8 Towel Care Tips to Refresh Towels Regularly
How often should you wash your towels, and what else can you do to refresh towels you own on a regular basis? Find out now.
There is nothing quite like stepping out of a hot shower and wrapping up in a soft, plush towel. It's the height of luxury really. You've got to put work into keeping this luxury available to you though.
Like your clothes, bath towels have certain care instructions you've got to follow in order to keep them soft. If you put them in with your other clothes or use a lot of fabric softener then you'll be tossing your towels out sooner than you want to.
To help you refresh towels, here are a few care tips you should take to heart.
- Wash Your Towels When You First Get Them
Towels are at their most plush when you first buy them from the store but you don't want to give in and use them quite yet. You need to wash them first.
toss them in your washing machine with 1/2 cup of white vinegar rather than using detergent. Vinegar will help the dyes set in your towels and stop the colors from running. It also stops your new towels from shedding all over you when you first use them.
- Always Wash Your Towels Together
You should always wash your towels together. If you toss them in with your regular clothes then the long fibers on them will make the short ones on your towels bunch up and pill.
Not to mention the zippers and buttons on your clothes will get threaded in the fibers of the towels and destroy them.
As a side note, drying your towels for too long can also cause them to pill. Always be mindful of your drying times.
- Use Vinegar for Chemical Buildup
After a few times of using a towel, chemicals from the water you use will build up on them. You'll know that this is happening because your towel will lose its absorbency.
So, toss in that 1/2 of white vinegar every few washes or so. It will get rid of the chemical buildup, fluff the fibers back out, and make them nice and soft again.
- Use Baking Soda for Bad Odors
You took your towel to the gym and forgot about it in your bag. It stays there until a week later when the towel starts to give off a musty smell. There are ways to get this smell out without using a ton of detergent or fabric softener.
The answer is baking soda. Put a 1/2 cup of baking soda in the wash with a little bit of detergent and your gross gym towel will smell fresh and clean again.
- Avoid Fabric Softener at All Costs
Fabric softener is public enemy number one to plush towels everywhere. Fabric softeners weigh down the fibers of the towel. This will decrease their absorbency and make them stiff.
Dryer sheets don't make for a positive alternative either. If you want to soften up your towels use tennis balls in the dryer instead. Tennis balls will bounce and with the towels and fluff them up.
- Don't Overstuff Your Wash
It's tempting to throw all your towels in one wash so you can get it over with but this is a bad idea if you've got a large number that needs to go in. When you overload your washing machine with heavy items such as towels you can break it.
Even if your washing machine can take the punishment, your dryer will have to work double-time to dry the towels. Chances are it won't be able to dry them all the way.
The warm air won't be able to circulate through the towels as it should so not only will it not dry them but it will mat the fibers as well. Your towels will come out stiff instead of fluffy like what you want.
- Hold Back on Tumble Drying
Tumble drying will make your towels fluff up. The problem is that depending on what material your towels are made out of, they can't take the heat. It will damage even the smallest of hair towels.
That being said, you don't have to avoid tumble drying altogether. You can alternate it with regular air drying.
You could also hang your towels out to dry on a line until they are halfway dry and then finish them off with a tumble dry. This will cut down the amount of time they have to be in the dryer so the heat won't do much damage.
- Don't Use as Much detergent
If you're doing all this and your towels still feel stiff, your detergent may be the culprit. Detergent leaves a residue on towels that can mat their fibers.
You don't have to stop using detergent but you should use less than the recommended amount on the bottle. If you're worried about your towels getting clean you can add a little bit of vinegar or baking soda to the wash.
You can also add the detergent to warm water first and let it dissolve before you toss your towels in.
Refresh Towels on a Normal Basis
Like any other clothing item you own, towels have special care instructions you have to abide by. If you dry them for too long or put them in with other towels the fibers can get matted and they will lose their softness. Use the tips that you've read here today to refresh towels on a normal basis.
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