Why is my washing always crispy! i want soft clothes!

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Im trying really hard to get lovely soft washing but no matter what i do it always comes out a rough and horrible texture.

I use persil non-bio and comfort pure (its the kids washing which i do separately from ours) and wash on a 30 degrees cycle. Even if i put it in the tumble dryer afterwards it isnt as soft as i would like. Am i doing something wrong??

Any advice on how to get lovely soft baby clothes would be appreciated

Can you do an extra rinse on your machine? It sounds as if the soap isn't being rinsed out properly if softener and tumbling aren't getting rid of the crispiness. Possibly use less soap as well?

The 30C cycle is not especially good for dissolving powder, so there may be an accumulation of soap. Some things that may help:

to wash away any accumulated soap inside the machine, a hot hot hot 90C white cotton cycle, with no soap and no fabsoft. Add a cup of washing soda if you have it. If the water goes grey and foams up, thats old soap sludge dissolving. Do it again until it stays clean. Once clean, do it once a month. You can put white cotton towels and flannels, or terry, in this cycle, or just run it empty. Also take out and hot-scrub the soap drawer, and the slot it goes into. If mouldy, scrub with "Kitchen Spray with bleach"

try putting the powder into the back of the drum with the scoop, instead of into the drawer.

try adding half a cup of washing soda to the wash.

If all else fails, save up for a water softener.

I use the liquid and put it in the drum with the clothes along with the fabric softener. I think i may be using too much washing liquid actually, i dont measure it and just put a cap full in. Ive never used the drawer as my DM says its not worth it.

I will go and have an experiment now and use less washing liquid and i will definately get some water softener.

Thanks for your replies

I found the best way to wash clothes without residue is to use powder and for a regular was use half what they recommend. Clothes come out clean and it saves money. Tablets and liquid never seemed to work as well as old style powder and I've written them off as a bit of a gimmick.
If it's a particularly dirty load and about what they recommend for a regular wash.

I crumble tablets to powder but like them as I know exactly how much I'm putting in. Only ever use one tablet at most plus some washing soda - washing always comes out great. Tried those tabs once - yuck far too much stuff in them for a normal wash.

I also think this sounds like too much washing powder. Do the maintenance wash on the machine and then use half the powder they recommend.

There's no point putting the softener in the drum at the start. It needs to go in only on the final rinse, which it will if you put it in the drawer.

If its the clear cap on the persil that you fill to the top thats quite a lot. I use it about half filled and then a little less for a smaller load. Same goes for the fabric conditioner, also usually comfort pure.

put the fabric conditioner in the drawer so it gets dispensed at the correct stage in the washing cycle. If you put it in the drum at the start of the cycle it will all get washed away

We use knobbly rubber balls in our tumble dryer. They seem to make stuff dry slightly quicker as well as making it feel soft.