bounty paper towels research

Bounty's History of Paper Towels

In 1957, Procter & Gamble acquired Green Bay, Wisconsin-based tissue maker Charmin®, its first consumer-paper products business. One product in particular, Charmin Towels, was a single-ply towel that was engineered using a conventional papermaking process.

P&G recognized the growing demand for paper towels and began a decade of research, experimentation, and ultimately, innovation.

At the time, most paper towel brands were either promoting their “strength” or their “softness.” Through research—mostly interviews —P&G discovered that what consumers really cared about was “absorbency.”

With this new insight, and others, Bounty replaced Charmin Towels in the fall of 1965, and introduced a new 2-ply towel that was thicker, softer, and more absorbent than any other on the market.

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6 Best Paper Towels, According to Cleaning Experts

The paper towel brands that will soak up, clean up, and scrub away any mess.

Then, we sent paper towels home with consumer testers who rated how soft each paper towel was, and whether they liked using them. On top of in lab tests, we also sifted through hundreds of reputable reviews of popular paper towel brands to find the best new styles on the market.

What makes a good paper towel?

Paper towels are made up of ground-up plant material called cellulose, which can include wood, cotton, and other plants. The molecules of cellulose are actually sugar – but not like the sugar we eat – which attracts water molecules. Therefore, paper towels are great at picking up liquid spills. Fun fact: a paper towel's design is actually made of small crevices that help the paper towel have a better grip.

Keep in mind when shopping that each brand has a different number of sheets per roll, and that the size of a full sheet differs brand by brand, so comparing price can be tricky. While smaller sheet sizes can make it easier to use less, you are getting less product for the price. No matter the mess, these paper towels are ready. Shop the best paper towels you can buy:

Bounty Select-A-Size Paper Towels

Bounty paper towels are top performers and GH lab pros #1 choice for their own homes . These paper towels are able to absorb liquid quickly without breaking, and they leave no lint in their path, keeping your counter tops perfectly clean. We love that they are fairly thick with a plush, soft hand-feel too. The handy select-a-size feature lets you tear off only as much as you need for any size mess. 

Price per 100 sheets : $1.51 Sheets per roll : 138 full sheets Full sheet size : 11" x 5.9"

Presto! Flex-a-Size Paper Towels

Amazon brand Presto! paper towels are  top sellers on Amazon with over 3,500 5-star reviews . Reviewers are especially impressed with how large the rolls are, giving you more absorbent paper towels for the price. These 2 ply paper towels are available in orders of 6, 12, or 24 rolls, so you always have what you need on hand. You can tear off in full- or half-sheets, depending on your preference.

Price per 100 sheets : $1.05 Sheets per roll :  140 full sheets Full sheet size : 11" x 6"

Brawny Tear-A-Square Paper Towels

We are all guilty of accidentally grabbing more paper towels than we really needed for the job. These paper towels by Brawny make it easy to grab either a full, half or even just a quarter sheet , so you inevitably use less. In our lab tests, Brawny paper towels were top performers with good wet strength, total absorbency, and absorbency speed, and although these towels look pricey at first glance, keep in mind the full sheet size is larger than most brands.

Price per 100 sheets : $2.09 Sheets per roll : 64 full sheets (or 256 quarter sheets) Full sheet size : 11" x 11" (quarter sheet: 5.5" x 5.5")

Viva Signature Cloth Choose-A-Sheet Paper Towels

In our absorbency tests, Viva proved to be #1. These cloth-like paper towels were able to  absorb the most liquid out of every brand tested , while also picking up spills quickly. Viva paper towels were also the softest paper towels, according to our consumer testers. They did not break easily and were one of the thickest options. Reviewers note that these paper towels have fewer sheets per roll than other brands.  

Price per 100 sheets : $1.57 (price for TaskSize sheets) Sheets per roll : 58 full sheets (or 143 TaskSize sheets) Full sheet size : 11" x 5.9"

Kirkland Signature Create-a-Size Paper Towels

Some paper towels leave behind a little trail of lint in its path. To avoid creating a new mess after cleaning one up, use a non-linting paper towel such as Kirkland Signature paper towels. In our lab tests, these left behind no lint while also absorbing liquid very quickly . We found these paper towels to be fairly thick too.

Price per 100 sheets : $1.04 (note that there are additional costs for shipping and Costco membership) Sheets per roll : 160 full sheets Full sheet size : 11" x 7"

Seventh Generation Seventh Generation 100% Recycled Paper Towels

If you are trying to live more sustainability, try these Seventh Generation paper towels that feature 100% recycled paper without using bleach whitening. Seventh Generation paper towels were top performers out of all the paper towels with recycled content: They were able to pick up liquid quickly without leaving behind any lint behind.

Price per 100 sheets : $1.70 Sheets per roll : 140 full sheets Full sheet size : 11" x 5.4"

Emma Seymour (she/her) is a senior product analyst at the Good Housekeeping Institute 's Textiles, Paper and Apparel Lab, where she has led testing for luggage, pillows, towels, tampons and more since 2018. She graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor of science in fiber science and apparel design and a minor in gerontology, completing research in the Body Scanner Lab on optimizing activewear for athletic performance. 

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A used dishcloth can be a haven for bacteria, especially when wet. Using the same cloth to wipe up spills or messes without washing or replacing it could cross contaminate surfaces in your home. (Photo: Business Wire)

Media Contact: Laura Cyrille [email protected]

Release Summary

Bounty Paper Towels with support from notable scientists reveal hidden bacteria in the home.

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The Best Paper Towels of 2023

Recommendations are independently chosen by Reviewed's editors. Purchases made through the links below may earn us and our publishing partners a commission.

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Kirkland Signature Create-A-Size Paper Towels

The Kirkland Signature Paper Towels are hands-down the best store brand option on the market. Read More

Similar to Bounty

Very absorbent

Loses strength in water

Presto Paper Towels

The Presto Paper Towels is a great value buy, as it's both affordable and sturdy. Read More

Not the softest

• Bounty Select-A-Size

Bounty’s plain old “quicker picker upper” completely outperformed the competition by a good margin in both objective and subjective tests. Read More

Strong and thick

Can withstand rigorous scrubbing

Rough to the touch

• Brawny Pick-a-Size

The Brawny Pick-a-Size is super absorbent and strong. You should definitely add this one to your shopping cart. Read More

Falls apart when soaked

• Bounty Essentials

All in all, Bounty Essentials is steady and affordable. For a value choice that’s available all over the nation, we can’t think of a better towel. Read More

Loses strength when submerged

• Best Overall Kirkland Signature Create-A-Size Paper Towels
• Best Value Presto Paper Towels
• Viva Choose-A-Sheet
• Brawny Tear-a-Square
• Sparkle Paper Towels
• Food Lion Paper Towels
• Seventh Generation Unbleached Paper Towels

How We Tested Paper Towels

What you should know about paper towels, more articles you might enjoy.

