DIY Recycled Bath Towel Rug Tutorial: Turn Old Towels Into a Beautiful Handmade Rug
If you’ve got a pile of old bath towels sitting in your linen closet that are too worn to use but too bulky to throw away, this tutorial is exactly what you’ve been looking for. Making a rug from recycled bath towels is one of the most satisfying upcycling projects you can take on, and the results are genuinely impressive. You end up with a thick, plush, absorbent rug that looks like something you’d find in a boutique home store — but made entirely from materials you already have at home.
This step-by-step DIY recycled bath towel rug tutorial will walk you through everything from gathering your materials to finishing your rug with a professional-looking edge. Whether you’re a complete beginner or a seasoned crafter, this project is approachable, affordable, and deeply rewarding. Let’s get into it.
Why Make a Rug Out of Old Bath Towels?
Before we dive into the how-to, let’s talk about the why. Every year, millions of bath towels end up in landfills. Towels are made from cotton terry cloth, which takes decades to decompose. When you upcycle them into a rug, you’re not just saving money — you’re actively reducing textile waste and giving a second life to something that still has a lot of usefulness left in it.
Bath towels also happen to be an ideal material for rugs. They’re already designed to absorb moisture, which makes them perfect for bathroom and kitchen use. They’re soft underfoot, they hold up well to foot traffic, and the loops in terry cloth fabric create a natural texture that looks attractive even in a simple woven or braided design.
There’s also the cost factor. A quality bath mat from a home goods store can run anywhere from $30 to $100 or more. This project? It can cost you nothing if you already have old towels on hand, or just a few dollars if you pick up secondhand towels from a thrift store.
What You’ll Need
Gathering your materials before you start makes the whole process smoother. Here’s what you’ll need for this project.
For the towels: You’ll want three to five large bath towels, depending on the size of rug you want to make. Old beach towels work just as well. The towels don’t need to be in perfect condition — worn edges, small stains, or thinning fabric are all fine, because you’ll be cutting them into strips. Try to choose towels in colors that complement each other if you’re going for a deliberate look, or embrace the mismatched aesthetic for a more eclectic, bohemian feel.
For cutting: A sharp pair of fabric scissors is ideal. If you have a rotary cutter and a cutting mat, even better — it makes cutting long straight strips much faster and more precise. A ruler or measuring tape is helpful for keeping your strips consistent in width.
For assembling the rug: Depending on which method you choose (braided or woven — more on that in a moment), you may need a large safety pin, a needle and strong thread or a sewing machine, and a non-slip rug backing or rubber shelf liner if you want to add grip to the underside.
Optional: Fabric glue, a tapestry needle for weaving, and clips or clothespins to hold your braid in place while you work.
Choosing Your Method: Braided or Woven?
There are two primary methods for making a bath towel rug, and which one you choose depends on your skill level, your tools, and the look you’re going for.
The braided rug method is the more traditional approach and requires no sewing machine. It’s done entirely by hand and produces a classic, coiled oval or round rug with a timeless look. It’s beginner-friendly, meditative in practice, and produces a dense, durable result. The downside is that it’s more time-intensive, and sewing the coil together at the end requires a steady hand with either a needle or a machine.
The woven rug method involves cutting the towels into strips and weaving them over and under each other on a simple frame loom or through a burlap or canvas backing. This approach gives you more control over patterns and color combinations, and tends to go faster once you get a rhythm going. It’s slightly more technical but produces a flatter, more graphic result.
For this tutorial, we’re going to focus on the braided method, since it’s the most accessible and produces that plush, luxurious look that works beautifully in bathrooms, bedrooms, and entryways. We’ll also touch on how to adapt this into a woven version at the end.
Step One: Prepare Your Towels
Start by washing and drying your towels if they’ve been sitting in storage. This removes any dust, mildew, or odor and also pre-shrinks the fabric so your finished rug holds its shape better after the first wash.
Once your towels are clean and dry, lay the first one out on a flat surface. If your towels have decorative borders — that woven band along the edge that’s smoother and less fluffy than the rest of the towel — you may want to cut those off first. They can be a bit stiff and don’t fold or braid as easily as the terry cloth body of the towel.
Now you’re going to cut your towel into strips. For braided rugs, strips that are about two to three inches wide work well. Anything narrower tends to lose its fluffiness when folded; anything wider can make the braid bulky and hard to manage. Cut from one selvage edge across the full width of the towel, making parallel cuts all the way down. You’ll end up with a stack of long rectangular strips.
Repeat this process with all of your towels. Once all your strips are cut, sort them by color if you’re planning a specific pattern. At this point, you can also join your strips together into longer continuous strands by overlapping the ends about half an inch and either sewing them together or securing them with a small dab of fabric glue. This saves you from having to incorporate joins mid-braid, which can create lumpy spots.
Step Two: Fold and Prepare Your Strips
To get that full, rounded look in a braided rug, you want to fold your strips lengthwise before braiding them. Fold each strip in thirds (like folding a letter to put it in an envelope), so the raw edges are tucked inside and you’re left with a smooth, padded strand. You don’t need to press or iron these — the towel fabric is forgiving enough to hold the fold loosely as you work.
Some people prefer to fold only in half rather than thirds if the towel fabric is particularly thick. Do what feels manageable in your hands. The goal is a strand that’s neat and consistent and that you can comfortably hold and braid.
Once you have three long, prepared strands ready, you can begin braiding.
Step Three: Start Your Braid
Secure the top ends of your three strands together. You can do this by knotting them, clamping them to a table edge with a clip, or pinning them to a cushion. Some people like to safety-pin the knotted end to the knee of their jeans while they work sitting down — this keeps tension on the braid and frees both hands.
