How do people LIVE with fabric softened towels?

[Haroldwilson]

Staying in a holiday house. Towels soft and fluffy but so fabric softened that they don't absorb anything. I might as well scrape water off me with a spatula for all the good they do at drying.

Do people do this all the time? I can't cope with this savagery

Exactly, in the Cancer Research shop near us they are selling these lovely looking Turkish towels, just the sort I buy but firstly I had to get the assistant to pull off the labels so that I can unroll the towel to check its fully cotton (there was no way from the outside to see what fabric it was made from), and then I find its not fully cotton and she looks at me like I should have bought it anyway despite it being part polyester. Who puts polyester in a towel???!!!

Me too. My towels are rough enough to file your nails with.

I love your enthusiasm with this task 😀

I am going with grey one was dried on the line?

I think you are not going to be alone in this.

Polyester blend towels are good for the pool side only imo. To lie on. So the sun dries you. Because that towel isn't going to.

Soft towels make my skin crawl.

Yup, I like my towels a bit crispy!

I thought everyone knew not to use fabric conditioner on towels, but was clearly wrong. Care instructions from decent towel manufacturers will tell you to avoid using it. This is what Christy's say:

Avoid using fabric softeners as they build a film up over time that makes your towels less absorbent.

Fabric conditioner coats fabric with a layer of fat, often animal fat. That's why things feel smooth, but obviously that is going to have an impact on the towel over time. Also who wants to dry themselves with a layer of suet?

I live in a very hard water area, I use white vinegar in the softener bit and I add a scoop of soda crystals in with the washing powder.

I also have a tumble dryer and if the towels have dried in full sun and are a bit stiff, I just shove them in for about five or six minutes and they come out a bit softer.

I'm loving the responses 🤣 I'm team crunchy/raspy/scratchy towels all the way!
However, it may well be due to ignorance... I'm taking notes about the vinegar. If you don't have a drier, does it work the same?

These days it’s almost never animal fat. If you look most fabric conditioners says that they are vegan.

I’m allergic to fabric softener. It is a pain to contact hotels and B&Bs to request towels and bedding not be washed with perfumed detergent or fabric softener, and all air freshners removed from the room at least four hours before I arrive.

I wonder if it's all palm oil tho

Oof, poor you! I could do another thread on air fresheners.

My brain instantly goes to 'what is this chemical trying to conceal? Faeces or damp?' not 'what a wonderful flower meadow'

I'm thinking I might just wash the towels, would they be immediately better or do they need some kind of rehab when they've been oiled fabric softened to the point of cringe?

I really don't get this.. I use fabric softener, and tumble dry towels so they're soft. I hate those crunchy, crispy ones. I don't use very much fabric softener and I know you're not supposed to use it on towels but mine are both soft and absorbant. I don't get the bonus exfoliating scrub from the crunch towel but I'm OK with that.

Like @soupfiend I have one of those Turkish Hammam thin cotton towels which I use when I go swimming. Lightweight, super absorbent and it dries on the line very quickly. I highly recommend them!

I love @BiscuityBoyle ’s commitment to experimentation.

If a towel isn’t 100% cotton it’s just rubbish. We had a couple of microfibre towels for travelling and they were shite.

@Enko I often find people who use fabric softner over uses it.

You go round people's houses and hover over their shoulder whilst they're pouring in their softener, do you??

Do NOT put any kind of vinegar into a washing machine ffs! The acetic acid in it damages your machine and reduces its life span.
It also damages the seals on windows and causes them to 'blow' far too soon. People think they're using a 'natural ingredient' but it's not bloody natural! Acetic acid (the main ingredient in vinegar) is a manufactured chemical and a pretty powerful one at that

Thanks, @BiscuityBoyle. I'm #teamcrunchy but my DS likes a softer towel.

We've just come back from a week in a holiday cottage where the towels were practically saturated in fabric softener, and were absolutely tiny to add insult to injury. We have massive bath sheets at home, and poor 6'1" DS had a hell of a time getting dry with what was basically a glorified flannel. We were isolated enough that he could have just stood in the garden and air-dried, but he didn't fancy that, for some reason!

Yes that's exactly what I meant obviously I do that.. Don't you?

Or alternatively I can smell it on their clothing and soft furnishings..

However using logic is boring isn't it?
Much more fun to post messages putting others down.

Do NOT put any kind of vinegar into a washing machine ffs! The acetic acid in it damages your machine and reduces its life span.
It also damages the seals on windows and causes them to 'blow' far too soon. People think they're using a 'natural ingredient' but it's not bloody natural! Acetic acid (the main ingredient in vinegar) is a manufactured chemical and a pretty powerful one at that

Calm down - I know what vinegar is. I just happen to believe that a small amount of vinegar which will obviously become diluted with water is more preferable for my clothes and machine than a lot of the equally, if not more harsh, chemicals you find in fabric conditioners.

Team crispy towels here. Life is too short for body brushing or exfoliation potions.

The best towels are linen cotton blend, severe abrasion on first use after washing and then just so absorbent. Multi tasking all the way.

I dry mine to about 90% so that they are not so crispy that they take my nipples off.

And finish in the rubble drier - that's hohos have included!

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