Once a towel has lost its fluff can it be regained?

[ridingsixwhitehorses]

Probably been washed over 100 times. But still a nice towel. Not fluffy any more at all though.

It depends what you mean by fluffy. Some of the fluffiness was actual volume of fabric, which will have come off into washing machine filters.

Old-ish towels which are hard when line dried can be made softer if tumble-dried, however.

If I tumble dry mine they come out fluffy.

Can't always do it as am still waiting for Indest/ Hotpoint to stop it from catching fire.

may help.

The towel bit starts at about 2:50.

I love this woman though.

Even when tumble dried not fluffy

Thank you so much e1y1. I've not come across that vlogger before, but her videos are making me feel very much happier this dreak morning!

I'd wash it with no powder/conditioner (not that you should ever use fabric conditioner on towels anyway) but with a big glug of white vinegar on a hot wash. That way any build up is stripped from the towel

Was just going to say white vinegar, adding conditioner actually makes the towels worse coz they just soak it up into the fibers. Do a boil wash with vinegar, then straight after do a wash with half a cup of bicarbonate of soda (again on a hot wash) and dry them straight after. You can use detergent but just sparingly, it's made mine much fluffier

No worries shove. I love her, subscribe to all her stuff her clean my space channel and her melissa maker channel, she does some really beautiful smoothie recipes on her personal channel.

Boil wash with 2 cups of soda crystals. Then boil wash with 2 cups of clear/distilled malt vingegar. They'll come out all fluffy and soft again, as it strips all the oily chemical crap fabric softener coats the fibres of the towels in. To stop it happening again stop using fabric softener.

Ooh apparently washing them with baking soda really does bring back their softness! A cup per wash, I've just popped mime in so will report back when they're out!

Please do. I use tablets and put them in main drum of washing machine. Would I do that with the baking soda too?

Riding soda crystals (not the same as caustic soda) are stronger than baking soda. They can be bought in a 500g bag for 69p in home bargains. Tbh baking soda only works on slightly iffy towels.

I revived some tea towels that not only felt horrible but smelt musty even after washing and tumble drying. They weren't very absorbant either. I was going to bin them but thought I'd give the 2 cups soda crystals straight in drum and boil wash, followed by a second boil wash with 1-2 cups of clear/distilled malt vinegar (39p a bottle in ASDA) straight in drum. All without using any other wash liquids or powders or fabric softener (softener being the reason towels go yacky in the first place).

It will also clean your washing machine. It will sparkle.

Thank you. I never use fabric softener anyway so it might just be age but will give it a go. TBH quite fancy binning them all and replacing with new but nice towels not cheap.

I use fabric softener in the wash then those spiky balls in the tumble drier and it seems to make even my tea towels fluffy, even the old preloved ones passed on by my mother.

Reporting back on lovely soft towels! I stuck a cup-ful into the drum itself, without any other washing powder and put on a normal cycle, and they have come out lovely and soft! Not like new, but certainly a huge improvement. Definitely give it a try.