The best hooded changing towel for adults

Hey Fellow ocean lovers! 

Whatever your go to ocean activity is, from scuba diving to freediving, ocean swimming, snorkelling, surfing, or all of the above and more, we’re sure you’ll be familiar with the ‘towel dance’! Whether your on a busy dive boat, crowded beach, or car park after an amazing surfing sesh,  you’ll know the familiar feeling of needing the arms of an octopus to change out of your wetsuit and bathers without flashing your bum! This was our experience! 

And that is how we came to create the ultimate hooded changing towel for adults!

Rewind several years back, and we thought we’d found the solution with our trusty changing towel - as passionate divers who love to explore our underwater worlds here in Australia, and around the world, and our hooded changing towels made changing on busy dive boats easier. But, no matter what option we tried, we were always left frustrated. Yes, they were great to get changed under, but they never really dried properly and we were constantly lugging around damp, smelly towels, Plus they were always really bulky and took up loads of room in our dive bags.

In our search to find a better option, we tried all different kinds, and all different fabrics. Cotton took forever to dry and was bulky, and the microfibre options felt sticky and yucky against our skin. And then came the kicker… as we searched for our perfect changing towel, we quickly learned how un-environmentally they are.

Like us, are you in the dark about the environmental impacts of the cotton and microfibres that are traditionally used to make the humble beach towels we all have in our cupboards, and used in most hooded changing towels? If so, you can find out a little more about that here. 

After failing to find a practical version, and learning of the environmental impacts, we set out on a quest to find an alternative fabric that would tick all the boxes we were looking for, combining practicality & sustainability! Surely it had to exist, right? 

After several years, and testing more options that we can count, we knew we'd landed on the winner when we tested our 100% recycled rPET waffle weave fabric.

It's soft, super absorbent, quick-drying, breathable and lightweight. ✔️✔️✔️ 🙌

Find out more details about how we have combined practicality, sustainability, and inspirational designs to create the best hooded changing towel for adults! You can click on the headings below to read the sections you’re most interested in. 

1. Sustainably Made: The sustainable benefits of rPET as a quick-drying towel material 
2. Practicality First: The practical benefits of our unique waffle weave rPET
3. Change Anywhere: Why adults are loving our changing towels 
4. Marine Inspired Designs: Find out how our marine designs inspire, spark conversations and keep conservation top of mind
5. Giving Back: How every purchase gives back to marine conservation

rPET or recycled PET is a polyester material that is made from recycling existing materials, rather than extracting more precious materials from our planet.

Did you know that the polyester material lurking in a lot of your clothes, from work out gear, to skirts and tops, and just about everything, is made out of petroleum? It’s a non-renewable resource and is popular given it’s durability and practicality, but as well as being a ‘plastic’ which will not break down in our landfills for many years, it all takes a huge amount of energy to create.

Since the same raw material is used to make singe-use plastic bottles, and we’ve created more single-use plastic than we can ever possibly recycle, it’s a no brainer to look at how we can recycle it into new, practical garments. Crazy, right?

The process is fairly simply - we take existing single-use plastic, wash it, break it down into tiny pieces, melt it and then spin it into new yarn. We use this to then create our unique waffle weave fabric.

The unique waffle-weave allows the fabric to be super absorbent, quick-drying, breathable and avoid sand sticking to it. It’s also woven with antimicrobial properties, which means it’ll need les washing and no more damp odours!

DOES IT FEEL LIKE PLASTIC?

This is the biggest question we get asked! No, it doesn’t. Grab any pair of your workout pants, or a cheap t-shirt - the chances are it’s created using polyester or nylon, both a plastic. Our fabric is simply a recycled version, and feels as soft as any towel material.

WHY NOT USE COTTON?

Initially we thought cotton would be a more environmentally friendly option. However, as we researched fabrics, we soon learned that’s not the case. To grow cotton we need to clear natural habitats, and the process severely degrades the soil quality which leaves the areas unsuitable to grow anything else, and uninhabitable for any wildlife. Plus, as a crop it requires an insane amount of water, with about 2, 700 litre needed to make just a single cotton t-shirt.

But that’s not all - the crops need a lot of toxic chemicals which pollutes thousands of litres of drinking water.

Cotton is known as the most sprayed crop on our planet, and it’s environmental pollution of both land and waterways is why many people view cotton as unethical, as well as being unsustainable, and un-environmentally friendly.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF OUR FABRIC DON'T STOP THERE…

In addition to recycling single-use plastic, and giving it a second life, the process to recycle versus create virgin cotton or polyester is much more environmentally friendly. It takes 70% less energy, 90% less water, and has an 80% lower carbon footprint! Sustainability isnt perfect, but with an abundance of single-use pastic being thrown away every day, using what we have versus creating more has a positive impact on our planet. And, the more we switch to sustainable, the better we can improve our footprint over time - a commitment that we focus on every day! Together, we can make a difference!

Practicality was the first thing we focused on - our changing towels had to be practical AND sustainable, and we’ve put them to the test! The unique ‘waffle-weave’ you see allows the fabric to be breathable, lightweight and quick-drying. It also allows sand to fall right off, leaving the beach behind where it belongs.

Here’s the practical promises:

☀️ Quick -Drying: Our towels dry 3x faster than regular towels. We’ve put it to the test so you don’t have to! Having experienced the dilemma of what to do with damp towels, it was important for us to create a fabric that would dry as quickly as possible.
Simply hang up in the shade and our ponchos will be dry in no time!

💧 Super Absorbent: They’ll absorb up to 5 x their weight in water! That’s litres, not drops! So you can be confident that they’ll dry you quickly;  absorbing the water off your skin as you get changed, or as you sort out your gear, enjoy a post dive snack, or just take in nature after a surf. Throw it on, get changed, and you’ll soon be dry enough to get your clothes back on and get on with the day.

