They are soft, however, we bought these while in transition of combining three homes into one. The towels shed like crazy, after about 2 months of owning (washing every few days and also always being hung up after use to dry) I began noticing a musky smell (the towels are used in 3 separate bathrooms in the house and the smell is no where else.) I wash all the towels together (about 10 per load in a very large washer) and literally have to dry them two and half cycles (64 min cycles) and clean out the lint filter between each drying cycle. The washer and dryer are brand new as well, so I know the washer and dryer aren't the issue, not to mention all of the other clothes wash and dry fine. I am at a whits end with these towels, we are going to buy new towels this weekend and tossing all of these.