Walk into any industrial laundry supplier or commercial textile distributor in Canada and you’ll see shop towels sorted into Grade A, Grade B, and Grade C categories. The grading system is widely used but rarely explained — which leads to buyers either over-spending on quality they don’t need or under-buying and dealing with towels that fall apart mid-shift. This guide breaks down exactly what each grade means, how the grades perform in real applications, and how to choose the right specification for your operation.
The Grade System: What It Actually Measures
Shop towel grades are a quality classification based on the condition of the towel — not the material. All three grades are typically made from the same base material (cotton terry), but they differ in the amount of wear, staining, and prior use they’ve seen. Grade A towels are the highest quality; Grade C towels are the most heavily used or stained but still structurally sound.
The grading system originated in the industrial laundry and rental industry, where companies sort and reclassify towels as they cycle through their service lives. Understanding this tells you something important: a Grade C towel isn’t a poorly made towel — it’s a Grade A towel that’s been through more wash cycles and has more visible wear.
Grade A Shop Towels
What They Are
Grade A shop towels are new or near-new towels in excellent condition. They have bright white colour (or close to it), no significant staining, intact hems and selvedge edges, and full absorbency. They’re typically sold as new production towels or as the top tier of reclaimed/laundered towels sorted from industrial laundry operations.
Performance
Maximum absorbency, lowest lint, most consistent dimensions, and the most presentable appearance. Grade A towels perform at or near new-towel specifications for every wash metric.
Best Applications
- Auto detailing and paint preparation — where surface quality matters and lint is not acceptable
- Food service environments where cleanliness and appearance standards must be maintained
- Healthcare and laboratory settings requiring clean, presentable wiping materials
- Customer-facing applications in hospitality and service industries
- Any application where towel condition reflects on professionalism
Cost
Grade A carries the highest per-unit cost — justified when surface quality, lint control, or appearance standards make lower grades unacceptable.
Grade B Shop Towels
What They Are
Grade B shop towels are in good used condition — fully functional, with moderate staining or discolouration that doesn’t affect performance. They’ve typically completed a number of laundry cycles and may show colour variation (yellowing, grey tones from oils or general use), minor hem fraying, or slight reduction in dimensional uniformity. Structurally, they’re intact and absorbent.
Performance
Good absorbency (typically 80–90% of new-towel performance), more lint than Grade A but acceptable for most industrial applications, and adequate durability for ongoing laundering. The most commonly specified grade for general Canadian industrial use.
Best Applications
- Machine shop and manufacturing floor cleanup — coolant, oil, and general debris wiping
- Automotive service bays for engine and undercarriage work
- Maintenance and MRO operations where appearance doesn’t matter but absorbency does
- General industrial cleaning where the cost savings versus Grade A are meaningful at volume
- Facilities that launder towels in-house and want a reliable baseline quality
Cost
Grade B offers the best value balance for high-consumption industrial operations — meaningfully cheaper than Grade A without the performance compromises of Grade C.
Grade C Shop Towels
What They Are
Grade C shop towels are heavily used towels with significant staining, discolouration, and visible wear. They may have minor edge fraying, oil and grease staining that has set into the fibres, or colour that’s well past white. Critically, they’re still structurally intact — not holed, not shredded — and they still absorb liquid effectively.
Performance
Absorption capacity varies more than in higher grades (some Grade C towels are still highly absorbent; others have some fibre compression from repeated laundering). Lint production is higher. Dimensions are more variable. The tradeoff for all of this is the lowest per-unit cost of the three grades.
Best Applications
- Heavy degreasing and solvent work where the towel is getting thoroughly saturated anyway
- Floor and equipment cleanup in high-mess environments like foundries, heavy fabrication, and mining
- Applying and wiping off rust inhibitors, penetrating oils, and similar products
- Any high-volume application where cost per task is the dominant factor and visual appearance is irrelevant
- Absorbent material for drip pans and sumps
Cost
Grade C is the most economical option — appropriate when you’re buying by the pallet and the application genuinely doesn’t benefit from higher-quality material.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Factor | Grade A | Grade B | Grade C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Condition | New/near-new | Good used | Heavily used |
| Colour | White/bright | Off-white/light grey | Stained/discoloured |
| Absorbency | Full (100%) | High (80–90%) | Variable (60–85%) |
| Lint | Lowest | Moderate | Higher |
| Appearance | Presentable | Industrial | Heavy-duty industrial |
| Best use | Detail, food, healthcare | General industrial | Heavy cleanup |
| Cost per unit | Highest | Mid | Lowest |
Common Buying Mistakes
Specifying Grade A for Heavy Industrial Work
Using Grade A towels in a machine shop doing degreasing and coolant cleanup is waste — a Grade B or C towel does the same job at lower cost, and it’s going to be saturated with oil anyway. Reserve Grade A for applications where its performance advantages actually matter.
Specifying Grade C for Surface-Sensitive Work
Using Grade C towels for automotive paint prep or woodworking finish application risks lint contamination and scratching from the coarser, more variable fibre surface. The cost savings don’t offset a contaminated paint job or a stained furniture finish.
Not Matching Grade to Wash Frequency
Operations that launder in-house can use Grade A or B and maintain quality longer with proper wash protocols. Operations that dispose of towels after use should probably use a lower grade (or reclaimed cotton rags) — paying for Grade A quality in a single-use context is poor economics.
What Most Canadian Facilities Actually Order
The majority of Canadian industrial operations use Grade B as their baseline shop towel for general use, with Grade A specified for specific high-care applications (detailing bays, food-contact surfaces, customer-facing work areas). Grade C is ordered by operations with the highest volume and the least sensitivity to towel condition — foundries, heavy fabrication, and bulk laundry operations that sort and re-grade their own inventory.
Buying Shop Towels in Canada
Wi-Supply stocks all three grades of cotton shop towels from Canadian inventory, sold by the dozen and by the case. We can help you identify the right grade for each work area in your facility — contact us to discuss your application and get a quote on the specification that makes sense for your operation.
