Table Of Contents
Do you know that old smell that towels seem to accumulate after awhile? Well here's our how-to to keep them sanitized and fresh smelling.
1) Sort Your Towels by Fabric and Color
Place cotton and linen bath towels into separate piles. Further separate those piles into whites, darks (such as dark red, dark blue, and purple), and lights (like pink, yellow, and light blue)
2) Clean with Detergent
Add 1/4 cup of laundry detergent or, if your bath linens are especially dirty, 1/2 cup of detergent to the washing machine. Along with the detergent, add one 1/2 cup of borax. Borax boosts the detergent’s cleaning power and reduces odors.
3) Use Bleach
Add bleach to brighten and sanitize bath towels. Use 3/4 cup regular bleach for your white and bleachable towels. Use 3/4 cup color-safe bleach for colored towels. If your washing machine doesn’t have a bleach dispenser, mix the bleach in 1 quart of water. Add this mixture five minutes into your washing cycle. If you use too much bleach, you can damage your towels, leaving them yellow and brittle. If you know you have hard water, use oxygen bleach instead of chlorine bleach to prevent staining.
4) Use Vinegar
If your towels seem less absorbent than they used to be or have stubborn odors, skip the bleach and use vinegar instead. Use 1/2 cup of 5 percent white vinegar during your wash cycle. Vinegar helps remove odors and strips away detergent buildup to make your towels as fluffy and fresh as the day you bought them. For a top-loading machine, simply raise the lid and pour in the vinegar. For a front-loading machine, wait until water from the previous cycle has drained completely. Open the door and pour the vinegar over the towels. It’s important that you never combine vinegar and bleach. Only use one per wash cycle for an effective and safe result.
5) Check the Washing Machine Setting
A temperature of at least 155 degrees Fahrenheit kills most common germs. This is acceptable for cotton towels but too hot for linen towels. Choose the hot temperature setting for cotton towels and the warm setting (less than 140 degrees F) for linen towels.
6) Promptly Remove Towels
Remove the towels from the washing machine immediately after the spin cycle; letting them sit in the washer while they are damp may undo the cleaning you’ve just done. Place them in the dryer, and set the dryer to high heat for cotton bath towels and cool for linen towels.
Revitalize your towels with these steps, and enjoy the renewed freshness and comfort they bring to your everyday routine. Our cleaners can help you to keep your towels looking and feeling like new, ensuring a pleasant experience every time you use them.
