For household washing machines, the best temperature to wash towels at is at around 40 degrees. Washing at 40 degrees will ensure your towels stay feeling and looking their best for longer, whilst removing most of the germs that breed there.
Towels should be washed in warm or hot water, typically between 49-60°C (120-140°F), to effectively remove dirt, oils, and bacteria.
Since most towels are made from cotton, including the ones at Towel Super Center, we suggest setting the wash temperature to at least 40 degrees on the White/Colors cycle. Wash towels separately from the rest of your laundry and check to ensure there are no specific washing instructions on the towel labels.
Always wash dish cloths and kitchen towels on hot and on a regular/heavy duty cycle. These are items that must be laundered on hot. You've used them to wipe up milk or wash dirty dishes and they need to be washed on hot water to best activate the detergent you are using.
To help get odor out of towels, it's best to wash them separately and using hot water. Towels are thick and have many fibers to absorb water, dirt and residue in their everyday use. Hot water penetrates the fibers best and helps your detergent do its job.
The bulky wash cycle is an ideal washing machine setting for large items such as blankets, comforters, towels, outerwear, small rugs, and pillows.
Always wash darks and lights separately, and wash your towels on a different cycle to your clothing or bed linen. Be sure not to use too much detergent, fabric softener or other liquids in the wash and keep it at a low temperature.
Wash Every Few Days
The best way to wash colored towels is with warm water and color-safe bleach, if necessary. For white towels, use hot water and non-chlorine bleach as needed. White towels should be washed separately or with other white items to avoid subtle discoloration over time.
You need to use a water temperature that's between 140 and 150 degrees to kill bacteria.
There are several potential causes, including detergent residue, mineral buildup, and friction during the washing process. Towels are absorbent, which means they're especially prone to collecting soap and fabric softener residue that doesn't properly rinse out in the wash.
Don't wash those clothes
This is an odd one. According to folklore, if you wash clothes on New Year's Day, you'll be “washing for the dead” or washing a loved one away -- meaning someone in your household will die in the coming year. Get your laundry washed, dried, folded and put away by New Year's Eve.
Dead skin cells, bacteria, and even sweat can accumulate quickly on your towels, so using a fresh one about every three days is a simple rule of thumb—for all kinds of towels.
The simplest way of killing horrible germs is to put your bed sheets through a hot water wash. This means setting your machine to a 60° cycle.
What is the best detergent to wash towels? Heritage Park All-Purpose Laundry Detergent is a great choice for washing towels. It is a pH-neutral, plant-based, detergent that uses a proprietary enzyme blend to remove dirt, stains and odors without damaging fabric.
Without a tumble dryer, hotels might use drying racks in well-ventilated areas. They sometimes add vinegar to the final rinse cycle as a natural fabric softener. Gentle manual fluffing of the towels once they are dry is also common to preserve their fluffiness.
Generally, warm or hot water is recommended for washing towels. Use a cycle specifically for towels or a normal/regular cycle. A sanitizing cycle can also be used, but may not be recommended for every wash, depending on the towel fabric.
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.
Washing towels needs a regular cotton or colors/darks cycle with a high spin speed. Fabric softener isn't always recommended as it can reduce towel absorbency - meaning that you towels may be fluffier but not necessarily cleaner.
This cycle is similar to bulky, however, heavy duty is better for dirtier and thicker garments like work clothes, coats, towels, and even bedding. We recommend using the heavy duty wash cycle to wash: Towels.
Don't Overfill the Washer
Too many towels washed at once won't get clean, but too few means greater agitation for quicker wear and tear. Most front-loading washing machines can fit seven standard-size bath towels; top-loading washers can fit around nine or ten.
"Regular washing, or about once every one to two weeks, is recommended to maintain cleanliness and a healthy sleep environment," says Harris. Once a week if you don't use a top sheet. Once a month if you do.
"Bath towels and hand towels should be laundered after every three uses," says Dr. Maender. "This helps remove the contaminants that can cause infections and reduce odor-causing bacteria." No one likes a funky-smelling towel, but potentially harmful microbes represent the important health concern.
Eichholz agrees, and states that hot water is actually not good for your towels, as it damages the fibers over time. “We recommend washing your towels in cold water—we promise it kills just as much bacteria as the hot water,” she says.