Updated January 18, 2023

Paper towels are one of those household products that pretty much need to be on hand at all times. And when it’s time to clean up a mess around the house, the right high-quality paper towel goes a long way. But with an entire aisle of paper towel brands in every store, which paper towel offers the best cleaning ability for the money?

After researching and testing the best paper towels on the market, our favorite paper towel is the Kirkland Signature Premium Create-a-Size ( available at Costco ) because of its ease of use, soft texture, and unparalleled cleaning ability. However, there were many excellent products we found in our testing.

The Kirkland Signature Create-A-Size Paper Towels are impressively strong.

The Kirkland Paper Towels aced all of our tests. The towel had no problem sopping up tomato sauce on the counter or removing the dust from under my radiator. I was especially impressed with the dust wipe, as the particles clung to the paper towel and didn’t just get moved around on the floor. When I soaked the towel in water and rubbed it rigorously on the carpet, it held together and didn’t tear. Not only are these towels impressively strong, they’re also soft to the touch. A good hard pull is required to rip one of them, and it was reusable after being wet and then dried.

The Presto! Paper Towels are tough and sturdy and capable of wiping up big messes.

Presto!, which is Amazon’s paper products brand, really impressed us. It was surprising that such a new product could hold its own next to powerhouse leading towel brands like Bounty. It wiped away nearly all of the tomato sauce on the counter and, when it was rubbed across a carpet, it only tore a tiny bit. It’s not the softest towel in the world, but it’s thick and sturdy.

The “quicker picker upper” brand—yep, Bounty—is one of the best known paper towel brands and for good reason. In the tomato sauce single-wipe test, Bounty left only a trace amount of sauce left on the counter, just like the Kirkland towel. Where it lost points was in the dust wipe; while some of the dust did cling to the paper towel, an equal amount was left behind.

As a dry paper towel, the Bounty felt very strong and thick. Once we wet the towel, it held its strength and performed very well in the rough carpet rubbing test with just a bit of tearing. On the subjective side, this towel doesn’t necessarily feel like anything special or unique and it isn’t soft to the touch, but each sheet tears easily from the roll.

Brawny has a comparable feel to Bounty—which means it would feel right at home in any kitchen for just about every use. The only area Brawny struggled in was how it held together after dunking. Other than that, this product is a good option for most people and you shouldn’t hesitate throwing it in your shopping cart.

The Bounty Essentials are thinner and softer than the Select-a-Size towels we tested. However, this translates into a towel that can’t really compete. The towels pulled apart easily during the carpet rubbing test. And, while it wiped up most of the tomato sauce, it pushed around as much dust as it picked up and tore when rubbed across the carpet.

The Viva paper towel is thin and soft. There’s no texture woven into this towel, which makes the experience of using it quite different than the others. When holding the towel, it feels thin and closer to a thick piece of toilet paper than a sturdy paper towel. But while it feels nice and soft while using, it didn’t perform well during the wiping test. The Viva wiped up some but not all of the tomato sauce and it wasn’t able to pick up most of the dust under my radiator. Interestingly, despite the lack of thickness, it didn’t tear at all after being submerged in water and rubbed across a rough carpet.

Comfortable

Disintegrates easily when wet

Like Bounty, Brawny is another household brand. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to its reputation. These textured towels are fairly rough to the touch. They also weren't able to wipe up the same amount of sauce or dust as its competitors. As for durability, it’s on the weaker side. After being submerged in water and dragged across a rough carpet, the towel pulled apart fairly easily.

None we could find

Pulls apart

Sparkle was simply nothing special. Aside from being ho-hum in all of our objective testing, the paper had an irritating feel. It also took some effort to tear a clean piece without leaving a corner at the bottom. Altogether, it’s not awful, but there are so many better options on the market with competitive prices.

Has an irritating feel

Takes effort to tear a clean piece

While our local grocery pick may not fully represent every local grocery’s paper towels, Food Lion’s paper towels simply couldn’t hold up to the competition and didn’t impress in any category. They were rough to the touch and only became weaker when wet. Spring for the Bounty Essentials or any of our other store-specific picks if you’re looking to save money on paper towels.

Inexpensive

Falls apart when wet

For whatever reason, the unbleached version of the Seventh Generation’s 100% recycled paper performed much worse in our test than its bleached counterpart. This product was coarse, weak, and not great at performing basic clean-ups. If you’re looking for a recycled paper towel, the Whole Foods 365 Everyday Value 100% recycled towels was a better and more affordable option.

Made of recycled paper

Coarse feeling

We put each towel through its paces in practical tests.

We put each towel through its paces in practical, around-the-house tests that would best reflect the average consumer’s use of the product.

Our first trial was a simple wiping test. We put a teaspoon of tomato sauce on a common kitchen countertop and tried to clean the mess with one swipe of a paper towel. We documented any smudging or smearing, while also taking into account each product’s ease of use.

Next, we swiped each dry towel over a dusty surface to find their cleaning ability without the aid of water or spray.

We also tested the strength of each paper towel in both a dry and wet state. Using just one piece of paper, we attempted to pull it in half while dry and while wet. Next, we rubbed each wet paper towel against the rough surface of a floor rug to test the durability of each towel.

Last but certainly not least, we paid attention to the smaller, subjective details that make certain paper towels more enjoyable to use than others. This includes ease of tearing (because everyone loathes that piece at the bottom after an uneven tear), texture, softness, and overall ease of use.

While it may seem like all paper towels are the same, that’s actually not the case. There are a few considerations for the consumer that will help determine what to buy.

The first factor to consider is the sticker price, which incorporates the actual dollar amount but also the question of reusability. In our testing we wet the towels and then allowed them to dry and then used them again. This helped us determine which towels were strong and absorbent and the most durable.

Thickness & Absorbency

The thickness of each paper towel must also be considered. How sturdy the towel feels in your hand is important, but thickness plays a role in absorbency, which of course is one of the most important criteria when it comes to paper towels. But it’s not always the case that the thickest towel cleans up the biggest mess or stays the strongest when soaked through. In our testing, the thinnest towel was the Viva, but that towel proved to be quite durable when wet.

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Meet the testers

Kevin Oliver

Contributor

Kevin Oliver is a valued contributor to the Reviewed.com family of sites.

Georgia Kral

In her career as a journalist, Kral has reported on topics ranging from restaurants and food to parenting and education. She lives in Montclair, N.J., with her husband and two children.

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The 10 Best Paper Towels of 2023

Our best overall pick is Brawny Tear-A-Square

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The Spruce / Sabrina Jiang

Paper towels are essential items for most households. Luckily for us, they are now designed to be more eco-friendly than ever before. Some are compostable or washable, while others are perforated, so you only tear off what you need. In fact, you might be able to reuse a single-use paper towel in certain circumstances. According to Darby Hoover, a sustainability expert with Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), “If you’ve only used a paper towel to absorb water, you may be able to dry it and reuse it." So, if you've been hesitant to buy them, despite their endless uses, rest assured you can still find the best paper towels and use them more sustainably and confidently.

