Updated : November 28, 2025
Published : February 24, 2023
Help & Advice

The towel swan is associated with Caribbean cruises and luxury holiday resorts, so it makes sense that people would want to recreate something similar in their own homes. It’s a way of keeping alive the memories of holidays gone by and a surefire way to impress your guests.

There is no shortage of towel animals to choose from, but the swan is perhaps the most romantic, and it’s also a nice, easy one for towel-folding beginners.

In this post, we’ll show you how to make a swan from a towel step-by-step.

How to fold a towel into a swan

To start, grab a towel (make sure it’s dry) and lay it out on a flat surface. It makes sense to fold your swan on the bed so you can leave it there once it’s finished.

1. Position your towel in a landscape position with its longest sides at the top and bottom. Then find the centre of the towel and fold the top two corners down towards each other so they meet in the middle forming a triangle.

2. Roll your triangle’s outside edges towards the middle. This should leave you with something that looks like an arrow.

3. Fold your arrow into a Z shape, so the pointed end becomes the ‘head’ of the swan. Then gently tease out the bottom of the arrow (the swan’s ‘body’), so it has a broad enough base to keep it upright.

These instructions sound simple enough, but as always, the proof is in the doing. If you’re still struggling to get it right, try searching for a video tutorial on YouTube that takes you through the process step-by-step.

Which towels make the best swans?

A standard-sized bath towel is the best type of towel for making a swan (avoid bath sheets as these are too big). You can use any colour towel you like, but it makes sense to use a white towel for a swan.

Towels that have just been washed are ideal, as they are still fluffy and less likely to collapse.

Tip and tricks for making a towel swan

If you’re struggling to get your towel swan to stay upright, try making two, so they can lean against one another.

Position the swans, so their heads are touching. Not only does it help to support them so they don’t topple over, but the shape of the swan’s neck creates a romantic heart shape.

Add fan-shaped towels to the sides and back of your swan for an extra special touch. These fans can be positioned to look like the swan’s wings or the ripple of water left behind by the swan as it glides serenely across your guest bed.

Smaller towels – hand or face towels – are ideally suited to making these fans.

Other towel-folding ideas

Once you’ve mastered making a swan from a towel, you can graduate to more complex towel animals. Here are just a few for you to consider next.

1) Towel elephant

2) Monkey

3) Snake

4) Teddy bear

5) Dog

6) Rabbit

Some towel animals are easier to fold than others, but there is plenty of enjoyment to be had in trying them all. Why not get the kids involved and teach them how to fold a towel into a swan?

What started in the 1980s on Carnival cruises in the Caribbean has spread to the rest of the world. The towel swan is now the mark of a luxury, tropical resort. And with enough towels (and patience), you can create your own menagerie of towel animals to wow your family and friends!

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