Sustainability
We would rather tell you exactly what we do than call ourselves something we cannot prove. This page is the specific version, and it is short because it only contains things that are true today.
100% cotton, with nothing blended in
There is no polyester, no microfibre and no synthetic content in a Maison 1952 towel. That matters beyond how it feels against the skin.
Synthetic textiles shed plastic microfibres into the water every time they are washed. Those fibres are too small for treatment plants to filter, and they end up in rivers and oceans. Cotton does not do this. A towel is one of the most frequently washed things you own, which makes the fibre it is made from a decision worth taking seriously.
Woven to last
Our towels are woven to 650 GSM and the bath mat to 1000 GSM — heavier and denser than the volume-market standard.
Density is what decides whether a towel survives years of washing or thins out within a season. The most environmentally useful towel in the world is the one you do not have to replace, and the honest way to reduce the footprint of bath linen is to make it well enough that it stays in service.
White only, by design
Every piece in the collection is the same white. It keeps the range coherent, and it has a practical consequence: when one towel eventually wears out, you replace that one towel. You are not retiring a whole set because a new piece no longer matches an old dye lot.
Care is the largest single lever
Most of the environmental cost of a towel across its life is not in weaving it or shipping it. It is in the hundreds of hot washes and tumble dries that follow.
Washing at 40°C rather than 60°C, skipping fabric softener, and taking towels out of the dryer while they are still slightly damp will extend the life of your set by years and cut the energy each wash uses. Fabric softener is worth singling out: it coats the fibre with a film that reduces absorbency, which is what leads people to replace towels that were otherwise fine.
This is why our Care Instructions are as detailed as they are. Following them is the single largest thing either of us can do.
What we have not solved
Being straight about the gaps is more useful to you than a page of badges.
- Our packaging is functional. It is not yet designed for minimal material or easy recycling.
- We do not hold organic or textile certification on the Retreat Collection, so we make no organic or eco claim about it anywhere on this site. We would rather say nothing than say something we cannot show you a certificate for.
- Orders travel by air from Dubai, and air freight is the largest part of our footprint. We are working on what we can do about it and will say so here when there is something concrete to report.
- Returns travel back by air too. Ordering the size you actually want the first time genuinely helps.
These are open items, not promises with dates attached. When they change, this page changes.
What we do not claim
You will not find the words carbon neutral, climate neutral, eco-friendly or sustainable used as a label for our products anywhere on this site. Those words have been used so loosely for so long that they no longer tell you anything, and most of them cannot be substantiated.
Questions
If you want the detail behind any of this, email customercare@maison1952.com and we will give you a straight answer.