Just as we do with the house and other cleaning stuff, washing towels is also necessary. There is no head-and-fast rule to washing towels, but it requires some steps to be followed to ensure that towels retain their softness and regal touch even after washing.
But how to wash towels is still a mystery.
To wash towels, you have to ensure you maintain the water temperature. If you are naive and do not know the best way to wash white bath towels, using the care suggestions mentioned by the brands is the safer way to play.
Let's begin with how to wash towels and how to dry towels afterward, ensuring that you get a soft towel after the wash. Let’s get started.
How To Wash Towels Before Use
Washing towels is a best practice to ensure hygiene. It is done to open up the fibers and remove the dirt that would have settled within the weave thread.
When you buy a new towel, its threads are not opened. To make them perfect for use, it is necessary to wash them in lukewarm water to lose the threads and to make them super absorbent.
In addition, the new towels are also coated with softeners, such as silicon, to make them appear plush to the customer. So it is best to wash them before use to check whether they are the same soft as they were with the fabric softener or not.
How To Wash Towels In Washing Machine
As said, there is no head-and-fast rule for washing white bath towels; however, washing them in a machine requires some care steps to prevent damage. Here are the steps for how to wash bath towels in the washing machine:
- First, fill the washing machine to the optimum level. Try not to fill the machine to the brim, as it will result in an overflow of water out of the machine.
- Place the towels separately from the colored clothes. The same considerations are to be taken with the colored towels. They should be washed with colored clothes or separately.
- Add the towel washing towel detergent. Try to add that washing towel detergents, which are softer in action and do not damage the weave quality.
- Give the machine a gentle spin for about 40 minutes, and then dry your towels in a dryer or direct sunlight.
Washing Towel Detergent
You can use an ordinary washing detergent for the other clothes laundry. But try to use detergents with less harmful chemicals, which might affect the softness of your towel or cause discoloration.
In addition, add a moderate amount of washing towel detergent because too much of it makes your towel extra dry and stiff.
How Long To Wash Towels In The Washing Machine?
Many automatic washing machines have a pre-set for the towels, which takes about 70-8 minutes. This duration is enough to make your white bath towels fresh and soft.
However, if your machine is not automatic, you can set a heavy-duty wash cycle for the bath towels.
How To Wash Towel With Vinegar And Baking Soda
Vinegar and baking soda represent dirt-removing capacity, making them a perfect blend for washing towels. People often use fabric softener for towels wash. But they are harsh and are often recommended to be used twice a week to prevent lint clogging over the towels. The best way to turn your towels soft is to add ½ or 1 cup of vinegar in a washing machine cycle. The use of vinegar helps retain the color and also assists in thorough rinsing of detergent.
Baking soda for towels is done to remove the foul odor and to make your towels refreshing. It also enhances the brightening capability of washing towel detergent. Add ½ cup of baking soda after adding detergent to facilitate thorough washing.
How To Wash New Towels To Get Rid Of Lint
Wash new towels to remove lint by washing towels with your hands using salt water. This might sound old or less effective, but it has been the primitive yet most effective way people washed their clothes before the detergents.
Use ½ cup of salt and mix it well with warm water. Soak the cotton towels for a few hours and rinse them thoroughly with cold water. Do not twist the towels for water drying. Instead, give each towel a good shake to remove all the lint and water.
How Often Should You Wash Your Bath Towels?
As per the microbiologist, your towels must be washed once every two days to prevent the bacteria from growing within the weave. Using it longer than two days builds up the dirt and gives more opportunities for the bacteria to grow, resulting in a foul odor.
Hand or face towels or dinner napkins should be washed every second day. In contrast, velour beach towels should be washed immediately after use because the sand might accumulate within, thus impairing the quality and softness in the longer run.
Pro Tip: For acne-prone skin or sensitive skin types, washing your hand towels regularly and with soft detergents is best.
How to Keep Your Towels Clean Longer
To retain the quality and durability of your towels, whether hand, kitchen towel, face, or tea towel, you must follow specific tips. The pro tips are as follows:
- Wash towels frequently: You should stick to the towel-washing schedule now that you know the importance of washing towels. It is best to have two towels per person so that while one is in use, the other is washed and dried. This prevents one towel from excessively being warned out.
- Air dry towels between use: Air drying towels prevent the build-up of bacteria. Instead of returning it to the machine, you can place it over the electric towel radiator for air drying.
- Don't use dryer sheets: though it works well for clothes, the excessive use of dryer sheets hampers the absorbing capacity of towels.
- Remove towels from the dryer immediately: remember to put towels in the dryer once they are dried because this might result in moisture absorption by the towels, resulting in a foul smell. Moving them promptly from the dryer increases their fluff and airy.
- Avoid overloading towels in the washing machine: don't overload the machine this will affect the cleaning capacity of the machine. And since they are heavy, they might put pressure on the machine resulting in machine impairment in the longer run.
- Fold your towels immediately to prevent creases: Instead of throwing them right in the basket after washing and drying, fold them properly and place them in drawers to keep their shape and fluff intact. This practice also prevents the lint from transferring to other clothes.
Washing Towels With Clothes
There is no restriction on washing towels with clothes. However, it is best to wash clothes separately to enhance the towel's lint.
Also, if the clothes are brightly colored and lose their color on wash, it is recommended to wash white bath towels or other light colors separately to prevent color damage.
Washing Towels in Cold Water
Cold water is used to conserve energy or preserve towel fibers, which break down quicker in hot water. Use a cold-water detergent since not all detergents work well at lower temperatures. Cold water may not remove stains as well as pre-treatment. Towels require space in the washing machine to move and clean. Cold water doesn't clean as well as warm water; thus, the wash cycle may take longer. To avoid mustiness, dry towels properly after washing. An extra rinse cycle may improve towel cleanliness. Cold water is softer on textiles and colors but may not kill bacteria as well as hot water. Thus, periodically washing badly stained towels in hot water is advised.
How To Dry Towels
Shake the towels properly before putting them on a wire to dry because putting them directly over might result in prolonged drying of the towels.
After a wash, place your towels in an appropriately airy drying rail. Try not to dry towels in direct light as it might result in discoloration or stiffness of towels.
It is best to dry towels in the dryer to retain their fluffiness. Plus, try not to place one wet towel over another, as staking will prevent drying both towels. You can also add wool laundry balls to dry towels quickly or to make them more fluff.
How to Fold Towels?
Once you have dried off the white towels, it is time to put them away in a proper place. Fold your towels so the edges are tucked inside for a fluffier look outside.
To place them right away in the linen closet, fold them half lengthwise and one-third from the top. Continue folding them until you get a well-folded rectangle. Be careful with the creases.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Bath Towels And Hoodies Be Washed Together?
No, they shouldn’t be washed together. Towels and hoodies are made of different fabrics and might cause each other to lose lint or damage if washed together. To maintain their integrity and usefulness over time, you should wash them separately.
How Do I Make New Luxury Cotton Bath Towels More Absorbent?
To make new Luxury cotton bath towels more absorbent, wash them before first use with a cup of white vinegar and hot water. This allows the towels to achieve full absorbency and removes any residue left over from the production process. If you want your clothes to retain absorbency, skip the fabric softener.
How Many Times Can A Bath Towel Be Used After Showers Before It Needs To Be Washed?
After three or four uses, most bath towels will need to be laundered. This, however, is only sometimes the case and might depend on factors such as humidity and the quality of the towel. To keep the towel mildew-free and smelling fresh, hang it up to dry after each use.