A widespread misunderstanding is that you can “feel” if a microfiber towel is made from split microfiber or not by stroking it with your hand. This is false!
The theory is that if it feels like the towel “hooks” onto tiny imperfections on dry unmoisturized hands, this is because the fibers are split and they microscopically grab your skin. Although this is partially true, you cannot feel split microfiber “hook” onto your skin. These microscopic hooks are way too small to feel, but do generate a general surface resistance called “grab”. Yet, this is not the “individual” hooking sensation you feel when you touch most microfiber towels. It’s the tiny loops in loop-woven microfiber that are large enough to actually feel grabbing imperfections on your hands (minute skin scales).
Try it for yourself: gently stroke a loop-weave microfiber towel of any kind, split or not. If your hands are dry and unmoisturized, you will feel the typical “hooking” sensation most people hate. It’s simply the loops that catch around the scales on your skin like mini lassos. Take a picture of the microfiber material with your smartphone, zoom in and you can clearly see the loops.
Now try stroking a cut microfiber towel which is not loop-woven, split or not, and it will not give that awful hooking sensation. If you take a picture of this material, you will see a furry surface without those loops. Because there are no loops, it won’t “hook”.
Now you know the truth: it’s the loops that latch onto your skin when you touch a microfiber towel, regardless if the towel is split microfiber or not. Tightly woven microfiber towels without pile (e.g. glass towels) can also have the “hooking” effect, caused by the way their fibers are woven, but less pronounced than loop weave towels.
Another misunderstanding is that a towel that is made of non-split microfiber will “push away” water and is non-absorbent. This also is not true!
Although a non-split microfiber fiber is not absorbent, water is still caught in between the fibers. You can do the test: submerge a 100% polyester fleece garment (check the label), which is always non-split fiber, in a bucket of water and take it out after about 10 sec. Wring it out over an empty bucket and you’ll see that it holds quite a bit of water, meaning it is absorbent.
So, another myth is busted: non-split microfiber can’t be determined simply by testing if it holds water. You can however test how much water it holds. Compare it to a similar dry-weight towel that is known to be split 70/30 microfiber: Submerge both in a bucket of water. If they hold about the same amount of water, they are both split microfiber. If the 70/30 towel holds more than twice as much water, the test towel is more than likely non-split material.