With so many styles available, we wanted to take a closer look at the market to narrow down choices for different purposes. We conducted hours of research on paper towels, evaluating each brand on value, number of sheets per roll, and ply count for absorbency. For certain categories, we also factored in sustainability and aesthetics, too. Ahead, find the best paper towels for your home.

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• Why Trust The Spruce

Best Overall

Brawny tear-a-square paper towels.

Courtesy of Amazon

Three sheet size options

Excellent absorbency

Ideal for spills of any size

More expensive than competitors

Our top pick for best paper towels is the Brawny Tear-A-Square Paper Towels. Not only are these paper towels one of the most affordable picks on the market, but they also have a unique feature that sets them apart from the rest on this list. They are the only paper towels with horizontal perforations as well as vertical ones, allowing you to tear off a full, half, or even a quarter of a sheet, depending on the size of the mess. Offering exceptional strength and absorbency, these paper towels are great at picking up liquid spills of all kinds, from a small coffee overflow to a dropped dish of spaghetti. 

These paper towels aren’t limited to everyday cleanups, either, which adds to their versatility. The 5.5-inch square shape can be used as a coaster, and the half sheet works great as a napkin. They have a soft and cloth-like texture, which feels pleasant on the skin. With more than double the number of sheets per roll compared to other brands, these paper towels are an excellent value.

Brawny Tear-A-Square Paper Towels are pricier than some similar styles, but we like that they're widely available, so you can order ahead from your retailer of choice or take a look in the aisle of your favorite IRL store.

Price at time of publish:   $53 for 12 rolls

Amount: 128 sheets per roll | Material: Paper | Dimensions: 11 x 11 inches (full sheet size) | Color: White 

Best Budget

Sparkle paper towels.

Source: Sparkle

Strong and absorbent

Perforations for full- and half-size sheets

Available in various prints

Not as absorbent as other options

Less sheets per roll

With Sparkle Paper Towels, you don’t have to sacrifice effectiveness for an affordable clean. Thanks to pocketed crevices within the design, these two-ply paper towels are strong and absorbent. The pick-a-size rolls let you tear off a full or half sheet, depending on your cleaning needs. They also come in a plus-size version; each sheet is over 1 inch wider than regular sheets. This pack has classic white paper towels, but if you want to add some pizzazz to your cleaning routine, Sparkle towels are available in more colorful prints, too.

These paper towels might not be quite as absorbent as some of the name-brand options, but that’s to be expected considering the price difference. When compared to other brands, Sparkle doesn’t give you as many sheets per roll. However, the half-size sheets make it easier to use less (as long as access is limited for any young kids that may unroll freely).

Price at time of publish:   $7 for six rolls

Amount: 116 sheets per roll | Material: Paper | Dimensions: 11 x 6 inches (half sheet size) | Color: White 

Best Bamboo

Kitchen + home bamboo towels.

Reusable up to 120 times

Thick and absorbent

Machine washable

Perforated for easy tearing 

Need to be stored when not in use 

For those looking to maintain a more eco-friendly household , bamboo paper towels are a great alternative to traditional options. These towels are reusable up to 120 times (no, this is not a typo!), which will significantly reduce waste and likely prove more cost-effective in the long run. Some reusable paper towels are on the flimsy side, but the Kitchen + Home brand's version is surprisingly thick, soft, and sturdy. In fact, some people use these towels as replacement pads for their flat mops, too—a testament to how strong they are. Since they’re highly absorbent, you can tackle just about any spill in your home. 

The sheets are machine washable, so they’re effortless to clean and reuse. You can pop them in the dryer on low heat, but air-drying is best if you want to preserve their quality and shape. The only hitch is finding a place to store the towels once you’ve torn them off the roll. But there are plenty of workarounds for that issue: Try tucking them into a basket or stacking them in an empty, clean wipes container.

Price at time of publish:   $10 for one roll

Amount: 20 sheets per roll | Material: Bamboo and rayon | Dimensions: 11 x 12 inches | Color: White

Best for Absorbency

Bounty select-a-size paper towels.

Courtesy of Home Depot

Thick and sturdy texture

Convenient select-a-size option

Large rolls

Higher price point

Bounty Paper Towels are two-ply, which makes them thick, soft to the touch, and super absorbent. A single sheet can mop up large spills in one swipe. Bounty towels also have small crevices in their design, which help to scrub away sticky messes and pick up loose dirt and debris. Even when they take on a lot of liquid, such as a spilled beverage, they don’t crumble or disintegrate when wet. And since they're so durable, you could consider the advice of sustainability expert Darby Hoover and get the most out of individual sheets by drying and reusing ones that have only been used for absorbing water.

The select-a-size feature is very convenient since you can tear off the exact amount you need while reducing unnecessary waste. Bounty paper towels are also available in double and triple-sized rolls, so you won’t have to replace them nearly as often. Although they are a bit pricier than most of our other picks, we see them as well worth it given their absorbency and reliability.

Price at time of publish:   $39 for 12

Amount: 128 sheets per roll | Material: Paper | Dimensions: 11 x 6 inches (half sheet size) | Color: White

Best Reusable

Swedish wholesale dishcloth cellulose sponge cloths.

Incredibly absorbent 

Each cloth can be used 50 times or more

Machine-washable

Compostable

Smaller than standard paper towels

Higher upfront cost 

You might recognize these trendy Swedish towels from their viral moment on social media. Made from cellulose and natural cotton, these Swedish dishcloths can hold up to 20 times their weight in liquid. In addition to their impressive absorbency, each dishcloth can be washed and reused more than 50 times. On average, one pack lasts for about a year, which is enough to replace 150 standard paper towel rolls. What’s more, you can toss these cloths into the compost bin when they lose their verve. They come in a variety of colors and are sold in packs of 10, so you can match them to your home's decor. You might also consider opting for multiple sets (or a multi-color set) to differentiate between their uses—for example, you could reserve one for kitchen, one for bathroom, one for deep cleaning, and so on.

These dishcloths are machine washable, and they're safe to use on wood, marble, stainless steel, tile, and a variety of other surfaces. They are incredibly soft when wet and gritty enough to be used for scouring when dry, further adding to their versatility. Measuring 8 by 7 inches, they are smaller than standard paper towels, but we think their overall versatility more than makes up for the slightly smaller size.

Price at time of publish:   $25 for 10 cloths

Amount: 10 dishcloths per pack | Material: Cellulose and natural cotton | Dimensions: 8 x 7 inches | Color: Blue, gray, lime green, purple, red, seafoam green, yellow, assorted

Best Aesthetic

Papaya reusables paper towels.

