Rejuvenate the Softness and Absorbency of Your Towels

Written by Charlotte Wood (last updated September 21, 2020)

Alas, towels do not stay as nice as they were when you bought them—it's just a fact of life. It's always a bummer when your towels just don't have the same softness or the same absorbency. It may be a fact of life, but is there a way to rejuvenate your towels? The answer is yes! With pretty simple means you can have great success in bringing back the original quality of your towels.

The reason why towels become less absorbent and hard is due to residual laundry detergent clogging up the fibers. It is important to get out all the laundry detergent. Alas, softness and absorbency don't always go hand in hand and while you won't have to completely forgo one, you may have to accept a lower quality of one characteristic or the other.

To increase the absorbency, put a small amount of cider vinegar (usually a cup will do) into the wash cycle and run as usual. If you don't have cider vinegar, white vinegar will suffice. The effect that vinegar has on the absorbency of towels in relation to the softness is a debated issue. You can also increase the absorbency by air drying the towels outside.

Where softness is concerned, traditional fabric softener is best. You can find it in any laundry aisle and you definitely have your pick of brands, qualities, smells, and colors within the fabric softener category. Fabric softener definitely works and improves the softness of your towels, making them more comfortable and cozy, but as mentioned above, its relation to the absorbency of the towel is not entirely clear. (Also remember that the softness and absorbency of the towels is dependent on its initial condition—better quality towels will last longer and maintain their initial integrity.)

There are definitely ways you can avoid the lack of absorbency issue and the lack of softness issue, however do be aware that you might have to sacrifice one for the other (not completely, but a little bit).

Author Bio

Charlotte Wood

MORE FROM CHARLOTTE

Removing Tobacco Odors and Stains from Clothing

Tobacco odors and stains are gross and sometimes impossible to remove from your clothes. Don't lose heart though because ...

Discover More

Cleaning Children's White Socks

White socks get dirty—there's no getting around it. You can however prevent the dingy look from happening by ...

Discover More

What is Cosmetic Dentistry?

Dentistry doesn't necessarily have to be just about the health of your teeth anymore. Cosmetic dentistry is now available ...

Discover More

Keep Your Hardwood Floors Like New Bona's hardwood floor cleaner is the #1 choice of professionals. The no-residue formula is specially designed to be safe for floors, families, and the environment. Check out Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner Refill today!

More Cleaning Tips

Dealing with Laundry Scorch Marks

Have you ever noticed how simply doing the laundry can be a fairly annoying chore? When you add a scorch mark into the ...

Discover More

Removing Color Bleed Stains

How many times has this happened to you? You go about doing your laundry as you would any other day. You look through the ...

Discover More

Controlling Allergic Reactions to Laundry Detergent

You don't want to be itching in your clothes and sneezing all day just because of a detergent allergy. Find the right ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in Cleaning Tips from Tips.Net. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 8 - 5?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in Cleaning Tips from Tips.Net. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.