rough towels

[cookiee69]

Hello.
i live in london, wash my towels n the machine and dry them on the washing line. but they come out very rough. i have tried using fabric softener but it doesn't work?
how does everyone else get their towels soft?
cheers
angela

[shaking]

Try a none biological powder for a few washes.

[haggisbasher]

I know the problem. Do not use a softener as this makes them hard. We have overcome the problem in Bristol by washing at 30c with no soap powder in the machine. Try this a couple of times and you will be amazed at the soap in your towels and the lather generated without any additional soap.

And you will find that this will work and your towels soften over a few washes.

[Vagrant]

Agree with HB - I don't use fabric softener (on towels, fleeces) but do do an extra rinse - modern powders/machines assume you will use softener - my towels are soft when dried on a line,. even softer when done in the tumble drier.

[Vagrant]

Oh, forgot, they're much more absorbent when done without softener.

[woofgang]

It might be a hard water problem. Try washing your towels adding while vinegar to the machine, no detergent, and use water softener tabs in you wash as a routine, i buy the cheapo supermarket ones and they work just as well as the branded kinds.
After you have done the vinegar treatment, you may need to wash the towels again with detergent to get the vinegar smell out if it doesn't rinse out in the wash

[Clanad]

Similar to woofgang's advice... if you have hard water try using one water softening table (here in the U.S., we use Calgon) per wash cycle for towels. It works for us... line hung towels are much softer after using the tablets...

[carlton23]

Yes Clanad, in USA, we too have said softener here in the UK.

[nonomaybe]

Is there something wrong with me?? I LIKE rough towels and think there is not much worse than the Towels with a Proper side and a soft side.

[cookiee69]

It's me, angela, the person who asked.
thanks so much.
i now use calgon, give them a bit of a tumble dry and an extra rinse if they look a bit soapy.
so thank you all very much.
x