Making Old, Hard Towels Soft Again

Written by Charlotte Wood (last updated December 13, 2021)

The root causes for the hardening of towels are usually such things as saturation with soap and detergent remains, or because of hard water. Luckily there are some ready solutions to counter these difficulties. By following these simple options for dealing with your hard towel problems you can extend the life and durability of your favorite towels.

The first thing that must be considered when trying to revitalize your fabric is what type of water do you have? If you have hard water in your area you should look into getting a water filter for your washing machine. It is not necessary to obtain one for the entire house, especially since those models run you up to $800 or more. A water filter that attaches to your washing machine will run on average around $60 and can be obtained at any hardware or home improvement store. Simply changing the "type" of water that a cloth is washed in can make a dramatic improvement on its softness.

The next step in the process for restoring your towels would be to breakup the residue left from the soaps and detergents. This basically boils down to needing to break up the caked on enzymes that are left by the cleaners. The first way to do this is to add a cup of vinegar to your washing cycle. Any type of vinegar will work, but to lower the "smell factor" associated with most types of vinegar, it is highly recommended to use white vinegar. Whatever residual odor is left by the vinegar is going to be taken out in the drying cycle.

Another way of breaking up the residual scum is to use some type of oxygenated cleaner. While this entails the purchase of yet another type of cleaner, it does help to get rid of the leftover stuff from earlier washes. To maximize the soap scum removing abilities of your washer, I would recommend the use of both of these options.

Finally, use multiple forms of fabric softener. Use both a liquid fabric softener during your washing cycles, as well as dryer sheets to increase the "fluffability" factor of your favorite towels. In fact, I would also recommend that for the first several drying cycles that you also increase the number of sheets that you use. Adding these additional softening agents to each stage of the leaning cycle ensures that the fabric is softened properly from its previous stiff form.

Author Bio

Charlotte Wood

MORE FROM CHARLOTTE

Making Your Eyebrows Perfect

Eyebrows are sometimes really hard to perfect. Each hair matters and when you mess up you have to wait for them to grow ...

Discover More

Picking the Right Perfume for You

Perfume can be so much fun and can really be the perfect addition to any outfit, but you need to make sure you have ...

Discover More

Investing in Real Estate

Real estate investment started becoming more popular in recent years and now is quite the trend for everyday investors. ...

Discover More

Tough Tools for Tough Cleaning Jobs O-Cel-O sponges and Scotch Brite scrubbers are truly a fashion-meets-function success story. The highly absorbent and durable sponges in this handy six-pack make quick work of tough cleaning problems in any kitchen, bathroom, or garage. Check out Scotch-Brite Heavy Duty Scrub Sponges today!

More Cleaning Tips

Rejuvenate the Softness and Absorbency of Your Towels

It's not uncommon that your towels lose their softness and absorbency over time. In this case there are a few ways you ...

Discover More

Washing Black Clothes

You would think that washing black clothes would be a fairly simple prospect. After all, it's only logical that dirt or ...

Discover More

Freshen Your Clothes with Dryer Sheets

Clothing always smells sweet and fresh when it comes out of the dryer. Maintain that fresh scent by keeping dryer sheets ...

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 five more than 3?

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.