Courtesy of Papaya Reusables

Trendy and timeless design choices

Included hooks for hanging

Come in sets of 2, 4, and 6

Only one size available

Pricier than similar styles

These reusable paper towels are equal parts form and function. Not only are they super absorbent, but they come in an array of colors and patterns, so there's almost surely a favorite waiting for you. We're also impressed by the smart design—these towels are crafted with a corner hole that allows you to hang them for drying and display, and they come with matching hooks (one hook for every two towels). They're sturdy enough to scrub counters yet gentle enough for use on skin, too.

As cute as these cloths are, we wish there was a bit more size variety in their selections. And, while the cellulose and cotton material is washable and reusable (we love the idea of popping them in the dishwasher and then letting them hang dry), they won't last forever. They're also a bit pricier than other reusable styles, but the brand predicts that each cloth will replace up to 17 rolls of traditional paper towels, so you can still count on them for long-term usage.

Price at time of publish:   $36 for four sheets and two hooks

Amount: Sets of 2, 4, or 6 | Material: Cellulose & cotton | Dimensions : Not listed | Color: Various 

Best Recycled

Seventh generation 100% recycled paper towels (unbleached).

Made with recycled paper

Free from dyes, inks, and fragrances

Works well on most spills

Sheets are one size

Not as strong as other options

Made from 100 percent recycled content, Seventh Generation Unbleached Paper Towels rival traditional paper towels, but they skip out on fragrances, dyes, and inks. So, not only are they more environmentally friendly, but they can also be a good choice for people with sensitive skin. While these recycled paper towels aren't as strong or absorbent as the Bounty or Brawny paper towels we featured above, they still get the job done.  

One drawback to these paper towels is that they lack half-perforations, so you might find yourself using a bit more than you need (unless you're really good at precise tearing). This slightly contrasts their eco-friendly purpose, and it's something to consider before you purchase them if you think it'll annoy you. They can be found in both brown or natural hues, which could also prove a pleasant addition to kitchens decorated in classically neutral tones .

Price at time of publish:   $56 for 24 rolls

Amount: 120 sheets per roll | Material: Paper | Dimensions: 11 x 9 inches | Color: Brown or natural

Best for Windows

Scott shop towels.

Deliver a streak-free shine

Cloth-like texture

Ideal for bigger spills and messes

Less towels per roll than other options

Getting a streak-free finish when cleaning glass can seem like an impossible task, but Scott's Shop Towels are up for the challenge. They are untreated and don’t contain any binders, so they won’t leave streaks or lint behind. Their smooth, cloth-like texture makes them ideal for delicate surfaces like windows, mirrors, and electric stovetops. They don’t have the quilting that you’ll find on other brands, which can make some paper towels feel rough.

These paper towels are often used in auto body shops to mop up grease and oil, which attests to their impressive absorbency. They’re also equipped to handle more substantial household messes, too. Compared to other brands, you do get fewer towels per roll (55, to be exact), but if you limit your usage to glass and the other surfaces you want to be especially careful with, you won’t run through them as quickly. They're also a light blue color, so you can easily tell them apart from traditional rolls—or look for the packages sold in pop-up boxes for convenience.

Price at time of publish:   $55 for 12 rolls

Amount: 55 rolls per sheet | Material: Not listed | Dimensions: 11 x 10.4 inches | Color: Blue 

Best for Hands

Kleenex expressions disposable paper hand towels.

Soft to the touch

Design-forward packaging

No dyes, inks, or fragrances

Pricier than regular paper towels

60 sheets per box

Most of the time, we reach for regular cloth towels to dry our hands, but sometimes a disposable towel might be the cleaner, more hygienic choice since studies show that they can cause less contamination in a bathroom or washroom than other drying methods. So if a family member or housemate is sick, or you're hosting a gathering and want to limit the spread of germs as much as possible, single-use options might be preferred to shared towels. In that case, we'd recommend these paper hand towels from Kleenex.

These paper towels are extremely soft and absorbent, so they're comfortable to use. (Users have reported that they've even used them as facial tissues in a pinch—something you might not consider doing with rougher paper towels.) While they aren't made with dyes, inks, or fragrances that could potentially irritate sensitive skin, they come in pleasantly designed boxes that are ready for display.

Now, if you come to rely on these regularly, the costs would quickly add up—at 60 sheets a box, a busy household could go through a package quite quickly. However, for a clean and convenient addition to your kitchen counter or guest bathroom, we think they can make a lot of sense for certain situations.

Price at time of publish:   $22 for six boxes

Amount: 60 sheets per box | Material: Paper | Dimensions : 9.1 x 8 inches | Color: White 

Best Multifold

Scott essential multifold paper towel.

Pocketed design for absorbency

Perfect for single towel dispensing

Not as thick or absorbent as other brands

Not as effective on big spills

Another suitable choice for hand-drying, Scott Essential Multifold Paper Towels are a great option when you're looking for convenience and affordability. At less than a cent per sheet, these multifold paper towels are one of the most affordable options on the market. Since these don't come on a roll, you'll need a multifold paper towel dispenser that allows you to pull out a single sheet without coming into contact with the next. As an alternative, you can try displaying them in a basket—though, this approach may not be for everyone.

Since they are single-ply, don't expect them to be as thick or absorbent as premium options, but they have signature “absorbency pockets” that soak up water. You may need two towels to fully dry your hands, and a few more to mop up big spills. However, they can be perfect for lightweight jobs like wiping down the counter or sweeping up crumbs.

Price at time of publish:   $36 for 16 packs

Amount: 250 sheets per pack | Material: Paper | Dimensions : 9.2 x 9.4 inches | Color: White 

Our top pick is Brawny Tear-A-Square Paper Towels because they are affordable, absorbent, and strong enough to tackle big spills. Their horizontal and vertical perforations allow you to tear off a full, half, or quarter of a sheet, so you use less paper per wipe than with other brands. If you're looking for a more eco-friendly choice, consider Kitchen + Home Bamboo Towels , a bamboo alternative that you can throw in the washing machine up to 120 times.

What to Look for in Paper Towels

Amount .

Each brand of paper towel has a different number of sheets per roll, and the size of a full sheet will vary as well. Most sheets are 11 inches in height, but they can range from 5.5 inches to 11 inches in width. Determining the value of a particular product can be tricky because you also have to consider absorbency. With a highly absorbent paper towel, you don’t need to use as many sheets to clean up a spill. 

Perforated paper towel rolls, which allow you to select the size you want, are a better value and more eco-friendly because you don’t have to use more than what’s necessary. If your needs vary (you're not alone!), consider our "best overall" pick, Brawny Tear-A-Square , since it allows for the most flexibility.

Paper towels are made of ground-up, recyclable plant materials called cellulose, including cotton, wood, and other plants. Cellulose is made up of small sugar molecules, and these molecules give paper towels their absorbency . You'll also find options that use a mixture of cellulose and cotton, a popular choice for reusable towels (like our " best aesthetic " and " best reusable " picks). When shopping for paper towels, a good indicator of absorbency is the ply count. Paper towel quality is measured in plies. Due to its thicker texture, two-ply paper is stronger and more absorbent than single-ply paper.

