The potential of oxygen delignified fibers to replace fully bleached fibers in tissue products was investigated on softwood pulps. The absorption, mechanical properties and softness of laboratory tissue hand sheets from one commercial fully bleached pulp and five unbleached oxygen delignified lab pulps were compared. The pulps with different lignin content and total fiber charge were evaluated with and without PFI refining. The pulps subjected to oxygen delignification resulted in pulps with much higher total fiber charge content that led to higher swelling and higher wet strength when compared to the commercial fully bleached pulp. Some unbleached oxygen delignified pulps showed great potential in the absorption capacity, while others showed a much higher wet tensile strength when compared to the commercial pulp. Compared to the commercial bleached pulp, a similar softness for a higher wet and dry tensile index in the unbleached fibers was observed for the oxygen delignified pulps. Unbleached pulps subjected to an extended oxygen delignification proved to be a suitable alternative to fully bleached pulps in tissue grades, depending on the desired property (absorption or wet strength).