Well, poly count actually decreases absorbancy.
Personally, I never buy them without feeling them. I've inherited my fair share of towels over the years and I know what I like now.
For hand towels, I want something thick and absorbent. I only change them once a week, so they'd better be able to hold some liquid. Wiping my hands on a wet towel just bugs me, and the thinner it is the wetter it'll feel (in the winter, in the summer the thinner ones dry faster). That being said, for bath sheets, I prefer thinner to thicker for some reason. I still want soft, but I have thin bath sheets for myself and thick ones for DH. At that point it's merely a matter of preference.
I've never had a real big problem with absorbency issues once I learned a few basic rules:
- 100% natural fibers, whether that's cotton, hemp, bamboo, etc. No polyester anywhere.
- The first few times it gets washed are to strip the factory applied (or naturally occurring) finish. Hemp content means it has to be washed up to a dozen times before it reaches full absorbency.
- Never use fabric softener on your towels, as it prevents absorbency.
- Shop by feel. If it feels rough now, it's not liable to get softer when you wash it (it might, but don't count on it), if it feels soft, it'll probably stay soft. I never shop for these things online unless I've already felt it in the store.