Usability 

As Darby Hoover, a sustainability expert with Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) mentioned, paper towels that have only absorbed water can be dried and used again, "but it is not recommended to reuse paper towels that have been in contact with food, other beverages, or pet waste," she adds. Consider whether you frequently use paper towels to clean up messes, dry hands, help with food prep, or something else completely, and that can help you figure out the best type of towels for your home.

Remember, you can also opt for bamboo towels , which you can use multiple times, or cloth towels (our " best aesthetic " and " best reusable " are good examples). If you have room in your kitchen, you may want to stock both disposable and reusable towels so you have options at the ready.

No. Unlike toilet paper, paper towels aren’t designed to break down easily in water. In fact, their larger size and dense texture may clog the toilet, especially if you’re on a septic system.

Generally, yes. "You can put them in your backyard compost. Shred them first so they don’t mat up," Hoover says. "Some municipalities accept them in municipal compost pickup. You can check your local compost protocols to see if that applies to you.” 

However, you should consider what exactly you used the paper towels for, before tossing them in your compost. Katie Berry , The Spruce's Cleaning Review Board member, advises to not "compost paper towels used with cleaning products, paint, automobile oil," or anything of that nature.

Used paper towels cannot be recycled because they often come into contact with food, grease, and other soiled items, posing a contamination risk to the recycling process. However, the cardboard tube from your paper towel roll is recyclable. Although eco-friendly towels tend to be higher in price, they can, of course, be used more than once—which makes them a more sustainable alternative.

There isn't a one-size-fits-all answer since "better" is relative and can vary depending on the cleaning tasks before you. Though, we can give you a few pointers to help you decide what cleaning products are best for your needs . You'll definitely want to consider whether a paper towel is up to the task, meaning that it won't disintegrate or rip. Second, factor in whether it's the kind of mess that's not too much trouble or too unpleasant to rinse out of a reusable cloth (pet owners, we're looking at you). Finally, keep costs and sustainability in mind. We encourage reusable choices whenever possible since they tend to be earth- and wallet-friendly, but there are always exceptions.

Why Trust The Spruce?

Sage McHugh is a freelance writer specializing in home decor and lifestyle content. She has written for The Spruce since 2019. For this roundup, McHugh researched dozens of paper towels, carefully evaluating each product's size, material, absorbency, and usability. She also took hundreds of customer reviews and write-ups from third-party websites into account. Additional input was provided by Darby Hoover , a sustainability expert with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

Dena Ogden , commerce writer at The Spruce, updated this piece to include additional testing insights from real-world testers. She's been writing professionally since 2016, and with The Spruce since August 2022, specializing in appliances, cleaning, and organizing topics.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3538484/#:~:text=care%E2%80%93associated%20infections.-,The%20proper%20drying%20of%20hands%20after%20washing%20should%20be%20an,contamination%20of%20the%20washroom%20environment.

https://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/how-do-paper-towels-absorb-water.php

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Absorbency is based on how much water a 5-inch square piece of towel could hold.

Scrubbing is based on the number of times a towel could be rubbed along a rough surface before the sheet tore.

Wet strength

Wet strength is based on how much force it took for a steel ball to burst through a wet sheet of paper towel.

Sq. ft. per roll

The number of square feet of paper towel contained in each roll.

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The Bounty DuraTowel is part of the Paper towels test program at Consumer Reports. In our lab tests, Paper towels models like the DuraTowel are rated on multiple criteria, such as those listed below.

Absorbency Absorbency is based on how much water a 5-inch square piece of towel could hold.

Scrubbing Scrubbing is based on the number of times a towel could be rubbed along a rough surface before the sheet tore.

Wet strength Wet strength is based on how much force it took for a steel ball to burst through a wet sheet of paper towel.

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• Main content

We tried paper towels from 4 brands and the winner was the strongest and most absorbent

• Some paper towels are stronger and more absorbent than others.
• We tested paper towels from Brawny, Marcal, Sparkle, and Bounty to see which was the strongest and most absorbent.
• Bounty was the strongest and most absorbent paper towel we tried.
• Visit INSIDER.com for more stories .

Paper towels are a common household item but not every brand is created equal. To find out which brand had the handiest product, INSIDER compared paper towels from four companies.

We tested paper towels from:

To keep things consistent, we only used two-ply, select-a-size towels. All four products were purchased from supermarkets in New Jersey. For each brand, we bought the smallest-sized packages we could find.

The price for each roll of paper towel varies widely from market to market and depending on the number of rolls you purchase at once. In our case, Marcal was the cheapest roll we bought and Brawny was the most expensive though each roll of paper towels we tried was under $2.50. 

Here's how the brands stacked up.

We started with one sheet from each brand of paper towels and labeled each

Once each towel was torn and labeled, we were ready to begin. Our test was made up of two parts, one to test the absorbency of the towels and one to test their strength when wet.

First, we measured the absorbency of each paper towel using food coloring and water

To visually differentiate the towels, we used four different colors of food dye. We mixed the dye with a tablespoon of hot water and then poured the colored water onto the towels. We let each towel soak for 60 seconds. 

Read More : 9 things you're making dirtier by cleaning them

The Brawny towel absorbed the water quickly

After 60 seconds, the Brawny towel was soaked mostly in its center. The water was concentrated in the middle of the towel, with a light-red ring extending outward.

The Marcal paper towel was the most saturated after a minute

The dyed water covered most of the towel. Only a few inches in the corners remained unsaturated.

The Sparkle paper towel was a little less saturated than the Marcal towel

Although the water spread, it didn't extend to any of the towel's edges.

After 60 seconds, the Bounty paper towel was the least saturated

Similar to the Brawny paper towel, the Bounty paper towel was mainly soaked in the middle, though the water didn't spread as much as it did on the Brawny paper towel. 

Overall, based on how little the water spread, the Bounty towel seemed to absorb the water the best. 

Next, we tested each towel's strength by wetting them and topping them with metal weights

Before we started our test, we weighed a dry sheet of each paper towel on an electronic balance just to see if they were all the same weight. We found that they were — one sheet of paper towel from each of the four brands weighed 2 grams (0.07 ounces).

For our strength test, we clamped each towel to a glass bowl, dampened it with 1/2 cup of water, and topped it with metal weights.

The weights we used spanned from 1/4 ounce to 2 pounds. To find the breaking point of the towels, we gradually added weight onto each of them until the paper tore apart. 

The Brawny paper towel held more than 1.5 pounds before breaking

We slowly stacked weight onto the wet Brawny paper towel and found it held up to 25 ounces (1.56 pounds) when damp.

The Marcal paper towel held the least amount of weight out of the towels we tested 

When wet, the Marcal towel held 12 ounces (0.75 pounds). We observed that water began to pool at the bottom of the bowl even before the towel reached its breaking point.  

Sparkle's paper towel seemed to be a little stronger than Marcal's

Capable of holding 14 ounces (0.88 pounds) when damp, the Sparkle towel was just slightly stronger than the Marcal one.

