How do you stop towels turning into sandpaper?

[platinumsage]

I just washed one at 60C and dried it by hanging indoors. It's now stiff and sand-papery.

It seems all the towels end up like this, often sooner rather than later.

Am I buying crap towels? Washing them wrong? Is there any way to recover ones that go bad?

 

[MBV]

I know drying in the tumble dryer keeps towels fluffy.

 

[pogofish]

A good blow on the line helps and don't wash them so hot, unless you mainly use towels for mopping-up the blood and guts of your victims.

 

[weepiper]

Crunchy towels dry you better.

 

[maomao]

My wife swears by vinegar in the washing machine but I don't feel like the towels are dry unless they're a little bit crunchy.

Rain is a good fabric softener so if you leave them out in the rain accidentally just leave them till they're dry.

 

[Looby]

I hate crunchy towels and always finish them in the tumble dryer. No idea how to do it without one.

 

[danski]

Crunchy towels dry you better.

Yeah. I prefer them that way.

 

[gentlegreen]

You WASH your towels ?

 

[mx wcfc]

Crunchy towels dry you better.

This. Soft fluffy towels are rubbish. Give me an old tough one any day.

 

[platinumsage]

We've only got a washer/dryer, and it doesn't seem to make any difference whether I use the drying cycle on that or air dry them. I've also tried vinegar and soda, neither seemed to work.

Once a towel has gone like that, usually after a few months, it seems permanently fucked.

When I say sandpaper I'm not really exaggerating - I'd rather dry my face with a sheet of A4 paper than one of these towels.

 

[killer b]

why would you want to?

 

[platinumsage]

why would you want to?

For the same reason I don't use that bog roll that's like tracing paper.

 

[killer b]

But hard towels do the job you want a towel to do (ie. soak up the water on your body) better than soft ones, and you get an invigorating rub down at the same time. It's not really comparable to tracing paper bog roll, which fails in every respect

 

[baldrick]

Put on a delicates wash at 30 with minimal detergent and no fabric softener ever. Towels don't get that dirty as you're using them on a hopefully clean body. Then tumble dry until damp, then hang up.

I don't know how to revive a crunchy towel though. But my six month old towels are still fluffy like new.

 

[High Voltage]

Don't those tumble drier "balls" soften up towels or are they another "useful kitchen gadget"

 

[kabbes]

Don’t use fabric softener and always tumble dry them and they remain fluffy and absorbent.

 

[AnnaKarpik]

Don't use so much detergent; I use about a third of the recommended amount. I dry everything on the line and the towels aren't crunchy.

 

[pogofish]

Yes, just use the amount of detergent you need to actually get the wash clean. It will be a fraction of a scoop for a normal wash.

 

[WouldBe]

I always use fabric conditioner. Towels go thread bare before they go stiff and even cheap ones last me years.

 

[kabbes]

I always use fabric conditioner. Towels go thread bare before they go stiff and even cheap ones last me years.

It’s not about stiffness — fabric conditioner impedes absorbency

 

[geminisnake]

Never had sandpaper towels in 40 years of washing them. I use Fairy non bio, but never as much as the box says cos I detest overpowering washing powder, wash at 60, dry outside, works for me, they aren't so soft if they dry on the airer but still never sandpaper

 

[WouldBe]

It’s not about stiffness — fabric conditioner impedes absorbency

Can't say I've ever noticed a problem in that area.

 

[Guineveretoo]

I am with all the people who point out that crunchy towels are best at drying bodies/hands.

Fabric softener leaves itself on the towel, deliberately. It kind of coats it with slimy stuff with a strong smell and leaves it less absorbent.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Another vote for crunchy towels - feel nicer when you're drying yourself.

 

[Epona]

I am with all the people who point out that crunchy towels are best at drying bodies/hands.

Fabric softener leaves itself on the towel, deliberately. It kind of coats it with slimy stuff with a strong smell and leaves it less absorbent.

Fabric conditioner is evil - if you buy a shirt, never use fabric conditioner, and dry it on a hanger, it won't crease as much and there will be less (or even no) ironing involved in its lifetime.

If you want to spend the rest of your life ironing cotton/polycotton shirts then sure bung some fabric conditioner in the wash.

 

[platinumsage]

I’m surprised by everyone saying they like sandpaper towels. I assume what other people think of by the concept is different from what I experience. I don’t just mean not fluffy, but actively painful to rub on your skin.

This whole thing vexes me mightily tbh. Especially as there’s no consistency in reports of various things causing or not causing it, or of which things might resolve it.

 

[Riklet]

Buy better towels and wash them less often.

 

[moomoo]

I much prefer hard towels to soft and fluffy ones.

 

[JimW]

I prefer actual sandpaper, not this woke towelling nonsense.

 

[story]

My granny’s towels were always rough and crunchy. I always thought it was because she dried them on the line in a very hot climate. I assumed they were cooked or something.

My towels have never gone crunchy although they’re not as soft as when I bought them.

I‘ve used various different soaps over the years, including washing up liquid when I’ve been poor or run out of the proper stuff. I never use fabric conditioner. Everything is dried on the rack or outdoor, I’ve never had a rumble drier. Never any crunch.

Like others, I hate the residue of soap on my laundry so I use less soap, run it at the allergy setting, and run a rinse cycle immediately afterwards. I’m always surprised by how much soap comes out in the second rinse.

No idea what makes towels crunchy (and platinumsage , I get how very rough they can get, my Granny’s towels were not only crunchy but stiff as a board too) or not crunchy.

On reflection, maybe my Granny just used a shit-tonne of soap in her laundry to make them like that. Like the punks using soap to get their mohicans to stand upright.