The idea of a rope towel rail for the bathroom or kitchen came from working with the excellent 24mm polished hemp rope in the making of stair ropes and handrails. This is a very hard laid (tightly twisted) rope, 4 strand with a core: it holds its shape really well and doesn't scuff up easily. A round and a straight rail made of this rope are shown below.

Round rope towel rails

The round configuration is the tightest circle which can be made with the rope without distortion.

The sailors' turks head knot covers the join of the the rope (which is carefully stitched and bound) and also brings this join up to the same stiffness as the rest of the ring.

• 24mm diameter rope
• Polished hemp with a Turks Head knot
• Measures about 22cm diameter

Straight rope towel rails

This rope towel rail features a manrope knot at each end: another well known ship's knot, it is tied with the four unlaid strands of the same rope.

The straight rail can be made to measure if you have a particular space for it.

• 24mm diameter rope
• Polished hemp with manrope end knots
• Measures 55cm length approx. or to spec.

Hoop rope towel rails

The hoop towel rail features a decorative ropework technique called a grapevine service. At sea, a service on a rope or ring would protect against chafing.

A 3mm cord is worked around a solid ring with a netting needle, creating a spiral effect.
The shades of the natural fibre hemp may vary from reel to reel; Polypropylene cord comes in strong bright colours - red, blue, yellow, green and white.

• Decorative hitching
• In natural hemp or coloured polypropylene
• Measures 14cm diameter

The WROUGHT IRON BRACKETS shown here are available in a number of finishes with various base plates. Designed as stair rope brackets, they are much stronger than the standard brass and chrome towel rail fittings. This means the straight towel rail with the iron brackets would in effect be a safe hand rail. (it should be noted that the round configuration is NOT strong enough to hang from because the join in the rope is only stitched)