No matter how much you've spent on bathroom towels in the past, you've probably found that they don't stay as soft and fluffy as the day you bought them - unless you know this nifty washing machine hack.
Over time towels can often turn hard and scratchy, making them particularly unpleasant to use after a bath or shower. While it can be disheartening to spend good money on towels only to see their quality decline after a few washes and dries, don't throw them away just yet - they can be salvaged using a kitchen cupboard staple, The Express reports.
Sarah Dempsey from trades matching site Myjobquote.co.uk explained: "To prevent towels from going crunchy, add a cup of white vinegar to your wash. This helps to break down the build-up of detergent residue on your towels which makes them stiff and crunchy."
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A bottle of white vinegar costs as little as £1.25 from Wilko, or you can get a five-litre bottle on Amazon for £6.28. Handy for cooking as well as cleaning, the acetic acid in white vinegar strips your towels of soapy remnants, helping to make them feel soft again - the acid also makes it an effective cleaner for combatting grease, grime and dirt around the home.
If you're finding that your towels are drying stiff and scratchy, the type of water where you live could be to blame - and your drying method could be contributing to the problem, another expect suggested. Sam Whigham, founder of eco laundry brand Wilton London, explained: "This problem is often caused by hard water, and is most common in air-dried laundry."
Hard water is water that has a high mineral content, and it can also contribute to limescale build-up and prevent soap from lathering. But if hard water is making your towels rough, there are a few other simple solutions you can try besides adding vinegar to your wash, Sam advised.
"Use a little fabric conditioner - not too much, as this can have an effect on absorbency," he suggested. "Dry [them] outside - the movement from the wind will help break up the stiffness when drying."
The expert added: "Or, put them in the tumble dryer, they nearly always come out soft. Sometimes I air dry my towels then throw them in the dryer for 15 minutes to soften up."
