Our favorite? The Bounty Select-A-Size, which stood out for its remarkable strength and absorbency. If you’re looking for a budget-friendly option, the Brawny Tear-A-Square Paper Towels offer impressive performance at an affordable price.
Kitchen Paper towels are an essential household staple, perfect for scrubbing countertops, polishing appliances, soaking up spills, and tackling everyday messes. But with so many options lining the store shelves, how do you know which ones deliver the best performance for your money?
To find out, our team tested nine promising kitchen paper towels, comparing their absorbency, strength, softness, and overall value. After months of side-by-side evaluations, we’ve identified the top picks to suit every need and budget.
Our Top Picks
- Bounty Quick-Size Paper Towels
- Presto! Flex-a-Size Paper Towels
- Viva Multi-Surface Paper Towels
- Brawny Tear-A-Square Paper Towels
- Seventh Generation 2-Ply Paper Towels
- Betterway Bamboo Brown Paper Towels
Best Overall
Bounty Quick-Size Paper Towels
High Absorbent
Our top pick for tough cleaning tasks is the Bounty Quick-Size Paper Towels. Whether tackling kitchen messes or outdoor chores, this paper towel consistently proved its worth. From scrubbing tubs and counters to wiping down cast iron pans, it handled every challenge with fewer sheets compared to its competitors.
What sets Bounty Quick-Size apart is its durability—it shed minimal fibers and maintained impressive strength, even when wet. Each roll is massive, boasting approximately 9,438 square inches of surface area and a six-inch diameter, making it one of the largest options available. Despite its robust performance, it remains soft to the touch, ensuring it’s gentle on your skin.
While it’s one of the pricier paper towels on the market, its superior absorbency and cleaning power justify the cost. If you need a reliable, long-lasting paper towel that gets the job done efficiently, Bounty Quick-Size is the perfect choice.
Best Budget-Friendly
Presto! Flex-a-Size Paper Towels
Multiple tearable sheet sizes
The Presto! Flex-a-Size is a budget-friendly paper towel that offers great performance for its price. Each roll is compact, with 10.42 square feet of material and a 5.65-inch diameter, thanks to its thinner sheets. It’s soft on both sides and even features fun patterns to brighten up your cleaning routine.
In our tests, it handled everyday messes well, absorbing 0.4 ounces of water and spreading moisture slightly above average at 2.4 inches. However, it’s not the best for heavy scrubbing, as it tended to tear and shed more quickly than pricier options. If durability isn’t your main concern, this paper towel is a great value for general cleaning tasks.
Best for Wet Messes
Viva Multi-Surface Paper Towels
4x cleaning power
Viva Signature Cloth paper towels are ideal for light cleaning and dusting delicate surfaces. Its soft, rag-like texture picks up more dust than others. They’re great for smooth surfaces like windows and mirrors but are a bit thin for handling spills. They also require extra passes for tough messes like tomato sauce.
The Viva Multi-Surface TaskSize offers superior absorption, soaking up liquids quickly, with just two sheets needed for half a cup of water. However, it sheds when wet, especially on textured surfaces, and has a slightly scratchy underside.
Related: 9 Best Stanley Alternatives Tried & Tested
Most Versatile
Brawny Tear-A-Square Paper Towels
Thickest & Most Absorbent
We love the Brawny Tear-A-Square for its flexibility and strength. With three sheet sizes—Quarter, Half, and Full—it adapts to any cleaning task. Need a quick clean-up? Tear off a quarter sheet for smaller spills. Tackling a bigger mess? Go for a full sheet. Its durability makes it perfect for tough jobs, from cleaning kitchen counters to scrubbing the car, while the soft texture is gentle on hands and effective at absorbing moisture. Plus, the sustainable sourcing practices are a bonus for eco-conscious buyers.
However, it does have fewer sheets per roll compared to other high-capacity options, which means you might need to replace rolls more often. Still, if you’re after a versatile and durable towel with various sheet sizes, this one’s a great choice.
Best Eco-Friendly
Seventh Generation 2-Ply Paper Towels
100% Recycled
We were impressed by how quickly Seventh Generation 100% Recycled 2-Ply paper towels absorbed water in our tests. It was one of the fastest towels in terms of liquid absorption, making it a great choice for small spills or when you need to absorb liquid quickly. The towel performed well in light clean-ups, and we appreciated its soft texture, especially for an eco-friendly product.
However, when it came to strength, it didn’t quite meet our expectations. During our dry and wet strength tests, it tore relatively easily—particularly when rubbed against rough surfaces like carpets. We also noticed that we had to use more sheets than with other brands when tackling messes that required scrubbing. While the roll size is smaller than some competitors, it still offered good value given its affordable price. Overall, it’s a solid choice for those focused on sustainability, but it may not be the best option for heavier-duty tasks.
Most Durable
Betterway Bamboo Brown Paper Towels
Disposable Kitchen Paper Towels
Our testing team found the Betterway Bamboo Natural Brown Paper Towels to be an eco-friendly and reliable choice for everyday cleaning tasks. Their embossed 2-ply design handled spills and light scrubbing effectively, with excellent absorbency and minimal tearing. The bamboo material impressed us with its strength and compostability, making it a sustainable alternative to traditional paper towels.
While these towels excel at lighter tasks, they struggled with heavy-duty scrubbing, wearing down faster than standard options. However, their hypoallergenic, lint-free texture made them ideal for cleaning delicate surfaces like mirrors and glass without leaving residue behind.
