6 steps to super soft towels

Picture it: You’re fresh out of the shower and looking for a warm cotton hug in the form of a soft towel. Instead, you’re greeted with what feels like crunchy tree bark.

Hard water, product buildup and improper drying techniques can all contribute to stinky, stiff towels. We asked laundry experts for their advice on achieving the soft, fluffy towels of our dreams.

Start with a good towel

Barton Brass, president of the Turkish Towel Co., recommends starting with a dense, high-quality towel for the best experience. “The better the grade of cotton, the better the towel will be,” Brass says.

Most towels are made of cotton or a cotton blend because of the natural material’s soft, absorbent fibers. If a hotel-like towel is what you’re after, Brass, whose company sells wholesale towels to hotels across the United States, suggests buying pure cotton towels that weigh about 600 grams per square meter (gsm). This measurement refers to a fabric’s density; a higher number means it’s thicker and more absorbent. A standard towel typically weighs between 300 and 600 gsm, so buying on the heavier side should provide a cushier feel.

Wash like items together

It can be a pain to separate laundry, but following the general rule of washing like clothes with like clothes helps laundry go faster and prevents lint transfer. “When you wash like items together, they clean better because everything is even in the washing machine and even in the dryer,” says Becky Rapinchuk, author of “Clean Mama’s Guide to a Healthy Home” and founder of the Clean Mama website.

Separating new towels from other laundry is crucial. New towels are more likely to create lint, and mixing different fabrics (especially a lint magnet such as microfiber) is an invitation for a torturous afternoon spent picking lint off all the other items in the load. He advises washing new towels before you use them for the first time to get rid of any pre-treatments the manufacturer may have added. Whiting suggests washing and drying new towels alone for their first three cycles, just to be safe.

Rethink your products

It might sound counterintuitive, but fabric softener isn’t always the way to achieve cloudlike towels. Fabric softeners coat a towel’s exterior and often contain oils and petroleum-based ingredients that hinder its absorbency. This filmy coating may mean more frequent washing, which breaks down the towel. Rapinchuk instead pours a quarter-cup of distilled white vinegar into the fabric softener compartment of her machine with each load. “It softens the towels, gets rid of any bacteria and keeps my washing machine smelling like nothing, which is what you want,” she says.

White vinegar also helps set colors and makes whites brighter.

Another remedy for stiff towels comes from the kitchen: baking soda. To create a softer texture and get rid of the sour odor that comes from leaving wet towels in the laundry, Rapinchuk runs a wash cycle with a half-cup of baking soda either alone or mixed with detergent before drying (if running alone, launder as normal after). Be sure not to mix vinegar and baking soda in the machine; the chemical reaction may cause the machine to overflow.

Turn down the heat

As tempting as it is to blast towels with the highest possible temperature (to banish germs, right?), dial back the heat if softness is what you’re after. “Heat is probably the worst thing you can do to a towel in the laundry,” Brass says. “Cotton itself is a very soft, cellulose material, and if you burn it or cook it, it’s going to flatten out and it will never get soft again.” Brass recommends washing and drying at medium heat to preserve the towel’s fibers and to eliminate bacteria. Keep in mind that heat can also set stains, so if you’re using the heat to wash a seriously stained towel, pre-treating the stain could help lift it out.

Make sure they’re dry

Damp, crumpled towels piled on the floor are an invitation for mildew, and fabric fibers can be creased or crushed if left long enough. Terry cloth is constructed from yarn that’s stitched into loops, so avoid doing anything that would crush this structure, such as unkempt storage or ironing. Whiting says towels don’t have to be dry before going into the wash, but they should be completely dry before they’re folded and put away. Avoid leaving damp towels in the dryer, too. At the end of the drying cycle, give them a shake and fold them soon after.

Wash towels regularly

Just like with clothing, frequent laundering will eventually break down a towel’s fibers, robbing it of its drying ability. Rapinchuk launders her towels after two uses and changes her hand towels daily to avoid spreading germs, and Whiting recommends washing every three to five uses.