When you dry off after a shower and your towel doesn’t seem to be soaking up water like it should, it can be frustrating. The towel may look fine and smell clean, but the water just doesn’t seem to be absorbed. This issue is not with the towel itself, but with what you’ve been adding to the wash to take care of it.
Try dripping a few drops of water onto an old towel to see if it soaks in or beads up and rolls off. If the water doesn’t soak in, it’s likely that there’s a thin, waxy film on the towel that’s preventing it from absorbing water.
What’s causing the problem
This film is not visible to the naked eye, but it’s there, and it’s doing the opposite of what a towel is supposed to do. The film builds up slowly over time, with each wash adding another thin layer on top of the last one. This film also traps body oils, dead skin, and hard-water minerals, which can cause a musty smell.
Cotton towels are designed to grab water and hold it, with thousands of tiny loops on the surface that act like little sponges. However, when a towel is coated with this waxy film, water hits the towel and slides off instead of soaking in.
The culprit: fabric softener
Fabric softener is the culprit behind this problem. While it may seem like a good idea to add fabric softener to your towel wash, it’s actually doing more harm than good. Fabric softener works by coating the little threads of the towel so they feel smoother, but this coating is essentially waterproofing a sponge.
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The solution to this problem is plain white vinegar. Vinegar is a mild acid that can loosen and remove the waxy coating on your towels. To fix your towels, put them in the washer alone, add 1 cup of white vinegar, and run a normal cycle. Then, dry them on medium heat with wool dryer balls or clean tennis balls to fluff them. This process will help restore your towels’ absorbency.
You can also add ¼ cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle every third or fourth towel load to maintain the health of your towels. However, be careful not to use vinegar too often, as it can eat away at the rubber hoses inside your washer over time. It’s essential to find a balance when using vinegar to clean your towels.
Quitting the use of fabric softener on your towels and using white vinegar instead can make a big difference in the performance of your towels. This simple fix can restore your towels to their former absorbency and prevent the buildup of that waxy film. Now that you know the truth, you can make a change and start taking better care of your towels, which is especially important if you want to restore hot water supply to your shower.
It’s worth noting that you didn’t do anything wrong by using fabric softener on your towels – you were just following the instructions on the label.
