Content

• Steps
• Tips
• Warnings
• What do you need

Have you ever noticed that new towels seem to repel water rather than absorb it? It usually takes a lot of washings for a towel to become more absorbent, but with these tips, you can speed up the process a little.

Steps

1. 1 Wash each towel in hot water before using. Some people wash towels twice (no drying). Washing the towel in hot water will remove excess dyes and any coatings (such as fabric softener) left over from the manufacturing process. Do not wash anything with them, because colored towels can fade; also, towels tend to leave residual fluff on other garments.
2. 2 Add a cup of white vinegar to the rinse cycle. Dilute the vinegar first, or wait until the water level is high enough to instantly dilute it; otherwise, it may discolor your towels. You can add 1/2 cup of baking soda to the second wash cycle, but do not use baking soda and vinegar in the same rinse. If your powder container has a dispenser for liquid fabric softener, add vinegar to it.
   • Please note that these are time-tested folk remedies. When vinegar (acid) or baking soda (alkali or base) separates (chemically breaks down), the atoms can freely re-combine with minerals, salts, and other chemicals that have accumulated in forms that are easier to wash off.
3. 3 Avoid using fabric softeners of any kind. Fabric softeners coat the surface of the fabric with a thin layer of chemicals (oils), which makes the fibers hydrophobic (oils and water do not mix). If you can't figure out how not to use fabric softener when washing your towels, use amidoamine softeners if available, but vinegar should help soften them anyway.
   • Don't be discouraged if you've used fabric softener before. You can get rid of it to increase the absorbency of the towel by doing the following: Put 1/2 cup of baking soda in the laundry detergent and add this mixture to the washing machine. Then add 1/2 cup vinegar to the gargle drawer.
4. 4 Ready. You are now the owner of slightly more comfortable, more absorbent towels!

Tips

• Baking soda will make your towels cleaner and whiter; vinegar will get rid of odors and stains. Both are great for washing cloth diapers.
• Bamboo towels are generally more absorbent than cotton towels, even from the start. If you can find them, try using them.
• For storage purposes, it is recommended that you keep two sets of towels for each person in the family, plus an extra set for guests. If you are alternating sets by purchasing them at different times, you can try to have at least one soft set while you are processing a new set!
• Towels should be washed regularly. Once a week is the normal time to hang towels to dry after washing, or every few days for those people who are highly exposed to dirt (eg builders, gardeners, developers, cleaners, etc.).
• Put two rubber drying balls (old tennis balls are fine too - just make sure they are clean) in the towel machine as you dry them. This will help fluff up the towels, making them more absorbent.
• White vinegar is an excellent fabric softener. It is excellent at reducing static electricity on most fabrics and helping to soften towels.
• Softening new towels is a relatively slow process. It can take a couple of months or more washes with any fabric softener to completely soften the towel and give it its full absorbent potential.
• You can hang towels on the outside of the string to give them a fresh scent and make them more absorbent; also drying ropes are better for the environment and cheaper. In addition, towels that hang outside tend to hold their shape better. On the other hand, rope-dried towels can feel coarser to the touch than dryer-dried towels. You can soften them after rope drying by crushing them in the dryer for 3-5 minutes. Or just learn to love the sensation of freshly dried towels; in any case, it softens after the first use, as soon as moisture gets on the fibers of the towel.

Warnings

• A towel that produces a lot of lint after washing should be washed again.
• Don't use vinegar and baking soda in the same rinse. The chemical reaction will create a lot of foam, which will not reflect well on your washing machine.
• Never store wet towels - they create an ideal breeding ground for bacteria. It is best to store towels outside the bathroom; steam can give them an unpleasant odor.

What do you need

• New towels
• White vinegar
• Baking soda