There’s nothing quite like a freshly cleaned towel or getting into bed with a brand-new set of sheets on. But over time, that fluffy and soft feel that’s usually there when you first buy them can begin to fade, especially if you’re washing them often.
Frequent washes can not only lead to fabrics fading over time, but they can also ruin the fibres, meaning they feel crisp and dry to the touch. Towels are particularly absorbent, meaning using the wrong product, or too much of it, can lead to them losing their fluffiness. But before you chuck out old towels or bed sheets, there’s one method you can use that will quickly restore their softness. In a video posted on Instagram, the home and cleaning expert Laura de Barra shared her method for reviving old towels and bedsheets using one product that “will change how you do laundry forever”.
If your towels are “suddenly crispy, dull and not drying like they used to, or they have an odour, or your bed linen is making you feel like you’re suddenly overheating at night”, Laura informed viewers to stop using laundry detergent in favour of an alternative product.
She also said: “If you are using fabric softener on your bed linen or towels, I implore you to stop, because these are the kind of problems you’re going to get.”
Although it’s meant to soften fabrics, the product can actually dry materials like cotton and linen out, as it’s designed to stay on the fabric.
Laura explained how products like fabric softener and laundry detergent clog up the fibres in cotton and linen, making for a “less absorbent fabric”.
Instead, Laura instructed viewers to get some “distilled white vinegar into your life”, but warned that she wasn’t “talking about the kind of vinegar that you clean with” as this is too harsh for the washing machine.
“I’m talking about the kind of vinegar you eat,” she explained, adding that you want to look for five percent distilled white vinegar which is the “kind that you find in the food aisle”.
In the comments, Laura shared that you can’t find distilled white vinegar; you can simply use distilled malt vinegar, which is available for just 35p in Tesco. Once you have your vinegar, Laura explained how to use it to “do a reset of your towels and bed linen”.
How to revive old towels and bed linen
First, you’ll wash them without laundry detergent. Instead, Laura instructs viewers to “place a cup of distilled white vinegar in the drum and half a cup into the fabric softener section.”
The temperature of the wash should be adjusted for the type of wash. Darks should be set to 30C, but Laura said you can “afford to do 60C” for a white wash.
Once your towels or bed linens are in the washing machine, you’ll simply “let the vinegar work her acidic magic.”
The magic works thanks to vinegar’s acidic properties, which break down the soapy residue built up in the fibres that make the fabric feel stiff. After being washed with vinegar, your towels and sheets “will come out soft” and “absorb everything they need to.”