Robes are bought on a GSM number and judged after two hundred wash cycles. These four decisions are what decide the second part.

Ask for the loop, not just the weight

GSM is mass per square metre. Two robes at the same GSM can have a long loose loop or a short dense one, and they will feel and absorb completely differently.

Ask for loop length, loop density and the cotton staple length. A longer staple makes a loop that holds together through industrial laundering rather than shedding and going flat by the second season.

Match the fabric to the laundry, not the brochure

Terry is the warm, absorbent, heavy option and it takes real drying time. Waffle is light, dries fast, packs flat and is not warm. Velour-faced looks the most expensive and absorbs least on the sheared side. Microfibre dries fastest of all and has the least hand.

The right answer usually follows from what your laundry can turn around in a day, because that decides how many robes you have to own to cover the same rooms.

Insist on post-wash dimensions

Cotton terry shrinks on its first industrial wash. A robe has to be cut oversized to land on the size you ordered.

If a quote does not say whether the dimensions are pre-wash or post-wash, assume pre-wash and ask. It is the single most common cause of a delivery that is technically correct and practically wrong.

Construction is where they actually fail

Not the body — the belt loops, the tie and the pocket bags. A loop sewn straight through the panel outlives one tacked to the surface by a very long way.

For children’s robes, add two things: no cords at the neck, and a belt attached at the back on the smallest bands so it cannot leave the garment.

What to send when you ask for a quote

Room or locker count, laundry turnaround, the fabrics you are considering, your size spread and your artwork. That is enough for a real quote and a mockup the same day.

Fine detail closes up in stitch on a looped fabric, so most crests need opening out rather than scaling. We redraw free.