Paper towel

The size of the paper towel is always unfolded. Namely that when talking about a 30x30 paper towel it means that it is 30x30 cm when unfolded. Its folded format obviously depends on the shape of the fold. If it is a 4 fold, its folded format will be 15x15. There are now many variations that range from the cocktail napkin (20x20 unfolded) to the pre-folded towel through the sachetto towel that also serves as a cutlery pouch.

Number of folds of the towel

The number of layers of paper commonly called the number of folds. So a 1-ply paper towel will have a thickness of paper, 2 ply 2-ply ... The more pleats in a napkin the thicker it is and therefore absorbent.
Attention we speak well of cellulose wadding towel and no napkin that is a thick but in a material type Airlaid whose weight varies from 55 to 120 grs / m2 depending on the products.

Paper weight

The basis weight of the paper which is in fact wadding. We are talking about paper napkins but this is actually a misnomer. A purist talks about wadding towel. The grammage is expressed in grams per m2. It varies from 16 to 20.

Quality of the wadding and therefore the "paper"

We must then take into account the quality of the wadding (so the raw material). The paper towel can be made from pure cellulose pulp or recycled paper. In the context of recycled paper, it will be necessary to pay attention to the quality of de-inking and other processing operations of the old paper used to manufacture this raw material that is the recycled wadding. Indeed, if there are heavy metals (ink and other printing substances) on a product that will come into contact with the users' mouths, this is clearly important in terms of safety.
Paper towels are also available in different colors. Here too pay attention to the type of ink used. A food ink is needed.

Paper towel and environment

The environmental concept is now very present with more particularly the European label Ecolabel which some products can benefit.
Also beware of towels that are too white and whose manufacturing process uses and abuses optical brighteners.
As you can see, a paper towel is also a risk and this is not talked about much.