Soften ‘brick hard’ towels in under 1 hour with household staple that’s not white vinegar
It's normal for towels to stiffen and feel hard, even after the first wash. Luckily, there is an easy fix - it's cheap too.
Laundry items like towels over time accumulate residue from detergent, fabric softener, minerals in hard water and body oils.
When this happens households can strip their laundry if they don’t like the rough and stiff feel.
To strip towels and restore their fluffy texture, many opt for white vinegar or baking soda.
For those who haven’t found this to be effective, there is another household product they may want to give a go.
Taking to the Mrs Hinch Cleaning Tips and Tricks Facebook page, Colette Sarah asked: “Towels. How do you keep your towels soft after coming out of the wash?
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“They have been hung outside today and are brick hard, will be like using a body scrub if I use them.”
Taking to the comments section, many group members recommended using soda crystals.
Karrie Myers wrote: “Add soda crystals to some water and leave the towels to sit in there for 30 minutes to an hour.”
Yvonne Jansen urged: “Don’t use fabric softener on towels, use soda crystals instead.”
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Louise Garner wrote: “So many people recommend using white vinegar in the wash, but I like to soak my towels in soda crystals.”
Cleaning experts at Big Green Smile also recommend using soda crystals. They said: “If your towels are feeling a bit crunchy, it may be that they’re suffering from limescale and detergent build-up.
“Try soaking them in a medium-strength mixture of soda crystals and warm water.”
A 1kg bag of soda crystals retails for £4.39 at Robert Dyas. Alternatively, households can pick up a pack of six 1kg bags of soda crystals for £10.39 from Amazon.
For another method of softening towels, Mrs Hinch fans recommended using the tumble dryer for a short period of time.
Julie Rice said: “I always hang outside to dry and then tumble dry for 10 minutes to soften them.”
Linda Gillan wrote: “I put mine in the tumble dryer for 10 minutes.” Mary Sheahan said: “When you bring them in dry off the clothesline, put them in the tumble dryer for a few minutes.”
Janice Feldman commented: “I have horribly expensive bamboo towels. I dry them on the line and tumble dry for 10 minutes. Works well.”
