Hard towels!

I too live with hard water. Granddaughter's towel is (fast drying) microfibre as she sometimes has several baths in a day. Microfibre always seems to be soft.

I prefer my towels hard as they dry better and buff my skin well.

In domestic science classes, we were taught to brush towels with a new nailbrush to soften them. What a fag!

Like alimarb I just pop my towels in the drier for a couple of mins when they are dry if they are particularly hard. Most of the time I don’t bother.
Years ago I read the tip that ironing reduces the absorbency of towels and that was one bit of advice I was happy to follow.

Washed my hairbrush the other day - it was gross.....

I always managed to have soft nappies for the babies and that was pre- fabric conditioner and pre- dryer. A good frost always worked wonders. Nowadays I generally pop the line dried towels into the dryer with the dryer sheets for a few minutes.

Fabric softeners encourage funghi to grow in your laundry, as they keep moisture (and thus softness) in. That's why so many babies are allergic to fabric softeners.
I dry nearly everything on a line, except for my towels.
A tric to have soft towels without using a drier : iron them! Preferably with a steam-iron. I'm serious! By ironing them they raise their fiber, and that's what softens them!

All very interesting, must try vinegar and soda crystals with towels.
I still use drier with some stuff under wear and bits I dont want to iron but might other wise need too usually.

I think if you put soda crystals in a washing machine that has never had them in all the scale breaks up and causes problems. I remember washing a favourite jumper after I'd done this and the jumper was full of scale particles and I had to throw it away. I do live in a hard water area and I am not 100% sure it was soda that I used - sorry!

Well i' m delighted with all your advice-thanks! I knew you'd know!
Ooh er, sarky comments eh? Sigh!
DD brings baby so do need softer towel so-I will ask her to being his towels, brilliant idea. I and DH are not bothered by hard towels. And don't want a TD

Thanks grandMattie! Could have ended up with the bathroom smelling like a chippie! We have very hard water too, so when we did all our building work we made room in the utility room for a water softener, I think it pays for itself in the lack of limescale build up in washing machine, shower heads, dishwasher etc.

No, Gill, far too much - just a good squirt [about 2 Tbsp]. with a water softener, you shouldn't need any soda. OUr water is hideaously hard, and I have no room in the kitchen for a softener so add soda. For those who want to know - about 1 Tbsp.

I love hard towels! I don't feel properly dry if towels are soft. Hard towels are so good for the skin (exfoliates) and circulation.

I've got a tumble dryer, but wouldn't ever put towels in it - I hang them outside to dry, and in bad weather, I put them on a clothes-horse.

We like our towels hard. They feel better to dry yourself with. I never use fabric softener on towels, and line dry when possible. Miss them feeling hard in winter when I've tumble dried them.

Hang mine up to dry and then when nearly dry chuck them in the tumble dryer for ten minutes. Works every time and isn’t too expensive.

Thanks grandMattie. I use very little powder and even less conditioner as we have a water softener. How much vinegar, about half a mug full?

Yes. Vinegar in Conditioner drawer, soda crystals in wash - and you use very, very little soap powder too...

Those of you who use white vinegar, do you put it in the compartment used for fabric conditioner? I can't work out any other way.......

oldbatty Great! Well said! Me too. Towels of course.

old batty , me too

Newquay Tell her you made them like that specially for her. So she could exfoliate.

no fabric conditioner and a couple of handfuls of soda crystals in the wash , makes them less harsh

Toscalily and Rosina - don’t be put off, plenty of us are interested in domestic trivia!
I have a tumble dryer for emergencies only - would far rather have sweet smelling line dried clothes and bedding, and don’t mind hard towels at all. TD’s are very environmentally unfriendly.

I've been using my drier all winter, in fact until recently to dry my towels, I put them out on the line to dry last week, I told my dh I felt like I'd been sandblasted using them after I'd had a wash. I've never used conditioner in towels but I think I'll have to give it a go.

DanniRae, excellent idea! I don't have a cat/dog, so never wash their bowls. Can't remember the last time I washed my hairbrush, always boil tea towels - and use them only once too...