The Bounty paper towel held almost 3 pounds

  After being soaked, the Bounty towel held an impressive 43 ounces or 2.69 pounds.

Bounty was the most absorbent and the strongest paper towel we tried

Each paper towel effectively absorbed water and was able to hold a bit of weight while damp but some certainly performed better than others. 

Coming out as the most absorbent and the strongest towel, Bounty's paper towels were the most impressive of the bunch. 

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Dynamic marketing communiqué, the “bounty” for solving your consumers’ problems… how can you be the brand that everyone else talks about [gorillas of guerilla marketing].

DYNAMIC MARKETING COMMUNIQUÉ Fridays: Gorillas of Guerilla Marketing

Makes small work of BIG spills…  Bounty

Bounty paper towels and napkins.

This popular brand has been a part of households since the 60s. Known for delivering their promise of stronger, thicker, softer, and more absorbent paper towels, they are trusted by many.

Until this day, they have remained relevant.

But of course…

Even established brands need to mix up and spice up their marketing campaigns.

You can be the biggest player in the market, but if you’re not able to innovate and create marketing campaigns that appeal to your audience, other competitors might just catch up!

What was one example of how Bounty (and their advertising agency, Publicis New York) continued to make sure that their consumers’ top-of-mind brand for paper towels and napkins is them?

They banked on their consumers’ biggest problem… cleaning BIG messes or spills.

Bounty showed that they are the solution to this problem.

Use their super absorbent paper towels to clean with  less work and minimal effort .

Isn’t that what most people want when there’s a mess?

Accidents happen and you’ll never be able to predict them in advance—spilling beverages, dropping food (especially dishes with sauce), spilling paint during arts and crafts time, etc.

Bounty wanted to get the message across without doing much and saying much.

They installed “life-size messes” on Seventh Avenue, New York and Third Street Promenade, Los Angeles.

A big knocked over coffee cup.

A big melting popsicle.

That’s all.

It might’ve been a simple thing to do for a marketing campaign but it gave them the results they wanted.

People were talking about them.

The experience the people had encountering these installations while crossing the streets of New York and LA would definitely be hard to forget.

These were basically hard to ignore. They’re gigantic!

Would you be able to? We know we won’t.

This was another example of a simple yet clever act of guerilla marketing.

Bounty definitely made a lasting (and HUGE) impression.

Bounty is one of the top three leading paper towel brands in the United States with about  $619.9 million US worth of sales  in 2017.

Their product line has provided Procter & Gamble (P&G) with  over $2.15 billion US worth of sales  in 2015.

Leading brands (even paper towel and napkin companies) use guerilla marketing to induce shock and create a lasting impression on their target audience without having to spend massive amounts of money.

It looks easy BUT it takes a level of creativity and skill to be effective. This is not just something you can easily do that’s 100% successful 100% of the time. It has to be planned out well and executed properly.

Guerilla marketing helps businesses generate an intense amount of buzz among consumers while remaining profitable.

It could benefit your business or marketing projects—you could go viral, you can build partnerships, it’s great for low budgets, and it will make your campaign memorable.

Imagine seeing giant knocked over cups and melting popsicles in the city. Wouldn’t you stop to check it out?

About The Dynamic Marketing Communiqué’s “Fridays: Gorillas of Guerilla Marketing”

Jay Conrad Levinson (1984) said that  Guerilla Marketing “works because it’s simple to appreciate, easy to execute, and inexpensive.”

Guerilla Marketing is unconventional.

Looking beyond the traditional ways of advertising, marketers and advertisers need to spice things up in order for their brand to have campaigns that not only make an impact but also stick on their target market’s mind.

Guerilla Marketing usually aims to have direct contact with consumers.

This type of direct contact should spark an emotional reaction that leads to consumers effectively remembering the brand.

It’s making a big impression and making that impression last a long time (if not forever).

Guerilla Marketing is inexpensive.

The effect of this is being able to create a buzz around the brand, and the strategy used to market it. Almost everything is passed around through word-of-mouth.

Word-of-mouth is one of the greatest outcomes and it usually doesn’t cost anything.

This is every business or brand’s dream!

Every Friday, we publish tips, examples, and other useful content on unconventional ways of marketing and promotion.

Learn more about how to grab your target market’s attention and make an amazing first and lasting impression without having to spend a lot of money.

Businesses don’t really need to spend much for a guerilla campaign. You do not need a big budget to be successful. You just need creativity and a good imagination.

Hope you’ve found this week’s guerilla marketing insight interesting and helpful.

Stay tuned for next Friday’s Gorillas of Guerilla!

Kyle Yu and Joel Litman Head of Marketing & President and CEO Valens Dynamic Marketing Capabilities Powered by Valens Research www.valens-research.com

This content is used with permission from The I Institute and The Business Builder Daily.

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Please note you do not have access to teaching notes, city branding and museum souvenirs: towards improving the st. petersburg city brand: do museums sell souvenirs or do souvenirs sell museums.

Journal of Place Management and Development

ISSN : 1753-8335

Article publication date: 19 June 2019

Issue publication date: 27 September 2019

The purpose of this paper is to identify ways to develop museum shop product, which will possess competitive advantage, and to recommend what should be done to develop such product so that it has a positive impact on the city brand of St. Petersburg.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 76 museums have been studied through the observation method to describe their shops’ inventory in terms of percentages of each product. Mostly St. Petersburg museums were included in the analysis. The observation method enabled the researchers to analyse the inventory of the museum souvenir shops. The findings of the analysis enabled the researchers to reach conclusions about museums’ strategies of product development.

The research allowed to make the conclusion that although the museum shops in St.Petersburg demonstrate positive tendencies in the development of competitive stores’ products a lot of work is still to be done. Not all museums are characterised by availability of clear strategy for product development. They offer souvenirs (if any) which do not differ from those existing on the market according to topics and functions which are characteristic for them. Recommendations on how to make the product of museum shops more competitive were proposed.

Practical implications

Cities need new and fresh ways to create and promote their brands. Museums can contribute to this significantly with the help of souvenirs production. This research will provide insight into the process of how museums can do this by developing their shops’ inventory strategies. Recommendations to improve strategies for creation of competitive product were offered in the paper.

Originality/value

In today’s competitive conditions, museums are creating augmented products and create museum shops. Nevertheless, the role of museum shops in brand creation is underexplored. Museum shops have a high potential for creating high-quality products that may influence the museum and city brand in a positive way, as souvenirs and visual images of museum artifacts play an essential role in making an impression on tourists.

• Destination sub-brands
• Museum brand
• Museum shops

Acknowledgements

This article is an output of a research project implemented as part of the Basic Research Program at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE University).

