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Making towels soft

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  • sparrer
    sparrer Posts: 7,548 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker I've been Money Tipped!
    Fabric softener reduces absorbency so try using vinegar in its place. Works just as well if not better, doesn't leave a chip shop smell and is a lot less expensive.
  • liz105
    liz105 Posts: 378 Forumite
    I dry them over doors at home, Im in a flat with two little ones so both large airers are always full without large bath towels to contend with.

    Im not keen on using the dryer on our washer dryer and try to avoid it due to expense. does anyone think that perhaps a very hot wash or cold wash followed by a long one off tumble try might get them back to life?
    Mummy to two girls, 4 & 1, been at home for four years, struggling to contend with the terrifying thought of returning to work.
  • BitterAndTwisted
    BitterAndTwisted Posts: 22,492 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I'd give them a really hot wash with half of the manufacturers recommended dosage of detergent. And then use vinegar in the last rinse instead of fabric conditioner. Line dry if possible. I suspect the hardness may be due to a combination of detergent and fab con build-up and not drying them quickly enough.
  • Molly41
    Molly41 Posts: 4,919 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I would wash them at a hot temp without detergent and fabric conditioner.
    I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer.
    Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
    I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over and through me. When it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
    When the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
  • torbrex
    torbrex Posts: 71,340 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker Rampant Recycler Hung up my suit!
    If you have any of those 'dryer balls' you could stick them in with your towels (once dry) on a short spin cycle, this will remove most of the hardness in the towels from the drying process.

    The slower the spin the better and the more 'dryer balls' the better, I know one person that has a pair of trainers that she user just for doing this, she says they kick the hardness out of her towels :)


    Just for the record, I prefer a 'hard' towel to a soft one any day :D
  • frosty
    frosty Posts: 1,169 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I wash mine as normal,then I spin them in a little spin dryer which takes about a pint of water out.Then they go on the radiators for about 30 mins,I turn them over and they dry very quickly.Then I put them in the dryer for about 10 mins and they come out soft and fluffy.
  • good_advice
    good_advice Posts: 2,653 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker Mortgage-free Glee! Rampant Recycler
    The towels are hard because you air dry. Mine are the same, even new ones I bought at Christmas.
    Tumble dryer seems the only way to make them soft and fluffy again.
    The secret to success is making very small, yet constant changes.:)
  • zippychick
    zippychick Posts: 9,339 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker I've been Money Tipped!
    ive added this to our thread on making towels soft

    Used for old towels may also help

    Zip
    A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men :cool:
    Norn Iron club member #380

  • daisyroger
    daisyroger Posts: 55 Forumite
    Just use hot water with some stain remover detergent and soak it for minimum 30 mins.
  • Chris25
    Chris25 Posts: 12,918 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic I've been Money Tipped!
    I find that if you being them in from the line when they're 'touch' dry helps - they don't seem to come in like boards :)

    Also, if you rub them againgst each other before shoving into airing cupboard, that softens them a bit.

    And, if like one of my friends, you iron them, don't! :D
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