🌺 Antimicrobial: We’ve woven our material with antimicrobial qualities. From our experience, it’s a real pain to wash your towels after every dive, swim or surf. Lets be honest, they live in our dive bags, or the back of the car until the next trip, right? The antimicrobial properties in our fabric will mean that as it dries quickly, no teeny tiny mould or mildew organisms will get trapped, meaning less washing for you, and no damp odours!! 

🧳 Lightweight & Compact: Whether it’s a day trip, or heading further afield, we’ve designed our changing towels to be the perfect travel companion. Our fabric rolls or folds to half the size of a regular towel. Meaning, more room for … all the other gear you need, or snack! Always great to have more room for snacks! Time to throw away that bulky towel, right?!

🛡 Protects from the elements: Our breathable fabric will protect you from the harsh sun as you dry off. With a wearable towel, that means you can be protected as you move around the boat, sort your gear, or do a happy dance. The breathable fabric will also keep you the perfect levels of cool in the warm weather, or protect you from wind and warm you up after a chilly session.

🏖 Sand-free towel material: While we set out to make the fabric quick-drying and absorbent first, turns out it’s sand-free too! If you’re getting changed at the beach, or you’ve chucked it down and using it as a towel for a quick chill, one quick shake will leave the sand at the beach where it belong

Made for ocean lovers, by ocean lovers; as scuba divers, sailers and surfers, we’ve put our ponchos to the test to make sure it lives up to these promises!

As soon as we landed on the idea of creating sustainable and practical changing towels, we knew that every design had to reflect our love of our oceans, and the marine worlds beneath the waves.

That’s why we partner with Australian artists, creating designs to bring our marine worlds above the waves, inspire and keep conservation top of mind! 

INTRODUCING OUR DESIGNS!

OUR WHALE SHARK HOODED TOWEL FOR ADULTS

These gentle giants are on the bucket list of ocean lovers around the world and they were the natural, first design for Ocean Armour!

Our amazing Whale Shark and Diver design is by Leah, of Leah’s Mark Illustration. We like to think that if you’re a diver, if you wear our whale shark changing towel when on the boat, perhaps you’ll be able to manifest one.
**not guaranteed 😉

Did you know - Whale Sharks are the largest fish in our oceans, and it’s impossible to describe the amazing feeling when you come face to face with these gentle giants in the ocean. We’re lucky enough to have one of the worlds largest migration of whale sharks here in Australia.
Every year, in the months of March through to August, they migrate to Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia to feed on plankton and krill. 

OUR MANTA RAY HOODED TOWEL FOR ADULTS

Know as the majestic butterflies of the sea, we’re in awe of these amazing creatures.
Popular amongst scuba and freedivers, we’re so lucky to have many spots in Australia to see these wonderful creatures in the wild. The Great Barrier Reef, Lady Elliot Island and North Stradbroke Island are a few of the top spots.

Manta Rays are close to our heart as it was an experience diving with Manta Rays in Indonesia that set us on a path to create Ocean Armour.

You can read a little more about our story here. Our stunning Manta Ray design is by Cairns based artists Becky Evers.e.

OUR HUMPBACK WHALE HOODED TOWEL FOR ADULTS

The gentle giants of our oceans, we love how this design captures the beauty and scale of humpback whales.

Our stunning Humpback Whale and Diver design is by Leah, of Leah’s Mark Illustration. This design is fast becoming our favourite, what do you think?

OUR TURTLE HOODED TOWEL FOR ADULTS

It was impossible to create designs inspired by our oceans without having one feature our beloved turtles.

Yes, they are serene and mesmerising under water, but did you know turtles are also a ‘keystone species’. That means they are an important part of marine ecosystems and influence other species around them.

Our stunning turtle design is by Leah, from Leah’s Mark Illustration, with the colours and coral designed to capture the inquisitive, clever, and serene personalities of these beautiful sea creatures. 

NEW DESIGNS COMING SOON!

We're always looking for new design inspiration and we have a new hooded towel design coming soon - watch this space!

Can you guess what marine creature it may be? Is there a design you'd love to see? Join us on Insta or email us at hello@oceanarmour.com.au and tell us what you want to see! We always love hearing from you.

As you can tell, at Ocean Armour we’re all about riding the waves and keeping our oceans clean and plastic free for generations to come. So, lets find out why your purchase of our awesome hooded changing towels isn’t just a purchase - it’s a positive change for our oceans...

Eco-friendly fabrics like ours are a positive step for future sustainability, something we’re very passionate about! Ours, and other recycled fabrics, help reduce potential waste, give single-use plastics a second life, and contribute to the overall reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

But, here’s the thing fellow ocean lovers. While we’re stoked about making the world a better place for the future, we’re also focused on taking action right now. As passionate divers, we see the affects of climate change now and we know the ocean is in need of a helping hand. That’s why when we launched Ocean Armour, we made a promise: 10% of our profits go to marine conservation projects.

We believe in protecting our marine playgrounds today, as well as for the future!

READY TO DIVE IN?

As ocean lovers, we at Ocean Armour have poured our passion into creating the ultimate hooded changing towel for you!

Designed to cater for your practical needs, but also align with your values as a conscious and environmentally-aware ocean lover.

With quick-drying, lightweight, and antimicrobial properties, they provide unrivalled practicality. Plus, our sustainable focus, through our use of recycled materials and donations to marine conversation, reinforces our dedication to playing while protecting our oceans for generations to come. Explore our collection and experience the joy of owning a changing towel that reflects your love for the ocean while making a positive impact on the planet.

Take the first step towards a more sustainable and ocean -friendly lifestyle by clicking the links below and choosing your favourite Ocean Armour changing poncho design today!