I received these towels free for my honest review. Upon opening the package, I noticed first how incredibly soft they were. I then washed them and while they shedded a lot in the first wash (you can see the sheerness in the first photo of the blue), they were still extremely soft. The true test was taking them to a swim meet, and my kids said “they were sooo soft!!!”. They dried fairly quickly as well. And they look beautiful with the navy stripes against the bright white.