Old towels

DebtKiller

Looking for some advice please!

I have a bunch of white towels that I've had for a good few years. They are now more off-white and tend to be very rough/stiff to use. Ordinarily I would just fling these in the rubbish and replace them with new, but I am trying to make 2009 the year I become more "OS", so:

(a) Can I just put them in a 90 degree wash to try and bring them back to a shiny white colour, or is there something extra that should go in the wash with them? They are 100% cotton.

(b) Is there any way to make them less rough/stiff once they have dried?

Any advice would be appreciated!

thriftlady_2

Can't help you with the roughness because we like our towels rough -cheap exfoliation you know;) but to cheer up yellowing white towels why not dye them? I dyed some old towels very sucessfully in the washing machine (Dylon).

sexymouse

If you do decide to get rid of them, try offering them to a local animal shelter - quite frequently they need old towels for bedding and cleaning.

nesssie1702

I'm with Thriftlady on hard rough towels - think they're great for drying the skin off as well as the exfoliation effect Fluffy towels just spread the wet around rather than drying.

You could try using some of the Glowhite powder in your 95ºC wash (if it works on net curtains, why won't it work on towels?) and maybe someone else will correct me, but is vinegar not meant to be a good substitute for fabric softener?

Dying them is a good idea too.

I use my old towels for drying the dog off when we come in from a walk - saves the hall wall getting little mud splats on it :eek:

FrenchMaid_2

I would wash them at 90, put some white vinegar in the rinse, once washed hang into sunshine... should do the trick. Am personally not too fussed if the whites get a bit offwhite, but my dh is. This always works for my bedding, shirts, towels. I don't mind if they are a bit hard to be honest, as other said cheap exfoliation!

Bronnie

Soak overnight in cold water bleach solution as per directions on bottle. But use a decent bleach, not value thin bleach.

hilstep2000

The only way I know to not have rough towels is to tumble dry them, not very OS though!

luxor4t

I second dyeing them, but do follow the instructions carefully as mine ended up splotchy when I economised on the salt

Larumbelle

Soak them in lemon juice and water. Works on my grotty white towels!

OddjobKIA

At the end of the day it's a towel..you use them to dry yourself, as nice white ones look good and paling one still dry's you just as good...

as for softing them try using a good onditioner in the wash and dry in tumble dryer or over hot rads..

PasturesNew

DebtKiller wrote: »

.. Ordinarily I would just fling these in the rubbish and replace them with new ...

For anybody reading, my mum takes old towels to the local Cats Protection League/similar. They seem really grateful to get some as they get through a lot.