I was told to wash towels in cold and dry on low heat.
I never heard of 10-year-old towel still soft and fluffy. Maybe time to change?
Can I hope for soft? I would settle for that…
We have 24 year old Egyptian cotton towels. I have always washed them in hot water, and have always dried them with a fabric softener sheet. They have always been soft. Always.
Use half the amount of powder - if using a pod think of changing to powder or liquid so you can adjust the quantity.
I don’t have a dryer but hang them over a ‘dolly maid’ or out in the garden (weather permitting) and they are never as soft as if done in the dryer. However to make them ‘less stiff’ - big problem air drying - is to really give them a good shake/flick before hanging them and it works a treat and is a workout for my bingo wings! :))
All else being equal (Tide, dryer, no dryer sheet), my towels are softer when washed in hot water rather than warm or cold water.
@momofsenior1 I am curious as to that source. Towels are sturdy and you want to make sure you clean out any lurking mildew-y problems, so I always wash in warm or hot. And I only dry things on low that may shrink or are delicate.
@surfcity - The Bloomingdale’s “towel manager” gave us that advice. Honestly I don’t know if it really works!
@dentmom4 I wonder if you put vinegar in with your towels and presoaked them if you would have better luck. Also, I don’t know where you buy it, but there is a stronger vinegar specifically made for household cleaning.
I hate to say it…but maybe it’s time for new towels. If these old ones no longer feel good to the touch for you…but are still in decent condition…perhaps donate to an animal shelter.
Then treat yourself to new, soft, absorbent towels!
I, too, think the towels might have just shed so much of their fiber that you can’t bring them back to their original softness. When I do a load of towels there’s a lot more accumulated lint in the dryer filter then when I dry a load of “business casual” clothing. Cotton is a natural fiber and it breaks down. We have a vet that glady takes old towels for use in their animal hospital and I have a rag bag filled with old towels.
I recently replaced bath towels and noticed the new towels are much softer than new towels were in the past. Remains to be seen how these hold up but they are luxurious and were inexpensive (Charisma brand, bought on sale at Costco.)
I think the towels have passed the soft phase. I have tried all the tips and today washed them in “cleaning” vinegar 2 cups, then another baking soda wash, and finally dried with wool dryer balls. Very little change, though a lot of lint in the lint trap! Less stiff, but I wouldn’t call them soft.
Now my quest for new towels. I need a cranberry color that is not too red. I don’t belong to Costco. Any suggestions before I start reading the whole “new towels” thread?
I like my Vera Wang newer towels, but they don’t come in the color I want.
Reporting in on the Costco Charisma towels—I bought white ones a little over a year ago. They are not as fluffy as they were initially and many are already losing threads and/or seams unraveling. OTOH they were really inexpensive, but I don’t really want to replace them every year or 18 months either. Seems wasteful, especially when I have had towels from Bloomingdales stay fluffy for 20 years.
Check Big Lots and Target.
I bought Charisma towels 30 years ago at Bloomies when we got married and they are still great. Perhaps a few pulled threads but still thick and comfortable. I just don’t think they make towels the way they used to (I sound old, I know)
I also have some Fieldcrest towels that we wedding gifts that are still great - used for guests now, so not as often, but they still feel nice.
We are currently using 10 year old Lands End towels. The blue has faded unevenly in some of them and they are not as thick, but I am not ready to spend money to replace them.
@dentmom4, you may want to try bed bath and beyond. I just needed a light green rug for the bathroom. I wound up ordering 4, because colors are hard to tell on-line. One worked well, and I returned the others. They alway have 20% off coupons too.
I purchased them without coupons, and then when I did the return, I just re-purchased what I wanted with a coupon.
I love hotel white towels, cream is as adventurous as I would get.
I do like Company Store for towels.
You really should read that towel thread. Lots of good ideas where to get towels there too.
IKEA has very affordable towels.
Update: I ended up getting new towels. Color was most important, and I ended up getting the Hotel Collection towels from Macy’s. They had cherry pie, and that matched perfectly! An additional plus was they were 75% off!
The negative: hoarder H wants to “save” them, so they are sitting on the laundry counter. He has one more week to move them or they go to the animal shelter.