Braided Rug Tutorial: How to Recycle Old Towels Into a Beautiful Handmade Rug

There is something deeply satisfying about transforming something worn and forgotten into something beautiful and useful. Old towels are one of those household items that tend to pile up — faded, frayed at the edges, no longer presentable enough for the bathroom but too sturdy to simply throw away. A braided rug is the perfect solution. It gives your towels a second life, keeps textile waste out of the landfill, and produces a thick, plush, washable rug that works wonderfully in bathrooms, kitchens, mudrooms, and entryways.

This tutorial walks you through everything you need to know, from gathering your materials and preparing your towels to braiding, coiling, and finishing your rug. Whether you are a complete beginner or someone who has dabbled in fabric crafts before, you will find this project approachable, forgiving, and genuinely enjoyable.

Why Towels Make the Perfect Braided Rug Material

Before diving into the how-to, it is worth understanding why towels are such an ideal choice for this project — because not all fabric behaves the same way when braided.

Towels are made from terry cloth, which is a looped cotton weave designed to be thick, absorbent, and durable. Those properties make it excellent rug material. When you cut towels into strips and braid them, the resulting rug has real body and cushion underfoot. Unlike old T-shirts, which produce a flatter, stretchier braid, or old jeans, which can be stiff and difficult to work with, towels hit a sweet spot. They are soft enough to handle comfortably, heavy enough to hold their shape, and thick enough that even a relatively modest number of strips creates a satisfying, substantial rug.

They are also widely available. Most households have at least a few towels that are past their prime. Thrift stores sell towels for pennies. Hotel liquidation sales, garage sales, and textile recycling bins are all excellent sources. If you want to create a rug with a cohesive color palette, buying a bundle of similarly colored towels secondhand is an affordable and sustainable way to do it.

What You Will Need

The supply list for this project is refreshingly short.

You will need old towels — anywhere from three to ten depending on the size of rug you want. Bath towels produce wider strips and a chunkier braid; hand towels and washcloths can be mixed in for variety. Aim for a consistent fiber content if possible, as all-cotton towels will behave more uniformly than a mix of cotton and microfiber.

You will also need a good pair of fabric scissors or a rotary cutter and cutting mat, which makes the strip-cutting process much faster. A large safety pin or a braiding clip helps keep your work organized. For joining the rug, you will need a large blunt tapestry needle and heavy-duty thread in a color that blends with your fabrics — upholstery thread, carpet thread, or even a doubled strand of regular heavy thread works well. Some people prefer to use a lacing method with a thin strip of fabric instead of thread, which we will also cover.

Optional but helpful: a T-pin or long straight pin to hold sections in place as you work, and a flat surface like a table or the floor where you can lay the rug flat periodically to check its shape.

Step One: Preparing Your Towels

The preparation stage is where you set yourself up for success, so take your time here.

Start by washing all of your towels if they are not already clean. This removes any sizing, oils, or residue and pre-shrinks the fabric so your finished rug will not shrink unevenly the first time you wash it.

Once your towels are clean and dry, decide on your color scheme. If you are using towels of different colors, think about how you want them to appear in the finished rug. A randomly mixed rug has a cheerful, eclectic charm. A more deliberate arrangement — say, three strands of blue graduating into three strands of cream — produces a more polished look. Lay your towels out and experiment before you start cutting.

Now, cut your towels into strips. The width of your strips determines the thickness of your braid and the overall scale of the rug. For bath towels, strips that are about two to three inches wide work well. For a chunkier rug, go up to four inches. For a finer, denser braid, stay closer to one and a half inches, though know that narrower strips from terry cloth can be a bit harder to manage.

Cut parallel to the short edge of the towel (across the width rather than down the length) to produce strips with the loops of the terry running across rather than along the strip. This gives you a strip that will fold and braid cleanly. You do not need to cut off the hemmed edges — they blend right in during braiding — but if you find them stiff or uncooperative, snip them off.

