Add Distilled White Vinegar and Wash as Usual Do not add any detergent or fabric softener. Instead, add two cups of distilled white vinegar to the washer drum. The vinegar will help strip away the residue left in the towels that is causing them to feel stiff.
Baking soda slightly softens the water making the detergents more effective. Baking soda and vinegar together are a pretty good stain remover. Additionally, the vinegar helps removes excess soap from the towel, making it feel softer.
Drying Techniques: Hotels may use specialized drying techniques to ensure towels remain fluffy and soft. Tumble drying on low heat or using a lower heat setting prevents overheating and excessive shrinkage. Some hotels also use dryer balls or tennis balls to fluff up towels during the drying process.
Mix half a cup of baking soda along with a normal detergent dose for fluffier and cleaner towels. Baking soda also naturally eliminates musty and mildew smells that come from towels remaining damp for too long.
Utilizing vinegar as part of your towel care routine is incredibly effective, but it's also environmentally friendly, nontoxic, and cost-effective. It works as a natural alternative to commercial fabric softeners, which often contain chemicals that can harm your towels and the environment.
Towels are hard after washing because they build up soapy residue and are over-dried. Here's the good news: With a few simple tricks, you can restore your towels to their original softness and help ensure that they never go scratchy again. Use warm water.
Many believe that to keep towels soft and fluffy, you need fabric softener and dryer sheets. However, as mentioned above, fabric softener and dryer sheets contain PDMS, which will coat the towel fibers and cause them to lose absorbency and become stiff and scratchy.
Hotel towels dry so well due to a combination of factors, including their high-quality materials and specialized laundering techniques. Hotels typically use towels made from 100% cotton, which is highly absorbent and quick-drying.
Use a fabric softener like Lenor in your dispenser drawer, which will act as a lubricant and help your towels to stay soft. Store your towels in a dry place neatly folded side-by-side rather than in stacks, to prevent the bottom towels from being crushed by the ones above.
The short answer is no. And the long answer goes like this: When used together, baking soda and vinegar will neutralize each other, effectively canceling out the benefits of low pH for vinegar and high pH for baking soda.
Epsom salt can help soften towels, particularly new ones. Add about half a cup of salt to the wash cycle with your detergent. Salt works by loosening fibres and removing residue, leaving towels feeling softer. However, this method is best used occasionally to avoid excessive wear on the fabric.
“Give the towels a nice shake out and let them dry naturally or on a low setting in a tumble dryer,” advises Lucy. “A good blow in the fresh air should help to fluff the loops up, a sort of natural tumble dry.”
Using vinegar in laundry is simple. You can add it to the fabric softener dispenser in your washing machine or pour it in during the final rinse cycle. When adding vinegar towards the end of the cycle, manually pause your machine right before the final rinse cycle and add a 1/2 cup of diluted white vinegar to the load.
It is a simple way to prevent a break-in. Thieves often use long wires, inserting them through the gap under the door to unlock the lock from the inside. With the towel, their methods become ineffective.
Japanese towels are known for their durability. They are often made from high-quality materials that can withstand frequent use and washing without losing their quality or absorbency. This durability makes them a long-lasting investment. Japanese towels frequently feature unique and aesthetically pleasing designs.
For the shortest drying time, opt for a towel bar instead of hooks, and hang one towel spread out across the length of the bar. The more surface area exposed to the air, the faster a towel will dry—and the less likely it is to mildew or smell. If you must use a robe hook, hang only one towel per hook.
Baking soda or vinegar will do the trick. BAKING SODA: Adding baking soda to your towel wash helps remove soap and chemical residue that can end up covering your towels. Add half a cup of baking soda with your washing detergent, then wash as usual.
A set of wool dryer balls can speed up drying time, get towels and clothes softer, and avoid the messy build-up of fabric softener and dryer sheet chemicals on your laundered items.
Dryer sheets work well for most everyday items made of natural fibers, such as cotton shirts, pants and socks, but it's best to avoid using dryer sheets on athleticwear & microfiber, towels, flame-resistant clothing and water-repellent fabric.
Bonus Tip - Vinegar
If your towels are very stiff and scratchy, try adding around 250ml of vinegar to a wash along with your laundry liquid. Add it to the washing machine drum just before you load and set the cycle going, don't worry, it won't make your washing smell like a bag of chips.
At Fine Linen and Bath, we always recommend washing new towels before using them. A few washes with a gentle detergent will remove the silicone coating and break-in your new towels (see below for towel care guidelines).
Hard Water. Minerals like calcium and magnesium in hard water can make towels rough and scratchy. These minerals build up on the towel fibers, causing them to lose their softness over time. The mineral buildup also leads to a dull color and overall fabric deterioration.