I have to apologize to Wirecutter and BB&B. It turns out my cat was the culprit. She clawed up two other brands of towels in addition to the Dri-Soft. The towels aren't bad, just the cat! We ended up buying the Dri-Soft in several more colors and now prefer them to heavier, more plush towels. (FWIW, we just snipped off the pulls in the towels and they look fine.)
I have to apologize to Wirecutter and BB&B. It turns out my cat was the culprit. She clawed up two other brands of towels in addition to the Dri-Soft. The towels aren't bad, just the cat! We ended up buying the Dri-Soft in several more colors and now prefer them to heavier, more plush towels. (FWIW, we just snipped off the pulls in the towels and they look fine.)