To join strips into long continuous lengths, use a simple diagonal seam. Place two strip ends at a right angle to each other, right sides facing, and sew or tie them diagonally across the corner. Trim the excess and unfold — you now have a long, angled join that lies flat when braided rather than creating a bulky lump. Alternatively, for a no-sew version, cut a small slit about half an inch from the end of each strip, feed one strip’s end through the other’s slit, and pull the tail of the first strip back through its own slit — a lark’s head style connection that is surprisingly secure.

Roll your prepared strips into loose balls or coils to keep them tangle-free as you work.

Step Two: Setting Up Your Braid

A traditional braided rug uses a three-strand braid, the same basic technique as braiding hair. Once you understand the rhythm, it becomes almost meditative.

To begin, take three strips (or three joined lengths) in your chosen colors and tie them together in a firm knot at one end, leaving a tail of about three inches. Fasten this knotted end to something stable — a door handle, a clamp on a table edge, or a hook in the wall. Some people simply pin it to the arm of a heavy chair. The goal is to keep tension in the braid as you work, which produces a tighter, more even result.

Arrange your three strands so they hang down side by side. Label them mentally as left, center, and right.

The basic motion is always the same: bring the left strand over the center strand (so left becomes center and center becomes left), then bring the right strand over the new center strand (so right becomes center and center becomes right). Repeat. Left over center, right over center, left over center, right over center. Keep the tension consistent and try to keep the strips folded so their edges are tucked inward and you are braiding the smoother surface — this produces a neater-looking finished rug, though for terry cloth it matters less than it would for woven fabric.

As you braid, keep the strands flat rather than twisted. Terry cloth has a tendency to roll; periodically flatten each strand with your fingers as you work to keep everything lying neatly.

When a strand runs out, join a new strip using one of the methods described above, positioning the join so it falls on the inside of the braid if possible. Over time you will barely notice the joins.

Step Three: Coiling and Joining

Once you have braided a length of about two feet, you can begin forming the rug. This is the stage that transforms a simple braid into a finished textile, and it is where the shape and structure of the rug are determined.

For an oval rug: Fold the braid back on itself at the center, creating a U-shape. The length of this center fold determines the long dimension of your oval — a longer fold produces a longer rug. Hold the folded section flat on a table and begin stitching or lacing the two sides of the braid together, working from the center outward. As you stitch each row, the oval gradually grows.

For a round rug: Begin coiling your braid in a tight spiral from the very start, without the initial fold. Hold the starting knot at the center and wind the braid around it in a flat coil, stitching each round to the previous one as you go.

To stitch the coils together, thread your tapestry needle with a doubled length of heavy thread. Work with a whip stitch or a lacing stitch, catching the loops of the braid on each side and pulling them snugly together without bunching. The joins should be invisible from the top — you want the rug to look like a continuous braided surface, not like separate rows that have been sewn together.

The lacing method is an alternative that some people find faster and more durable. Instead of thread, use a narrow fabric strip (about half an inch wide) as your “thread,” weaving it through the loops of adjacent braid rows with a blunt needle or a loop of wire. This creates a flexible join that moves with the rug, making it particularly good for rugs that will see heavy foot traffic or frequent washing.

As the rug grows, lay it flat frequently to check that it is lying flat and not curling up at the edges. If the edges are curling upward, you are stitching the coils too tightly — loosen your joining stitches slightly. If the rug is ruffling or developing a dome shape, you are not pulling the coils close enough together — tighten your joining stitches or add a few extra stitches at the outer edges to ease the fullness flat.

Step Four: Managing Color Transitions

One of the most delightful aspects of making a braided rug is planning and executing color transitions. A few techniques will help you create intentional effects rather than random-looking patchwork.

If you want solid-color rings, replace all three strands at the same time when you are ready to change colors. The transition will appear as a distinct line around the rug.

If you want a gradual blend, replace one strand at a time, spacing the color changes several inches apart. This creates a gentle graduation that softens the boundary between colors and gives the rug an almost ombre quality.

If you are working with a limited supply of each color, alternate them in a pattern — say, two rounds of blue, one round of white, two rounds of blue — to make the most of what you have while maintaining visual rhythm.

