Hard towels!

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.

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

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

old batty , me too

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

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.......

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

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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!

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.

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!

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

Love hard towels! Dries you better and gets all the dead skin off without needing special skin exfoliaters.

I'm another who swears by soda crystals and white vinegar. No fabric conditioner with towels. I do tumble them for a short while before hanging out.
I use washing soda in every wash, much cheaper and just as effective as Calgon etc. IMO.