How to wash towels so they stay soft

A new towel feels wonderful. After a few months, many towels feel stiff and dry you less well. That is almost never the towel’s fault. It is how it is washed. Here is how to keep towels soft for years. This guide works for the Golfslag bath towel 70 x 140, the hand towel 50 x 100, the guest towels and the bath mats.

Before first use

New towels have a finish from the factory that makes them less absorbent, and they shed some lint. Wash them two or three times before you use them. After that, they absorb better and the lint stops.

Leave out the fabric softener

This is the most important tip. Fabric softener makes towels feel soft at first, but it coats the cotton loops with a thin layer. That layer repels water. Your towel absorbs less, and over time, the layer builds up and makes the towel feel stiff and waxy.

Want softer towels without softener? Add half a cup of white vinegar to the softener compartment. It removes soap residue and limescale, and the smell disappears when the towel dries.

Use less detergent

More detergent doesn’t make towels cleaner. What the machine can’t rinse out stays in the fibers and makes them stiff. Use the amount on the pack for a normal load, or a little less in soft water.

Choose the right temperature

Wash towels at forty or sixty degrees. Sixty degrees is better for kitchen towels and for towels used by someone who is ill. Wash colored towels separately from white ones the first few times.

Don’t overfill the machine

Towels need room to move in the water to get clean and to rinse well. Fill the drum to about three quarters.

Shake before drying

After washing, shake each towel firmly a few times. That opens up the loops that were pressed flat in the machine.

Drying

A tumble dryer on a low setting gives the softest result. On a line, towels dry stiffer, especially in strong sun or wind. Hang them in a breeze, and give them five minutes in the dryer at the end if you have one. Or rub them between your hands once they are dry.

Don’t leave wet towels in the machine or in a laundry basket. They start to smell within hours. The laundry basket 40 liters, plastic, has holes that let damp laundry breathe on the way to the line.

Between washes

Hang towels open to dry after every use, not folded on a hook. A freestanding towel rack gives each towel room. A towel that dries quickly stays fresh longer.

Microfiber towels, like the microfiber hair towel, follow the same rules: no softener, and wash them separately from cotton towels.