These are a lot softer than I expected. I was looking for something to drain food on after frying, and I thought I was getting those brown "hard" towels...which would have been fine. But these are off-white and lightly textured/embossed. Not tissue-soft, but they don't tear up your hands, they're actually absorbent, and they're tough enough to dry dishes and scrub counters with no lint or shredding.