability, you need to be sure that you install this into a stud or other structural member in the wall. If you’re attaching it to wood, you’ll want to use screws that are about 2“ long. Also, you can attach this to masonry walls, but you’ll need to use proper masonry fasteners. You’ll have to drill holes, and then use Tapcon screws.

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Conclusion: Best Outdoor Towel Holder

Effective towel storage can clean up your outdoor space, keep everything organized, and help secure your towels from blowing away. The TowelMaid towel rack is an ideal option for those who need to store a bunch of towels, and is backed with high quality customer service. It’s not cheap, though. If you don’t mind mounting your towel holder to the wall, the FloatStorage towel rack is a great choice, and hits an excellent price point. For those on a budget who don’t want to wall-mount, consider the Outdoor Lamp Company towel tree, and be sure to fill the base with water or sand before use.