Everyone loves to wrap themselves in a soft fluffy towel at the end of their bath or shower. However, over time even the best quality towels can become hard and rough, feeling less pleasant on the skin and less absorbent. Here’s a guide to taking care of your towels from day one.
Rinse new towels before use
New towels are coated with products to help them stay fluffy and new looking in stores, but can reduce their absorbency. Therefore laundry experts recommend either soaking your towels for a few hours in plain cold water or putting them through a cold wash with no detergent before first use.
Also, give the towels a good shake out before washing them to open up the fibres and allow them to release and absorb substances more easily. This will remove excess products and prolong the life of your towels.
If your towels are also a particularly gorgeous colour, then washing them immediately afterwards in warm water with no detergent, but a tablespoon of white vinegar will help to make them more colourfast.
Check your water
If you live in an area with hard water, mostly in southern and eastern areas of England, then this can adversely affect your laundry. This is because hard water contains high levels of calcium and magnesium which leave trace deposits on fabric, causing it to become less soft over time.
To avoid this happening, use a water softener in your washing machine. To prevent limescale build up in the washing machine, every few months run the it empty but with some white vinegar in the detergent drawer.
Use less detergent and fabric softener
Most people use too much detergent in a washing machine, which can prematurely wear out fabrics and make them feel rough and hard. Check the manufacturer’s instructions carefully to make sure that you are using the right amount of detergent for the size of the load.
Fabric softener might seem like an obvious choice to keep your towels in good condition, but it can build up on the fibres over time, causing them to lose absorbency. If you like to use a softener, restrict it to every four washes rather than every time.
Wash at the correct temperature
Towels should be washed at 40 C or 60 C according to the manufacturer’s instructions. A spin cycle of 1200 rpm is recommended to keep them in optimal condition. Washing at too high a temperature or spinning too fast can damage the fibres, reducing the absorbency and fluffiness of the towel.
Remove them from the washer straight after the cycle
Leaving wet towels in the machine can soon cause mildew and bad odours to form. Remove them straight away and shake them out, before tumble or line drying them. Air drying is best, but not always possible in the UK climate. You may want to start them off on the line on a dry day before finishing them off in the dryer on a medium cycle for best results.
If you are looking for Catherine Lansfield Towels, please get in touch with us today.