New towels

[kickassangel]

My mum used to soak new towels in cold water for several hours as she said that it
a)helped them to 'fluff up' and
b) washed off a plastic coating applied during manufacture (she also machine washed them

is this still true, or a bit out of date?

i always machine wash anything new, towels included. Haven't heard about the soaking but certainly like to wash off that factory smell!

Never heard of that!

Only thing is that dye can come out quite a bit when new, even if colour not v dark.

all fabrics contain "sizing" from the dyeing and finishing process, so washing them removes that and makes them softer and more absorbent.

thank you, so a quick go in the machine, but soaking in cold water in the bath perhaps a little unneccesary.

Glad my 20 year old degree was useful in the end...

thanks. towels now washed, dried & hanging all fluffily in the bathroom