AIBU to ask how to make my towels LESS fluffy?

[therocinante]

In our house, we like our towels scratchy - my favourite is cheap hotel towels that have been through the industrial wash so many times they're like sandpaper. I know that makes us sound like sadists but they dry better!

AIBU to ask how to make our towels at home a bit rougher? We live in a very soft water area so no help from nature there...

No fabric conditioner, ever. Dry directly on a hot radiator or outside.

Iron them - it destroys the fluffiness.

I was going to suggest no fabric softener, but I'm guessing you know that already!

Give them to me our water is so hard, 2 washes & they’d be transformed for you!

I like mine like this. Very hot wash, at least 60, a boil wash is best and then either line dry them or dry them on a clothes horse indoors. NO tumbler. It will make them soft.

Just dry on an airer not outside or in the tumble dryer.

No fabric conditioner
Don’t put them in the tumble dryer
My children think it’s tantamount to child abuse if the towels aren’t super fluffy and warming on the radiator
I’m

Ahhh it's the tumble dryer that's ruining them for us then! We live in a stupidly small house with no room for an airer in the back yard unless I want my washing shit on by the wood pigeons who live in the tree overhanging (very extended end terrace) and damp, so a lot of stuff gets tumble dried - I shall try the radiators instead!

Thank you all, I hope to be suitably scratched soon :)

I totally agree with you - scratchy towels work better and dry quicker when you hang them up.

If you can line or airer dry them that helps, and definitely no softener. You also have to buy the right towels to begin with - big thick velvety ones are no good. I have about 20 Ikea Haren towels, but from when they were 100% cotton. I can't speak for the newer ones.

Rougher towels definitely dry better. I can't stand massive fluffy ones which just slide over you and absorb nothing.

We have soft water too. Never use fabric conditioner, and we don't have a tumble dryer.

Rough towels are my speciality. When ds went off to uni he specifically complained that his towels were too soft and how did I do nice rough ones.

I just wash at 40 degrees with powder and laundry cleanser. No conditioner. I then hang them up on the clothes horse to dry overnight. Hanging them on the washing line does soften them up a bit. I live in a soft water area.