I read a number of the reviews on this product before purchasing, and the reviews were fairly mixed. (I got these on a Friday Sale price day, when the product was about $18 for the set.) I washed them before using, as I would have done anyway but did particularly after reading the reviews, and they are absorbent. Also, the seams are holding up so far (only washed 2-3 times thus far).These are not flimsy towels, however, I do have towels which are thicker. I was hoping these would be somewhat thicker, but at the Friday Sale price, this was a good deal.