I have ordered several pure cotton handkerchiefs and some of them. These are much softer. I use them because I have a runny nose due to allergies and using one of these multiple times is much less wasteful than using a tissue once. They wash well and have some wrinkles around the edges but are still usable. The whites on the edge white stripes have a wider stripe, and the cotton fabrics are all narrow, so if softness isn't an issue, the stripes tell me what kind of handkerchief I have. They can be conveniently used multiple times and folded in half.