The Drying Mistake That's Making Your Towels Stiff

At the end of the day, most people look forward to a warm shower followed by drying off with a soft and fluffy towel. Instead of a fluffy towel, however, you're greeted by stiff and scratchy fibers that make your self-care routine anything but rejuvenating. If this sounds like a conundrum you're facing, the issue may not be with the towels themselves, but with your laundering process. Fortunately, cozy and soft towels that will envelop you can be well within reach with a bit of know-how.

The biggest mistake that is causing your once-luxurious towels to become stiff and scratchy is actually linked to your dryer. While line-drying towels can lead to them becoming stiff because water essentially gets stuck in the towels' fibers, dryer-dried towels, on the other hand, are stiff because the appliance is too hot and damages the fibers. This can leave you with that signature stiff towel when what you really desire is a plush one. Going hand-in-hand with this blunder is overfilling the dryer with towels, which makes it difficult for adequate air flow to take place, resulting in less-than-fluffy towels. Is there anything that you can do about your sandpaper-like towels? The answer is most likely yes. If you choose a medium-heat setting on your dryer and do not overfill it when laundering your bath towels, you'll soon have pleasant towels to enjoy again.

After adopting the steps outlined previously for soft and fluffy towels (i.e., drying on low to medium heat and not overfilling your dryer), if your towels are still scratchy after the wash, you might be overlooking one thing: mineral deposits. Much of the U.S. has hard water — otherwise known as mineral deposits from the water supply. While harmless to human health, hard water can cause a slew of issues for plumbing, bathroom and kitchen fixtures, and even your laundry. Towels that are coming out of a medium-heat, moderately filled dryer in stiff condition might be scratchy because of a build-up of minerals on their fibers. Making them soft once again, however, isn't difficult or expensive to do.

You'll need two ingredients: vinegar and baking soda. Begin a load of towels in the washing machine, utilizing a cup of white vinegar in lieu of laundry detergent, and run a normal cycle on hot. After this cycle is complete, repeat the process with a cup of baking soda. Once washed through twice (once with vinegar and once with baking soda), you'll be ready to dry the towels on a low or medium heat. With any luck, your towels will be comfy to use once again. If, however, they are still scratchy and uncomfortable, there is a chance that they have outlived their lifespan. Once your towels are worn out, there are a multitude of practical ways to upcycle your old towels and keep them from winding up in a landfill.