Soften hard towels and ‘bring them back to life’ with two cheap household items
Even the best quality towels can eventually become stiff, hard and scratchy due to a common laundry mistake, but it is easy to restore them with items you likely already have in your kitchen cupboard.
Towels can easily become hard and crispy over time if not washed properly, but there is a simple way to restore towels to get them soft again.
It may seem obvious to wash towels with fabric softener, but it is a common mistake many people make as softener will build up in towels and weigh the fabric, causing them to become scratchy over time
Lynsey Crombie, Britain’s most popular cleaning expert also known as the Queen of Clean, has shared that towels need to be washed differently from the rest of your laundry.
She said: “Always wash your towels separately and with no other garments. Choose a gentle laundry detergent without additives as this will stop the colour fading and will protect the fibres.
“My personal choice is SURF laundry detergents in liquid form. For fluffiness adding a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda to the laundry detergent drawer can help bring them back to life and, for strong odours add in a capful of white wine vinegar.”
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It may seem unusual, but vinegar is one of the best products to restore towels as it is mildly acidic, which can dissolve the fabric softener caught in the towels' fabric.
Vinegar’s acidity also helps relax the fabric fibres, which will help restore them and naturally make them softer to the touch.
Baking soda is alkaline which means it can break down any remaining residue the vinegar may not be able to dissolve.
All you need to do is place towels in the washing machine and add roughly 230ml of white vinegar and 120g of baking soda to a detergent drawer.
Place the towels on a regular hot wash without using any detergent and your towels should come out of the washing machine fluffy once again.
In the future, make sure to wash towels regularly without fabric softener and they should naturally stay soft.
Lynsey said: “Wash your towels at least once a week. But if you are a clean freak like me - three to four times a week.”
Always wash towels separately from other laundry and make sure not to leave them on the floor, as this can also change their texture.
Be careful when drying freshly washed towels as if the temperature gets too hot on your dryer it can also cause them to become crusty again.
Lynsey said: “If using a tumble dryer always use a low setting and remove them when they are still slightly wet to keep them supple and absorbent. Overheating can wear down the fibres. Then air dry or put neatly in the airing cupboard.
“I love to hang my towels on the line but try not to have the sun directly on them to save the sun from bleaching them. Hide behind another garment or hang in a more shaded area.”
