White and fluffy

Thanks for asking NanKate

The right radius (broken at elbow) is almost as good as new. The left radius (broken near wrist end) will never be sorted. It works OKish, but has a noticeable twist in it!

Hi Anya I suggested to DH that I would ask for GN advice. He usually does all the research work in our house.

Are your arms ok after those awful breakages last year ?

white vinegar - my Mum used that to rinse her hair after shampooing. She said it removed all the soap.

Conditioner makes towels less absorbent, as it coats the fibres. I use white vinegar instead, which clears out the remaining froth. I do tumble them though, as they do seem a bit scratchy otherwise.

If he's so keen on doing it himself NanKate then I'd just tell him to find his own solutions.

Thanks folks for all these helpful responses. When we get back from hols I am going to print off your suggestions and give them to DH to make his own choice.

best soft towel I've ever had are from Q.D.Not the very cheapest ones but next price up.About £6 for bath sheet.

What's wrong with stiff non fluffy towels. People pay a fortune to go to a spa for a body exfoliation treatment ........but get out of a warm bath or shower and dry yourself all over with an ultra stiff, hard, non fluffy bath towel and it has exactly the same effect as that spa whole body exfoliation ........and yet costs you nothing!

Don't have white towels, but wash mine at 60 degrees with a little non-bio liquid, then tumble dry 30-40 mins with a fabric softener sheet. If it's a nice day they go on the line to finish off, or on the clothes airer if not. They are lovely and soft.

I'm no expert on this subject, but my view is that we should use as little as possible modern laundry detergents . Especially the perfumed ones.

We have extremely hard water here, and our towels used to be like Brillo pads. But I'm winning...
Half a cup of white vinegar in the main wash goes a very long way towards countering the calcium build-up. And no, it doesn't make the towels smell. Plus a little fabric conditioner in the final rinse. Spin them to get out as much water as possible, then line dry, finishing off in the tumble dryer to really fluff them up.
But the vinegar in the main wash is the absolute key.

ER -- I always tumble dry my white towels and have not bought any new ones at all for over 10 years.
They were best quality when I bought them from J Lewis or the White Company and are lasting very well indeed, thank you.
I put 'whitening' sheets or Vanish platinum in with them sometimes, wash at 60 degrees and tumble dry with tumble drier sheets for extra softening. (But we don't have any allergies etc, I realise that would not be at all good for people who do)
But I may try the vinegar tip, it sounds good.

White items only - anything else in the drum, even if it is pale in colour, seems to 'bleed' into the white clothes or towels. I also put half a cup of white vinegar in the wash cycle and it has made my white bed linen, which was quite good even after a few years of washes, absolutely sparkling white. I couldn't believe how good my husband's white business shirts looked either - and there is no whiff of vinegar left after washing.

Re ironing trousers, my lovely mother did the same to my father and brother .... i.e. she ironed their trousers with the crease the 'wrong' way, so they both always ironed their own. Just realised, that so did I ... she really was VERY clever! ?

Just have to say this - all this very hot washing, tumble drying and using special cleaning products in the washer is not doing the environment any good. Biological washing powder is one of the worst things for the environment. Towels last much longer if you don't tumble dry them.

I can well remember hanging terry nappies out in frosty weather---had to stand them up by the fire to thaw out before they could be folded.

PS to above post. I use small amounts of Surcare or Waitrose Pure/Senstive liquid. Most main brands' sensitive soaps still have a perfume.

Thanks MawBroon for raising that really important point about people with allergies to anything perfumed. Staying in other houses, B&Bs etc can be a nightmare and leave me sneezing and puffy eyed. I put in a special request when booking B&Bs etc and it is usually ignored. I get fed up with people regarding me as a freak if I raise the subject. I wanted to hug a woman who went the extra mile recently & understood completely. I often take my own pillowcase and cover those sticks in perfume with a plastic bag and switch off or remove what I can.

Oh thank heavens for that EllaKeat, Dharmacat and grannyactivist, I thought that I was the only one who preferd my towels slightly rough. Thay do dry me faster and are nice for a buff up. White towels I gave to my DS2 a couple of years ago, where they were received with open arms. By the way, I stopped using fabric softener as I found it made the dispenser drawer manky. ?

No softener for me - I like my towels to be line dried and slightly stiff so they're more absorbent. Washed at hottest temperature, usually overnight so they can be hung out in the morning.

I had no washing machine forty odd years ago and I handwashed everything and drip dried on line. Terry nappies came up lovely and white. Bedding also lovely and soft. Used to trample that and the towels in the bath with the three children. It was fun at the time.

At the risk of stating the obvious, if coloured towels do not show the dirt and white ones (or any pale colour) do, isn't that a clue when they need washing?
Vanish or any other stain remover for whites will get everything out (even blood I have found as DH bleeds easily) and stop them going dingy, but NOT Ace or other biological stain removers please.

I think I might start taking my own towels when staying in hotels and B&B's. One place we often go to has sage green towels and I'm sure they can't be washed at a very high temperature. I'm continually worried about where they have been before, when I am drying my feet and nether regions with them.

Nor me, icanhandthemback. We currently have some pink bath towels which I know my children were taking to the swimming pool back in the '70s. M&S. They're still absorbent.

No way would I ever buy white towels! It is bad enough that we have to have white shirts to try to keep looking their best but life is too short for white towels which will inevitably turn a murky grey.