Trabskaia, I. , Shuliateva, I. , Abushena, R. , Gordin, V. and Dedova, M. (2019), "City branding and museum souvenirs: towards improving the St. Petersburg city brand: Do museums sell souvenirs or do souvenirs sell museums?", Journal of Place Management and Development , Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 529-544. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMD-06-2017-0049

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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Vintage St. Pete: MGM’s Bounty

Her father was ship’s carpenter – he repaired, repainted and replaced every wooden inch of the 180-foot, three-masted sailing vessel, which in those days rarely sailed anywhere more exotic than Tampa, for the Gasparilla Festival “pirate invasion.”

Regan Garnett was 12 years old when she and brother spent that final summer at the Bounty exhibit. “It’s funny,” she says, “even going into Home Depot now, I smell the Bounty. That wood smell. And it was so hot! They had these big fans in there. All I wanted to do was walk down to the beach and get in the water.”

Captain/general manager Hugh Boyd and his son Tom. Boyd family photo.

The memories are even more visceral for Tom Boyd, whose own father was captain of the ship and general manager of the exhibit. The Bounty was Tom’s second home.

From memory, he can recite the narration that greeted visitors once they’d purchased their tickets, a recording of his dad’s voice giving a simple, easy-to-understand history lesson:

Well, ha-ha, hello there mates. Welcome to the Bounty. Say, have you noticed a special kind of flavor in the air since you came? Why it’s oakum, tar, black spruce, oak, pine and manila … yes, and even old sweat. That’s one way of knowin’ that you’ve not come aboard a phony, but a real wind-battlin’ timber-shakin’ swell-bustin’ windjammer. Ah, you could drop a sea-bag in any port in the world, and not see the likes of the ship you’re aboard right now. Say, if you’ve got a minute to spare and are partial to a little yarnin,’ I’ll tell you why that is. My name’s Hugh Boyd, I’m bosun on the Bounty and I’ve been with this barnacle-bottomed old wind harpy ever since she came down the ways in Lunenberg, Nova Scotia in 1960 and kissed into the Atlantic.

When Tom Boyd was 10, in 1979, his father put him to work. “They had me cleaning the toilets so that nobody thought I was a captain’s son,” Boyd laughs. “He said ‘Well, you can always say you worked your way up from the bottom.’”

The ending first

In 2012, the ship known as Bounty sank off the Coast of North Carolina during Hurricane Sandy. The then 62-year-old vessel was in the possession of the HMS Bounty Organization LLC, out of Fall River, Massachusetts, which sent her around the world on educational missions, film shoots and promotional tours.

The tragedy, in which Captain Robin Walbridge and crew member Claudene Christian died, marked the final leg of a remarkable journey.

Bounty was conceived in England, midwifed in Hollywood and birthed in Nova Scotia – but the square-rigger’s formative years were spent in St. Pete, where up to 250,000 visitors annually took above- and below-decks tours.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer commissioned the construction of Bounty in 1960, for use in the filming of Mutiny on the Bounty, the second American cinematic treatment of an actual 1789 rebellion aboard a British military vessel in the South Seas.

In MGM’s $19 million adventure, Marlon Brando played chief mutineer Fletcher Christian, driven to near-madness by the sadistic captain William Bligh (Trevor Howard).

In 1938, California’s Catalina Island stood in for Tahiti and Pitcairn, where the actual events took place. For its Ultra Panavision 70mm Technicolor spectacular, MGM sent actors and crew halfway around the world, to the original locations.

Using the original Bounty plans located in the British Admiralty Archives, a replica – slightly larger, to accommodate cameras, crew and equipment, and with twin diesel engines tucked away – was built in a shipyard in Lunenberg, Nova Scotia at a cost of $1 million. The faux Bounty set sail for the South Seas in August, 1960.

Aboard as an able-bodied seaman was Hugh Boyd, from nearby Dartmouth. Like most of the young crew, he’d signed on because the adventure – a voyage to Tahiti to make a movie with Marlon Brando? – sounded like heaven.

Upon arrival in Tahiti, as a rite of passage Boyd received his first earring. A fellow sailor punched a nail through his earlobe, and sterilized the wound with urine.

As Mutiny on the Bounty opened around the country in 1962, MGM sent its million dollar baby to coastal cities, as promotion. (The film, however, turned out to be a costly flop, and nearly bankrupted the studio).

While Bounty was berthed at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York, MGM’s marketing chief closed a deal with the St. Petersburg City Council to give the ship a permanent home in the Vinoy Basin, where it would remain tied up near the entrance to the pier as a tourist attraction.

Creating the bayfront

The attraction – officially called MGM’s Bounty Exhibit – opened on Friday, July 2. St. Petersburg mayor Herman Goldner gave a speech, and the ribbon was cut by former Miss America Mary Ann Mobley, flown in by the studio for the occasion.

Admission was 90 cents for adults, 50 cents for children.

Hugh Boyd was soon promoted to captain. His assistant exhibit manager, Jeff Frank, had also been on that voyage from New York to Florida, as an engineer.

Frank reported 85,000 visitors during Bounty’s first six months.

“We were never that sophisticated in our marketing to see how Disney drew our customers away from us.”

Anonymous visitors, date unknown.

Through she rarely left the dock, Bounty was maintained as a fully operational tall ship. “Gasparilla was a yearly trip, and everybody got so excited because we were actually moving her,” Tom Boyd reflects. “We didn’t put much sail up in those days, but we had good engines, and Dad was always an expert at picking out good engineers.”

Sometimes the crew would get hired out to raise the sails and visit Pensacola, or Fort Lauderdale, as a sort of mobile historical artifact.

Painter Don Fournier as the Bounty Santa. With Regan Garnett and her brother Paul. Garnett family photo

Hugh Boyd did a little bit of everything, although he wasn’t much for public speaking and conducting tours. He hired more gregarious people to talk to the customers.

“It was a surprising assemblage of skills,” his son says. “He’s immensely patient, and extraordinary generous, and really committed to the ship.

“I don’t know that he ever realized, but he took his role as steward of this ship in such high regard. And he was always one for restoring it, and bringing it back to its original grandeur.”

Recalls carpenter Paul Garnett: “Hughey knew everything about that ship inside out and backwards and forwards. I learned a lot about the way she was constructed in Canada. He was always our link to the past.”

Garnett was invited to join the team in 1979, after he’d hand-delivered a stunning 14-foot replica Bounty he’d created in his Boston workshop.

As planking, mast sections or trim cracked or rotted out, Garnett would replace them using – when it was available – the original lumber, and working from the original British blueprints.

Like Hugh Boyd, Jeff Frank, rigger Royd Wheedon and the others constituting the fulltime crew, Garnett took tremendous pride in his ship.

“After she went down in the hurricane,” Garnett says, “people were saying ‘Oh, well, it wasn’t a real ship – it was a movie prop.’ I saw red when I heard that. Because she was never, ever intended as a movie prop. The studio had built a ship made to go all the way to Tahiti under her own sail power. And then go around the world on a publicity tour.

“Now, you can’t do that on a ship that’s just a floating platform. How the hell do you send something like that across an ocean?”

