White and fluffy

Tumble drying makes a difference to softness/hardness. And I would use very hot water (as hot as your machine goes) and very little or even no detergent. A small amount of soda crystals and hot water will remove any dirt or grease. I think detergents leave hard deposits in cloth.

For actual whiteness, wash (hot again) using Ecover laundry bleach. Again, no other detergent.

This 'regime' cleans your washing machine as well.

Do you think he is fixated on the brand new look or can you see what he means?

Your DH is quite honored to be allowed to use the white and fluffy towels NanKate I refuse to let my DH anywhere near mine (except for some old past their best ones) and reserve the whitest fluffiness for the grandchildren who still love to be wrapped up into bundles with the whitest and softest of towels.

I agree with Baggs about the hot wash although I use a little bit (not the full dose) of Ariel liquid plus a scoop of vanish platinum (for whites) and a small splash of lenor (the one in the gold bottle) as the DGD like the smell of my washing. I also dry outside whenever possible. I don't have a tumble dryer.

I know that husbands have many peculiarities, but washing his own towels has to up there as one of the oddest?
I agree that a short tumble makes them soft and fluffy, I think as others have said , a hot wash and Persil is the answer, plus replacing them very regularly, you can use the "cast offs".

My husband insists on ironing his own shirts as apparently I don't do the collars properly not that I'm complaining, it's a task he's welcome to!

When we go away, if I have time, I wash all the towels and leave them on towel rails and they are dry when we return. Husband moans that they are all stiff and horrible. What is it with these men perhaps I'll get him to do his own like MrNanKate

I've heard that a soak in vinegar brings them up lovely. Haven't tried it, though.

I would try with about a cup of white vinegar in a bucket of warm water for an hour or so before washing.

I have not used conditioner for many years and my clothes are no longer hard as they used to be. It did take a few weeks for all the old conditioner to wash out but once it did, what a difference and more money in my purse. The clothes smell fresh because they dry outside as often as possible.

Tumble them.

I tumble them too but don't use white towels! I'd be changing them every 5 minutes in our household with 7 GC around - and menfolk!!!

I wash them at 60C with Surcare liquid detergent plus a tablespoon of Napisan to maintain whiteness. They're line dried when possible because I like the fresh smell but do seem softer when they're tumble dried.

Thanks ALL for your helpful advice, I will pass on the info to DH.

Annsixty I shall tell my Laundry Man you think he is odd . Anything he wants to do himself in the Household Dept suits me fine. He sometimes describes me as a Lady of Leisure.

Doesn't it depend on the type and quality of the cotton they're made from?
I find some of mine always finish up harder than others, after the same kind of wash.
We're not fussy BTW.

Rinse in white vinegar - keeps them beautifully soft.

I hope he is still friends with me.
I hate being unpopular.?

What's so great about white towels? I've accumulated many different colours over the past 50 years!

I have a bed and breakfast so this is a daily problem. Tumble drying them dry costs too much and wears out the towels, so I wash them at 60 degrees in Persol non bio and Napisan, then tumble for an hour and finish off on drying racks indoors. Seems to keep them just about ok.

I tumble all our towels and it never takes as long as an hour to dry them.
I also use stain remover (Waitrose's or Vanish) in the wash to keep them bright white.
Do some people have a problem with this? .

DH does all the washing and ironing and manages to get the towels just right. He tells me that the trick is to stop the dryer after an hour, rearrange the towels and then give them another forty minutes. Towels stay soft because they are not tangled together.

My brother (works in the chemical industry) told me a long time ago that conditioner coats the fibres and makes it less absorbent. So I use a hot wash with detergent n soda crystals, and a last rinse. Our towels are soft n fluffy!

The most fluffy and white towels I've ever used were my mum's, which she used to boil up in a bucket, using fairy snow, before they were put out on the line. She also used to say that frosty weather was ideal for 'whites'.

It does partly depend on the brand of towels. The best ones I've ever had are,believe it or not, from Primark. I think they do 2 kinds,the more expensive (!)ones are better. Part line dry, then tumble. A little bit of Lavender towel softener from Lakeland helps, if they're a bit stiff.
Mind you,I can hardly believe I'm such a saddo posting this!

MissAdventure - frosty weather - I was told that in the days when we had to wash towelling nappies.
I always hung them on the outside line, and in the winter they became very soft.

TriciaF, yes I used to rush to put nappies out on frosty days.
Also good for whitening net curtains. The ones my mum had for around 30 years were white enough to be passed on to a charity shop when we cleared out her bungalow. Maybe there is something in it?