How to Snap a Towel

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: March 29, 2019 References

If you’ve ever wanted to get a laugh out of people, you can try to whip them with the end of a towel. If you roll up your towel before you whip them, it will make an even bigger impact. When snapping a towel on other people, it's important that you know they are a good sport and won't get angry with you. Once you find a suitable target and know the right technique, snapping a towel is easy.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Creating a Towel Whip

1
Lay a dry or damp towel flat on a table or the ground. Make sure that your towel doesn’t have any wrinkles or folds in it. You can rub the towel with the palm of your hand to get all of the wrinkles out of it.^{[1]
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Fold the left corner of the towel up to the top edge of the towel. Fold the left corner of the towel so that the left edge runs flush with the top edge of the towel. This should make the left side of the towel look like a triangle.^{[2]
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3
Roll the fabric along the folded edge. Take the angled edge that you created by folding the towel, grip it, and start rolling it up tightly. Keep it as tight as possible as you roll. Continue rolling until the entire towel is rolled up.^{[3]
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Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Getting Ready to Snap

1
Wrap one end of the towel around your dominant hand. Place one end of the towel in the palm of your hand and wrap it around the back of your hand once. The towel can act as a handle and will give you more control over your whip.^{[4]
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2
Hold the other end of the towel with your hand so that it doesn’t unravel. If your towel comes undone, it will become loose and will not be as effective. Make sure that you keep it rolled up before you snap it.^{[5]
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3
Wet the other tip of the towel. Dip the end of the towel that you're not holding into water and get it fully saturated. Getting it wet will help with the snapping action when you whip your towel. The entire process of creating a towel whip should only take around 10-20 seconds.^{[6]
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4
Grab both ends and wind up the towel for a quick whip. If you don't have time to prepare a whip, you can create a quick one. Hold onto both ends of the towel and move your hands around in circles to rotate the towel in one direction. This should spin the towel on top of itself and create a whip.
- This is not as good as folding and rolling your towel.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Whipping Your Towel

1
Stand sideways facing your target. Don’t square up your body when you’re ready to flick your towel. Instead, stand sideways, so that your dominant shoulder is pointed towards the target. Turn your head so that you can see what you’re whipping.^{[7]
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2
Lean in and release the towel from your nondominant hand. Lean into your target and slightly bend your dominant leg. Release one end of the towel so that it can extend and go towards your target.^{[8]
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Flick your dominant wrist. Quickly flick your wrist towards your target, immediately after letting go of the towel with your nondominant hand. The towel should shoot forwards towards your target.^{[9]
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4
Try to hit the target with the tip of your towel. Try to aim the towel so that the tip hits your target. This is the most painful part of the towel to be whipped with.^{[10]
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5
Practice the snapping motion. The more that you practice, the more accurate your towel whips will be. Practice on an inanimate object and try to hit a specific part of the object. You can also whip your towel to hit flies or bugs that are bothering you.