Preface
This post describes: How a Twin Towel Rail system with towels wrapped around two rails parallel to each other will not easily fall off onto the floor.
Introduction
In 2003, when I rebuilt my kitchen, I converted my single towel rail to a Twin Towel Rail System. They are in a convenient place under the front edge of a worktop. One which is too shallow (front to back) to have any cupboards under it. It has a double panel radiator under it instead.
A single rail was always a nuisance because towels would slip off it regularly. This was due to lack of friction with the rail when they had a weight imbalance due to overhanging one side more than the other.
You can see a towel on a single towel rail below. It is part of the twin towel rail system I now have but the towel is only draped over one rail as an example:
Pic. 1. A Towel On A Single Rail
This towel is in an unbalanced state with one side longer than the other. It hasn’t slipped off but this towel has good friction. However it can’t be as unbalanced as the towel on the Twin Towel Rails further on in this article.
Twin Towel Rail System Described
The single towel rail was 1.83m (6ft) long and made of 19mm (¾inch) brushed stainless steel tubing. This area of the kitchen had a new worktop and supports similar to the original. I used the original rail and bought an identical rail to make a twin.
Alternative tubing can of course be used, e.g. brass, chrome, nickel or white tubing used for clothes rails in wardrobes.
Pic. 2. Twin Towel Rail System
The picture above shows Twin Towel Rails fitted into wooden supports at the ends and in the centre. The top rail is 35mm below the worktop and the distance between the centres of the two rails is 50mm.
Advantages of A Twin Towel Rail System
Pic. 3. A Single Towel On A Twin Towel Rail System
The picture above shows a towel interwoven with two towel rails to prevent it dropping off.
The towel is put in front of the bottom rail then passed through to the back and over the top of the top rail. Then it hangs down over the front of it so the two halves of the towel will touch each other.
If the two parts of a towel are of different lengths (and weights) it won’t easily slip off the rail due to the friction between the two touching parts of the towel. One part of the towel will want to drop while the other part will want to rise so their tendency to move will cancel out. See what I mean below where the towel overhangs are severely unballanced:
Pic. 4. An unbalanced towel on a Twin Towel Rail System
Disadvantages of A Twin Towel Rail System
The only issues are:
- the knack of putting a towel quickly on twin rails has to be developed,
- where the two parts of a towel touch each other the drying time will increase.
In my particular case the main kitchen radiator sits under this worktop so there’s plenty of opportunity for towels to dry.
Finally
This is a prototype Twin Towel Rail system. I have not experimented with a variety of distances between the two rails. If they were closer together there might be a lesser tendency for unbalanced towels to slip off, but they may be harder to put on the rail.
If you want to see something else in my kitchen try:
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