Towels lose their softness if they’re washed regularly with detergent and fabric softener.
Over time, the oils and ingredients in the detergent and fabric softener coat the fibres in the towel, making them less absorbent.
If you live in a hard water area, this can also have an impact on how soft your towels are.
Lee Trethewey from Sustainable Furniture said: “Sometimes, washing and drying towels can leave them feeling rough and stiff.
“Hard water is one of the main reasons why towels end up like this, as it results in the build-up of hard water minerals.
“As well as this, washing towels incorrectly can leave some of our body’s oils, makeup and other substances on the towel.
“Luckily, you can use distilled white vinegar to truly cleanse towels, using vinegar’s acidic properties to strip the towel of build-up.
“To do this, place towels in the washing machine and set it to a warm wash.
“Swap detergent and anything else you usually use in your washing machine for distilled white vinegar.”
Once the wash cycle has been completed, run the towels through the tumble dryer on a medium setting.
Make sure to also place some dryer balls in there to ensure they come out “soft and fluffy”.
If you do not have access to a tumble dryer, evenly spread them out on an airer, drying outside if the weather permits.
White vinegar not only strips leftover residue from the detergent and fabric softener, but it works great to soften the towels too.
It doesn’t need to be used on every single wash, but every six weeks or so is sufficient to keep them nice and soft.
