They say not to use fabric softener when washing towels, because it builds up on the towels and ruins their ability to absorb water and thus dry you off. If that’s true, then isn’t it true of your regular clothes, too? Will clothes get that buildup and stop absorbing water to get clean?

Question

They say not to use fabric softener when washing towels, because it builds up on the towels and ruins their ability to absorb water and thus dry you off. If that’s true, then isn’t it true of your regular clothes, too? Will clothes get that buildup and stop absorbing water to get clean?

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

To a point but your towel is designed to soak incidental water, which requires it to have maximum absorption performance. Your clothes on the other hand will typically be fully immersed in water overwhelming the hydrophobic ability of the softener along with soap to bring the softener back into solution along with all the other dirt and what not.