Fluffy towels without using a tumble dryer??

[Bumpiemalumpie]

hi all knowing people. Can I ask if anyone has achieved this??

TIA x

My mum swears by leaving them out in the rain for a few days. I have no idea where the logic comes from and I can only ever bring myself to leave mine out for a day, max, but she says that's what she did with hers. Worth a shot if you have plenty of towels?
Mine seem a bit softer after a day so who knows.

mmm maybe?!!

Haha no I'm not convinced either!
I want fluffy towels too but no idea how to do it.

bump

Do you have a tumble dryer but are trying to reduce usage? If so I dry mine on a heated airer and finish off in the dryer to soften them.

I suspect the leaving them out in the rain thing is because rainwater can be a lot softer than tap water ( less lime in water). You could try some distilled (colourless) vinegar in final rinse in machine ( might soften water?) and shake towels really hard before hanging to dry, but I can never get them as soft as tumble dried. If you have a dryer, you could do as Rachel suggests and just give them a 15 minute tumble.
Actually I got used to rougher towels now and quite like them!

May try the vineager! nope, no money or space for a tumble dryer!! I am having a baby and want soft towels for him/her

What about just adding a lot of fabric softener to your load of washing.

Add softener and don't put over a radiator to dry,

Regarding rain water my mum used to collect it to wash terry nappies in and when it snowed she hung all her whites out!!

It depends on the quality of your towels as well. We don't have a tumble dryer, and after buying these Ultimate towels, I wouldn't buy any others, we just hang them on the airer to dry and they are always lovely and soft.

I think they won a Good Housekeeping Institute award for best towels, they are very often on offer too (like now).

My mum was told by an assistant in John Lewis that if you have never tumble dried a towel, it will never go stiff. I have tried this and believe it to work.

Move them a free times during drying. So a quick shake and turn as you pass the airer or outside on a windy day.

Softener coats the fibres and stops it being absorbent, just moves the water round on your skin.

Haven't got any other suggestions though, we are all happy with crunchy towels.

Good quality towels. Denholm Mill are great and not expensive.
Hang outside to dry even in winter. Finish on clothes airer
no fabric conditioner
that's how we do ours.
If they are crusty it's either that they are poor quality or old.

if its for the baby, ironing them helps - same with all the cotton cellular baby blankets.

I read softener detergent residue and can be a trigger for rashes so I do loads of extra rinses and no softener for the baby now.

Or, laundrette dry only.

we dry on an airer indoors with a dehumidifier, we've just started also pointing a fan at it on low/medium to see if that speeds up drying and have found that it does seem to be quicker but it also seems to result in softer clothes and towels too.

A washing line is free though , if you have one.
Even in winter it helps soften things.
It's nature's tumble dryer

I find that the colder the weather the softer the towel is, especially on a cold windy day. They tend to go crispy when it it hot and still.

thank you all, I have many tips to try now!