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Housekeeping

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Original poster

I use fabric conditioner, so why are my towels still so crusty and hard??

57 replies

greenday · 28/02/2007 20:01

Help! Apart from them being really uncomfortable to use, I'm tired of being embarrased by my them whenever I have guests. Any advice?

OP posts:
yomellamoHelly · 01/03/2007 16:48

How about washing them on their own with no powder to get rid of any that might have built-up in the fibres?

Original poster
greenday · 01/03/2007 17:12

Thank you all for your helpful suggestions. Will definitely take all of them on.

Cuppuccino - more desperate than Stepford, I would say. If you felt my towels, you would agree they feel like sandpaper on your skin.

OP posts:
OrmIrian · 01/03/2007 17:14

Crusty and hard? Try washing them.....

Sorry .

elclose · 01/03/2007 18:58

if you use biological powder it makes em hard and crusty!!!

ludaloo · 01/03/2007 19:08

I hate rough towels too I have just spent the last month without a tumble dryer and my airing cupboard has been full of sand paper rough towels! My new tumble dryer arrived today no more rough towels!! Yippee!!!

(If you can't get them to soften...just remember...they aren't all that bad when rough, they act as a nice exfoliator!! )

gscrym · 01/03/2007 19:14

I remember my mum saying she had watched one of those Kim and Aggie shows. Aggie had said that you shouldn't use fabric softner with towels as it does something to the pile. I know my mum stopped using it and she noticed her towels washed and dried better.

fedda · 01/03/2007 21:08

When peoplesay about final rinse with vinegar what does that mean? Do you mean when the wash stops, open the draw and put vinegar and go for the rinse? I've tryed many different things and neither worked. My towels are hard and whe I replace them for the new, lovely soft once after the second wash they are dry again! Is there any hope?

funkimummy · 01/03/2007 21:25

Very true. Fabric softener knackers towels. It sticks to the fibres and makes them hard. Don't use any and you'll soon notice difference.

fedda · 01/03/2007 21:47

I didn't use the conditioner and I have to say it didn't help. Have you tried the vinegar and if yes, how?

southeastastra · 01/03/2007 21:49

i'd just buy some more

NurseyJo · 01/03/2007 21:54

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

blodwen · 01/03/2007 21:55

Shake them hard before hanging them out to dry on a windy day! My mum always did this!

JackieNo · 01/03/2007 22:40

If you want to use vinegar, just use it in the fabric softener drawer instead of the fabric softener. And definitely use minimal detergent, and only a tiny bit of fabric softener every couple of washes if you must.

nally · 01/03/2007 22:49

am going to try this vinegar thing straight away.... our towels are only ever soft if they have been in the tumble dryer, but the tumble dryer is breaking and can't afford a new one, so have been air-drying the towels and they are awful. when getting the dc out of the bath, i have to hunt through the airing cupboard for the least crunchy, scratchy towels to wrap around them - poor things

Biglips · 01/03/2007 22:52

arent u supposed not to use fabric conditioner for towels?

fedda · 01/03/2007 23:06

I've put the vinegar in the draw instead of the conditioner many times, no results!

Original poster
greenday · 02/03/2007 12:23

OK, here's a silly question - is the vinegar just normal type of vinegar you'd get in the market? Or is it special fabric vinegar that you'll find in the laundry dept?

OP posts:
fireflyfairy2 · 02/03/2007 12:26

JML balls are great!! And I do find that they have reduced my ironing pile & the drying time!!

JackieNo · 02/03/2007 12:29

Don't use malt vinegar, (or balsamic) - it's supposed to be something called white vinegar, but I've never found it in ahem, Waitrose, so I've put in a slug of white wine vinegar (about as much as I'd put in of fabric conditioner), and it doesn't seem to leave a smell.

nally · 02/03/2007 12:32

I found white vinegar next to the malt vinegar in somerfield..... let me just check that...no, i am wrong, it's clear malt vinegar that i have. trickery.

poppynic · 02/03/2007 12:33

blodwen - my Mum told me this (the hard shaking of washing) is how houswives get out their inner anger .

blodwen · 02/03/2007 15:14

Maybe...I will have to try it!

dizzyday07 · 02/03/2007 23:26

I always used to have hard towels. But I started using Eco Balls (found these were no good for my DDs stained clothes though!!), so now I wash them with no washing powder, and no fabric softener and although we don't have a tumble drier they have got softer as the detergent and conditioner has been "washed" out of them

edam · 02/03/2007 23:29

Biglips, no, fabric conditioner coats the fibres and stops the towels absorbing water. Which is what you actually want a towel to do.

Busybean · 02/03/2007 23:32

Mine are crusty and harsh when tumble dried and when hung on line, even though I live in somerset-which supposedly is quite a soft-water place

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