She was, indeed, a  real wind-battlin’ timber-shakin’ swell-bustin’ windjammer.

Pirate ships

Garnett wasn’t able to go on Bounty’s biggest adventure, in 1982. Hired out to “play” a pirate vessel in the British/American comedy Yellowbeard, the ship motored across the Gulf of Mexico and through the Panama Canal to the shooting locations in Mexico.

His daughter, 9-year-old Regan, had been ill. She wrote him a letter – which he still has – imploring him not to take the trip, and, she admits today, guilt-tripping him.

Tom Boyd went along, however. At 13, he helped out in the kitchen and stood night watch.

Assistant manager Jeff Frank was on the voyage, too, but flew home to St. Petersburg before actual work on the movie began. Although the ship was gone, the Tahitian village and the gift shop remained open, and he had to get back to work.

Headed into Tampa for Gasparilla, from left: Jeff Frank Jr., unknown, Tom Boyd, Paul Garnett Jr. and Regan Garnett. Garnett family photo

Upon Bounty’s return, six months later, things quickly got back to normal.

The Bounty kids resumed their regular weekend routines of hanging around, getting sodas and chips from the vending machines and eating “lunch” with their feet up in the 18-foot longboat display.

An outdoor cage was added to the village, with a quartet of tiny squirrel monkeys inside. “And I had to clean up after the little buggers,” Tom Boyd says. “Occasionally, they would get loose – and they were just dying to get over to that ship. They hauled ass and would not be caught.”

Anonymous visitor, date unknown.

Regan Garnett: “My dad would be like, ‘You guys go sit and do something.’ He’d be in the back, carving and painting, and doing other stuff back there. And we’d terrorize the squirrel monkeys. I’d pitch rocks in the longboat. My shoe got stuck in one of the drain holes on the ship and went halfway down.”

“Kids would run around. The parents would try to get the real tour, with Mr. Boyd or whoever was giving the tour, so I’d take the kids and walk around. I’d try to do the same tour. It was like one of my first acting jobs.”

In 1985, cable TV magnate Ted Turner purchased MGM, including its legendary film library. He was surprised, the story goes, to find he was also the owner of a fully-operational sailing ship.

The exhibit at the St. Pete Pier was dismantled, and Bounty – still captained by Hugh Boyd – was completely refurbished, including a full set of sails, using Turner money. On Independence Day weekend 1986, it participated in the massive Parade of Tall Ships in New York harbor.

After a trip up and down the Eastern Seaboard, where Turner used the ship to entertain affiliates, he sent it south, where it was moored for three years at a Miami development called Bayside Marketplace.

Hugh Boyd stuck it out for a while, but resigned after the Bayside venture. Frank, Garnett and Wheedon had already bailed by that point.

Turner ultimately donated the vessel to the Fall River Chamber Foundation, which continued to bring Bounty to the Vinoy Basin for the winter months for much of the 1990s. There, without the Tahitian village, the squirrel monkeys or any mention of Marlon Brando, it would be available – a working historical artifact – for visitors to tour.

HMS Bounty Organization LLC bought the ship in 2001, and continued to lease her for film and TV work. Bounty appeared in the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and in the 2005 big-budget pornographic film Pirates (the filmmakers reportedly lied to the ship’s owners about the sort of movie they were making).

Then came Oct. 29, 2012. The last photos of Bounty show her foundering and sinking, 90 miles southeast of Hatteras, N.C.

For Paul Garnett, it was like losing a member of the family. “They had done so much to her,” he says. “To my way of thinking, she wasn’t even the Bounty any more. They had changed so much.

“All you have to do is look at pictures or her from the early years, and look at her later – right up to the time they took her out and lost her.”

Tom Boyd has a unique way of thinking about Bounty’s demise. “One of the more rebellious sailors on the ship decided to paint the bell orange with black polka dots,’ he remembers. “And I think about that bell resting on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, with a big ol’ octopus using it as a carapace.

“That’s where I’ve put her in my mind.”

This story appears in the book Vintage St. Pete: The Golden Age of Tourism – and More .

Rest in peace Hugh Boyd and Paul Garnet t.

Linda Schneegold

January 27, 2022at8:49 pm

Back in the mid 70s I was a sunken Gardens model and a model for the city of Saint Petersburg and I did several shots on the bounty ship. and I’m still alive and well and kicking and wished I could’ve been there in your archives, for this boat brings back a lot of memories. I climbed the mast and sat on the plank and it was wonderful

Walter Circle

April 11, 2022at8:27 am

I was born & raised in St.Pete.,Fl(aka: DaBurg by locals). When The Bounty was docked at the end of the inverted Pier in the 1960’s my Mother used to take me to tour The Bounty very often. I just wanted to walk around The Bounty & the village as often as Mom was willing to take me there. We went so often that Mom decided it would be cheaper at one point to purchase a pass good for one year of tours & I still have that Bounty pass. I’ll never forget walking around on the Bounty & was so sad to hear that she had sunk during hurricane Sandy. When I was in my 30’s I drove the trolley at the St.Pete. Pier for a couple years. I’ve bought a home & lived in Hudson,Fl for the past 12 years. 😎

William James

April 17, 2023at2:41 am

Watching the movie again, and decided to explore the ship’s history. Having been born in St. Pete (Mound Park), drove cab there, payroll clerk during building of Bayshore Towers, I’ve always regretted not touring the Bounty. So sorry to learn of her demise, and the loss of life.

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Open Access CAAS Agricultural Journals

Soil and Water Research

Soil & Water Res., 2021, 16(3) :164-173  |  DOI: 10.17221/95/2020-SWR

Soil pollution status of urban soils in St. Petersburg city, North-west of Russia Original Paper

The intensive urbanisation of terrestrial environments and industrial activity have an effect on the accumulation of risky metals in the soil and increase the toxicological risk to the terrestrial ecosystems and human health. Ninety-six topsoil samples from of St. Petersburg Russia as the source of the content of seven key risky metals (As, Cd, Pb, Zn, Ni, Cu, Hg) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been investigated. To identify the spatial distribution of the risky metals and PAHs, GIS technologies have been used. Based on the data obtained, interactive maps of urban soil pollution were made. The spatial distribution of seven metals and their metalloids greatly varied from the local anthropic inputs. The results indicate that the highest concentrations of copper, mercury and lead were found in the urban environment. The most polluted areas were located in the city centre and the areas adjacent to industrial zones. The topsoil in this area represents an environmental pollution risk with regards to the elements Cu > Pb > As > Zn > Ni > Hg > Cd. The contents of the risk-type elements in the industrial area were higher than those in other land-use types in the north of city, indicating a considerable risk of metal migration and accumulation to the Neva River, the Gulf of Finland and the groundwater.

Keywords: artificial alluvial landscapes; benzo(a)pyrene; risk elements; soil pollution

Published: June 23, 2021   Show citation

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Supplementary files:

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This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) (CC BY NC 4.0) , which permits non-comercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.