Even the nicest of towels can eventually end up feeling rough and a bit uncomfortable to use. There’s a way to fix it though so read on if you want to know how to make towels fluffy again!
First up, let me tell you the reason your towels are no longer as absorbent as they used to be and why they feel more like cardboard than the fluffy towels you want to be wrapping yourself in when you step out of the bath or shower – it’s more than likely because you use the recommended amount of washing detergent when you wash them!
That’s right, the washing detergent you use to wash your towels can build up in the fibres of your towel and will gradually make your towels less fluff and more rough (I just laughed at myself for that line) and will mean that they’re not as absorbent as they once were. The recommended amount is about twice what you actually need so you’re using double what you need when you follow the instructions.
Non-fluffy towels are super easy to fix though and just need a couple of things you’ll probably already have in your kitchen storecupboard – white vinegar and baking powder.
The first thing to do if you have towels already in this state is to do a towel refresh wash which is basically a high-temperature wash that will strip off all of the layers of product from the fibres of the towels so when they’re dry they’ll be fluffy once again.
How to do a fluffy towel refresh wash to make your towels fluffy and nice again
- Gather together all of your non-fluffy towels and pop them in the washing machine making sure that you don’t overload the drum.
- Add 1 cup white vinegar to the drawer where you would normally add your washing detergent.
- Do not add washing detergent. Do not add fabric softener. Do not pass go.
- Wash on a 90 c wash cycle (yes, I know we’re all about washing at lower temperatures these days and I’m on board with that for all washes but this towel refresh)
- Once that wash has finished, do another wash but this time add in a cup of baking powder. Again, wash on a high-temperature wash cycle.
- Dry outside on a windy day. It’s really important that you do this or at the very least pop them in your tumble drier if you have to but if you put them over the radiator or your indoor drier then they’re not going to dry as soft. Don’t ask me why they just don’t. 😉
The towel refresh wash should remove all of the soapy residues from your towels and in most cases, should make them much softer again but sometimes it might take a couple of washes to see the difference depending on how far gone your towels were, what the original fabric quality of your towels was like and even how they dried.
You don’t need to do full-on refresh washes every time you wash your towels but you do need to continue to wash your towels together and do a few things a bit differently.
A fluffy towel regular wash to keep your towels feeling fluffy and nice
You should use this method once you’ve done your initial refresh wash to keep them in the best shape possible.
- You only need to use around half of the recommended washing detergent for a regular towel wash. You can use fabric softener in a regular towel wash if you really want to but you don’t really need them.
- Add three tablespoons of your trusty white vinegar into the drum of your washing machine.
- Wash them on a hot wash
- Again, dry them outside on a windy day for the best results.
You can thank me later. 😂
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