It might sound bizarre but could ‘reverse’ the issue that sends most towels to the bin
Most people will use towels every day in their homes, whether hand washing or drying off after a shower or bath. Eventually, towels will lose their signature fluffiness and start to feel less soft over time, especially if towels are quite old.
Consumer champion Which? asked Dr Primrose Freestone, an associate professor in clinical microbiology at the University of Leicester, what the science was behind our towels going from soft to scratchy. They said: “Most towels are made of cotton, which is a natural fibre composed of many tiny filaments.
“What happens to these interlocking cotton filament structures during washing determines if your towels stay soft and fluffy, or if they feel hard and scratchy. Detergent and fabric softener can, over time, deposit a waxy residue on the cotton fibres.
“With repeat washing, most towels will lose their softness in the end, although Egyptian cotton towels (often more expensive) tend to stay softer for longer. This is because the cotton fibre layers are more concentric and ordered.”
There are some methods to help keep towels feeling as fresh and fluffy as the day they were bought, including one trick that involves a cheap item from Aldi. The specialists at Which? claim that a white vinegar soak before washing can help to dissolve the detergent and hard water deposits left on clothes and towels.
What is the best way to try the vinegar soak method?
Victoria Purcell, laundry editor for Which?, tested this method out. She said: “I put [the towels] into the bath with just enough water to cover them, added two litres of white vinegar, and left them to soak for an hour. Then I rinsed them off and put them on a cotton 40°C wash with no detergent and no fabric softener.
‘When finished, I gave them a vigorous shake (this is hard work with big bath sheets) and laid them flat on my heated clothes airer so that more of the towel is in contact with the warm bars. I gave them another couple of vigorous shakes during the drying process.”
She claimed that the process did lead to softer towels, but admitted that they were “not new-towel soft by any stretch of the imagination”. She added: “I’m not sure if I’d do it again though – it took me the best part of a day and made my flat stink of vinegar.”
People could grab a cheap bottle of Distilled Vinegar from Aldi for as little 35p. It came with a warning that people should never add the chip shop staple into their washing machines directly, as this is likely to cause issues by corroding away rubber and plastic parts.
In some cases, the vinegar trick may be ineffective if towels are beyond reviving. If towels cannot be salvaged, people should consider repurposing them before throwing them straight into the bin.
Which? suggests: “If your towels are poor quality or you’ve had them a very long time, there may be nothing you can do to revive them. If that’s the case, don’t just bin them: repurpose them for DIY or cleaning rags, or donate them to a local textile recycling facility.”
