Washing baby's towels

[DanielMummy]

I do all my washing for baby using Ecover detergent and no fabric conditioner, just in case he has skin reaction. It was fine during the winter when I dried everything in the tumble-drier. But at this time of year I really don't want to put the tumble-drier on if I can help it. However everything pegged out on the line goes really hard and rough. And while his clothes iron nice and soft again, his bath-towels remain hard and rough, not at all soft and comfy to wrap round a baby. Does anyone else have this problem and whats the solution? Thx.

give them a quick blast in the dryer.

Not tried it but apparently a capful of white vinegar in the conditioner drawer does the trick.

Thanks. Didn't know about the vinegar idea. And my drier doesn't know the meaning of quick blast. Even a small load takes about 3 hours.

Have you tried drying them inside rather than out on the line, that seems to work for us

there's a few Crispy Towels threads over on Good Housekeeping but no-one's come up with a foolproof idea yet.
Getting things nearly dry on the line then 10min in the dryer sounds like a good compromise. I find that the more you use them before washing the softer they get, but maybe this is just me being lazy.

NB if he hasn't actually ever had a skin reaction and doesn't have eczema etc he'll probably be fine with whatever you wash your own clothes in and you can avoid doing separate baby-stuff washes.

Thanks milliemollie. I have tried them on backs of kitchen chairs and they are less hard, but still not soft like when in the drier.

And thanks Mrs B, will definitely try the last 10 mins in drier idea.