There are no wrong approaches. Some of the most beautiful braided rugs are entirely scrappy, using whatever lengths happened to be available, and their randomness is part of their charm. The texture and depth of the braided surface is interesting enough that it can carry a chaotic color arrangement without looking unpolished.

Step Five: Finishing the Rug

When your rug has reached the size you want, it is time to finish the braid cleanly so the ending is not visible.

Begin tapering your final braid by gradually narrowing the strands over the last few inches. You can do this by folding each strand inward so it becomes progressively thinner, or by simply reducing the strip width if you have planned ahead and cut your final strips a bit narrower.

Braid until the tapered strands reach a point, then tuck the tail under the adjacent braid row on the underside of the rug. Stitch it firmly in place with several passes of your needle and thread, making sure it is secure enough to withstand washing and use. Trim any excess and press the ending flat with your hand.

Turn the rug over and inspect the back. If any joining stitches are visible, that is perfectly fine — the back of a braided rug always shows its construction. But if you see any loose ends or skipped stitches, secure them now before the rug goes into use.

Caring for Your Braided Towel Rug

One of the great advantages of a towel rug over a woven or knotted rug is its washability. Since towels are designed to withstand repeated laundering, your finished rug can go directly into the washing machine on a gentle cycle with cold water. Use a mild detergent and avoid bleach, which can weaken the cotton fibers over time.

Dry the rug flat or on a low-heat setting in the dryer. High heat can cause the cotton to shrink unevenly, which may distort the shape of the rug slightly. If the rug does lose its shape after washing, lay it flat while still damp and gently tug it back into position, then allow it to dry completely before putting it back in place.

For everyday maintenance, a firm shake outside removes dust and debris. A rubber-backed shelf liner placed underneath the rug on hard floors provides grip and prevents slipping.

Ideas for Customizing Your Rug

Once you have mastered the basic technique, there are many ways to make the project your own.

Mixing textures adds visual interest — try combining a plush bath towel with a thinner waffle-weave towel for a braid that has variation in its surface.

Adding a border in a contrasting color at the very edge of the rug gives it a finished, intentional look, almost like a frame.

Experimenting with a four-strand braid instead of three produces a slightly different pattern on the surface of the rug — less of a herringbone effect and more of a flat, woven appearance.

If you enjoy the process and want to scale up, the same technique works beautifully for larger area rugs, placemats, coasters, pot holders, and even baskets if you braid around a wire or rope core.

A Few Troubleshooting Tips

If your braid keeps twisting on itself, you may be working without enough tension. Try anchoring the starting end more firmly, or ask someone to hold it while you braid.

If your rug is not lying flat even after adjusting your joining tension, try pressing it with a damp cloth and a medium-warm iron on the back side. The steam can help relax the fibers into a flatter position.

If you run out of a particular towel mid-project and cannot find more of the same color, use the shortage as an opportunity to introduce a new accent color in the final few rounds. What feels like a problem often becomes the most interesting part of the finished piece.

The Bigger Picture: Craft as Sustainability

Making a braided rug from old towels is a small act with a meaningful impact. The average American household discards dozens of pounds of textiles each year, and most of that fabric ends up in landfills where synthetic blends can take centuries to break down. By intercepting even a few towels from that stream and transforming them into something useful, you are participating in a tradition of resourcefulness that stretches back through generations of human history.

People have been braiding rugs from fabric scraps for as long as there have been fabric scraps — it is one of the oldest and most universal forms of domestic craft. The braided rugs that survive in museums and antique shops are often made from the most humble materials: worn-out clothing, flour sacks, grain bags. They are beautiful not despite their origins but because of them, because someone looked at something worn out and saw something worth preserving.

Your towel rug will carry that same spirit. It will be warm underfoot. It will be practical and washable and specific to your home in a way that no purchased rug can quite replicate. And every time you notice a familiar stripe or a beloved faded color from an old towel woven into the surface, it will carry a small thread of memory with it.

That seems like more than enough reason to pick up your scissors and get started.