Why do sheets get softer with each wash, while towels get coarser over time?
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Never use fabric softner on your towels and need to dry them in a dryer… my towels are still perfect. Towels hung out to dry always end up crispy and crunchy.
Because water contains calcium which builds up in the nooks and crannies of your towels like a sort of plaque and makes them stiff.
I’m confused why people are noting that using a dryer sheet makes towels less absorbent. Is it maybe the material of the towel or the type of dryer sheet or maybe even the type of dryer?
My towels are 100% cotton and the dryer sheets I use are the Bounce free & gentle kind. I do throw in plastic dryer balls, so maybe this is the helpful factor? They’re still extremely absorbent many years since I’d gotten most of them and I’d only started using the dryer calls in recent years.
Always dry towels on low heat. High heat melts the fibers and gives the towels that dry scratchy feel
After considering this for years (lol yes, I have lots of time to think about inconsequential shit) I actually think the washing of sheets is NOT the main thing that makes them get soft but the oils from being slept on by people. And anyone thinking the washing machine is a magic device that removes everything is believing in a fantasy. But that’s a good question, in relation to bath towels. It may have something to do with the fact that usually most of the excess body oil has already been washed off after a shower, or it could be the cotton (or whatever material) is woven differently in sheets than it is in bath towels usually, and maybe that plays a factor? Hard to say but it’s definitely something I’ve wondered for awhile, because when I was younger, I tried washing new bedsheets several times before actually using them and they didn’t really become softer as quickly as they would have if I had actually used them. But thread count of sheets and quality of towels definitely play a factor. And 1,000 thread count sheets get that number because it’s basically like two-ply. I think the maximum thread count on a single “ply” is between like 600-700, AT MOST (it may even be less than that, but I don’t work with cotton or anything, so I’m not certain how many threads you can get in a square inch or whatever).
If your towels suck after years of washing and drying you’re doing it wrong. I keep my towels for over a decade and get compliments on how soft and absorbent they are.
Use half the detergent the companies call for, no fabric softener, fragrances, or dyes. If they stink add vinegar (white or apple cider). Dry with wool dryer balls. Perfectly plush and absorbent towels every time!
Also do a couple of washes with vinegar when you first purchase new towels to get the water repelling treatments off the towel and remove the fuzz.
Never use dryer sheets on your towels, it makes them less absorbent after very few dry cycles.
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