Braid your strands using the standard three-strand braid: right strand over center, left strand over center, repeat. Keep your tension consistent — not too tight, not too loose. If the braid is too tight, your rug will buckle and curl rather than lying flat. If it’s too loose, the rug will feel floppy and uneven.
As you braid, make sure the folded edges of each strip are facing the same direction (either all facing up or all facing inward toward the braid). This keeps the surface of your braid smooth and gives you a tidier finished product.
When you need to add a new strip — because you’ve run out of length on one strand — simply overlap the new strip with the old one by an inch or so and either stitch them together or tuck the end of the old strip inside the new one and continue braiding. This join will get hidden in the body of the rug once it’s coiled.
Keep braiding until you have a length of braid that’s long enough to start coiling. A braid of about 24 inches is a good starting length before you begin the coiling process.
Step Four: Coil and Sew Your Rug
This is where your flat braid becomes an actual rug. Lay your braid on a flat surface and begin coiling it from one end. For an oval rug, make your first straight section about eight to ten inches long, then begin curving the braid back alongside itself to start the oval shape. For a round rug, simply start coiling from the very first inch in a tight circle.
As you coil, use a large needle and strong thread — upholstery thread or heavy cotton thread works well — to whipstitch the adjacent loops of braid together. Stitch through the loops themselves rather than through the solid braid body, which keeps the stitches hidden. Pull each stitch snug but not tight enough to distort the braid.
If you have a sewing machine with a zipper foot, you can use it to sew the coils together more quickly. Place the rug flat on your machine, fold the next loop of braid alongside the previous one, and stitch them together. This takes some practice to navigate the curves, but it significantly speeds up the process for larger rugs.
As you work, periodically lay the rug flat on the floor and check that it’s lying smooth. If the rug is doming upward in the center, your braid is too tight. If the edges are ruffling, your braid is too loose. Adjust your tension and stitch placement accordingly.
Continue adding braid and coiling until your rug reaches the size you want. When you’re ready to finish, taper your final few inches of braid by trimming the strips progressively shorter, which reduces the bulk at the end. Tuck the end of the braid under the last coil and stitch it securely in place.
Step Five: Finishing Touches
Trim any loose threads and give the rug a final once-over with a seam ripper or scissors to tidy up any uneven spots.
If you’re placing your rug on a smooth floor surface like tile, hardwood, or vinyl, you’ll want to add a non-slip backing. Cut a piece of rubber shelf liner or purchase a rug pad to fit the bottom of your rug. You can attach it loosely with a few stitches around the edges, or simply lay it beneath the rug. This prevents sliding and makes the rug safer underfoot.
Give your finished rug a gentle wash in cold water on a delicate cycle, then tumble dry on low or lay flat to dry. This final wash removes any cutting residue and fluffs the terry cloth loops back up beautifully.
Tips for a More Beautiful Rug
Working with a consistent strip width from start to finish makes a big difference in the overall appearance of the rug. Even a quarter-inch variation across dozens of strips will show up in the finished product.
If you’re using towels in multiple colors and want a deliberate pattern, organize your strips before you start so each strand of your three-part braid is a single color. This creates a clean, visible stripe effect as the braid coils. Alternatively, mixing colors randomly within each strand creates a heathered, tweedy look that’s equally appealing.
For a larger rug — say, three feet by five feet or bigger — this project works beautifully as a group or family activity. Multiple people can braid simultaneously while one person coils and sews.
If your old towels are very thin or worn through in places, double up your strips by folding two strips together as one before braiding. This adds body and hides any thinning spots.
Adapting This Into a Woven Rug
If you’d rather try the woven method, the strip preparation is identical — cut your towels into two to three inch strips, fold them lengthwise, and join them into long continuous strands.
For a simple frame loom, you can nail evenly spaced nails into a wooden picture frame or build a quick loom from four pieces of lumber. Wrap a strong cotton warp thread (or even jute twine) around the nails to create your vertical warp. Then weave your folded towel strips horizontally, alternating over and under each warp thread. Pack each row tightly against the previous one as you go.
When the loom is full, carefully slide the rug off the nails, tie off the warp ends in pairs to prevent unraveling, and trim the fringe to your preferred length or tuck it under and stitch it down for a clean edge.
The woven method gives you beautiful opportunities for color-blocking and striped designs, and the finished rug tends to be flatter and more graphic-looking than the braided version.
Caring for Your Recycled Towel Rug
One of the best things about this rug is how easy it is to clean. Because it’s made entirely from cotton terry cloth, it’s machine washable. Wash it in cold water on a gentle cycle, and either tumble dry on low or hang it outside to dry in the sun. Avoid high heat, which can cause the cotton to shrink unevenly over time.
For everyday freshening, a good shake outdoors or a quick run over with a handheld vacuum keeps the rug looking great between washes.
With proper care, a well-made recycled towel rug can last for many years, developing a lovely softened character the more it’s used and washed.
The Bigger Picture: Upcycling as a Lifestyle
This project is a small thing, but it adds up. Every towel you keep out of the landfill is a genuine contribution to a more sustainable way of living. Upcycling challenges us to look at worn-out objects and see potential rather than waste. And in a world where fast home goods are cheaper than ever but environmental costs are higher than ever, choosing to make something beautiful from what you already have is a quiet act of intention.
Once you’ve made your first bath towel rug, you’ll start looking at old towels, t-shirts, bedsheets, and denim with completely new eyes. The same basic braiding and weaving techniques work for all kinds of woven textiles, and from here the rabbit hole of fiber crafts goes very deep in the most wonderful way.
So dig out those old towels, grab your scissors, and get started. Your floor — and the planet — will thank you.
