How on earth do I keep towels looking and feeling nice?

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See photo attached.

On left - new, unwashed, super soft to the touch

On right - same type of towel after one wash. The piling has ruined and its not half as soft

I followed the instructions on the label. 40 degrees, colour safe detergent, no fabric softener (as this affects absorbency). Washed with an older towel, couple or hand towels and teatowels

Any tips on how to keep towels nice?

I also love a scratchy towel! I bought some towels last year and I’m desperately trying to get them to go more crispy as they are still very soft! Line drying helps with the scratchiness so
I can’t wait for some better weather.

I always use fabric softener and have never had a problem with non absorbency. And tumble drying - that's the only thing I use it for.

Oooh yes so here for a scratchy towel. Soft ones just don't do it for me.

Worst is staying somewhere where they've used too much fabric softener and the towels feel kind of cool and clammy however clean and dry they really are - eeeeurgh!

But them from the white company and tumble dry them. No other way

I hate towels that are too fluffy and don't soak up water.
my mil irons towels, apparently that makes them soft.
she doesn't have a dryer and her towels are, like her, amazing.

@YetAnotherSpartacus I came on to ask why anyone would want to keep their towels soft.

Soft ones just move the moisture around and feel slimy. Hard, scratchy ones actually do their job.

I understand that you should always wash towels at a temperature not less than 60 as you don’t kill of all the bugs and from time to time I run them through 90 as this is good for the machine.

Rubbing them together should soften them. Although I did get some decent ones from m&co not too pricey (and I'm very cheap so £10 is one I umm and err about) and they've stayed soft regardless of tumble drying or air drying.

Use vinegar in the fabric softener slot, around 100ml for a full load but your mileage might vary.

There is no vinegar smell at all if you dont use too much, it's much cheaper than fabric softener, it doesn't cause allergies, it will keep your clothes soft without ruining them over time like softener, gets rid of mold and bad smells in the fabric, clears the detergent buildup in clothes which makes them stiff, kills the bacterias in your washing machine and clear the mineral deposits as well. Win win win win!

With my towels I dont need to tumble dry them anymore since I swapped to vinegar. It's the buildup of minerals and detergent/softener in the fabric that makes them stiff. The tumble dryer breaks those bonds and air drying doesn't. But with vinegar there is hardly any build up. If they do ever get stiff, a 15-20 min tumble dry is enough now rather than a full cycle.

I try to avoid tumble dryer as much as possible, and hang everything to dry either outside or airing cupboard where boiler is, and then they go into tumble dryer for 5 mins on cool just to bash them about and soften them!