Making towels soft

apprentice_tycoon

calgon tablets look like dishwasher tablets - the box says that they prevent limescale build up in your washing machine, you are supposed to add one to every wash to keep the insides healthy also if you add one to your wash you need less detergent (if you normally add more because you are in a hard water area) . The towel treatment is just the tablet without the soap, they come out perfectly clean and softer than when they went in. I did my hard towels 2 months ago and I confess to not having used the tablets since then (my machine is very near to being replaced so I'm not too worried about looking after it's guts)

Curry_Queen

Vinegar and washing soda will prevent limescale build up

mrsmab59

I've tried various combinations and amounts of soap powder, vinegar, soda crystals and fabric softener to try to get my line dried towels softer, but without any success so far. Against my 'money saving old style' judgement I think I'll try some Calgon, but I do wonder if once a towel has roughened up nothing will soften it again...apart from a quick tumble in the dryer which I don't own

apprentice_tycoon

mrsmab59 wrote:

I think I'll try some Calgon, but I do wonder if once a towel has roughened up nothing will soften it again...apart from a quick tumble in the dryer which I don't own

Please give it a try, my son brought some seriously manky 'white' towels home from university, I 'Calgonned' them which softened them but they were still grey so I dyed them navy blue and he really thought that I had bought him some new towels to take back - by the way a stiff towel doesn't really improve with being tumbled

millie

I heard on Watchdog some years ago that you should not use fabric conditioner on towels, as it stops them being so absorbant, and also takes quite a few washes to remove all traces of it, if you decided to follow the advice. I cant be sure but I think the advice came from a Marks & Spencers towel washing instructions.

Alison_B

Our water is very hard where we live and we suffer a lot with limescale. I will give this a try. I wash the hand towel daily with the other washing, so can I use the Calgon with the other washing or am I best saving the towels and doing a single towel wash each week?

Thanks

Alison

apprentice_tycoon

Alison_B wrote:

Our water is very hard where we live and we suffer a lot with limescale. I will give this a try. I wash the hand towel daily with the other washing, so can I use the Calgon with the other washing or am I best saving the towels and doing a single towel wash each week?

Thanks

Alison

I would put all your towels (even if they are clean, just make up a load) in a neat calgon wash, and once they are done you might not have to do them like this for weeks to come, it's a sort of mainantence job that you do just when needed, as I said in one of my previous posts I did all my towels a couple of months ago and they haven't needed it since

halloweenqueen_2

I've got a water softener as we live in a hard water area, so hopefully there shouldn't be any limescale! We used to get through a shower unit a year and several washing machines until we got one.

squeaky

Actually, in a hard water area one way to protect against limescale build up is to use the economy option/button if your machine has one. Mine will then take in water hot/cold/both dependant on the cycle chosen - but not heat it. Most powders perform perfectly well at lower temperatures. Saves a LOT of electricity too.

BrightonLad

millie is exactly right - you should not use fabric softener on towels as it adversly affects their absorbancy.