Member POLL - Towels

[mixguy]

Towels

Towels here are white and add chlorine bleach every other wash. Always set the machine for a hot wash and usually an extended wash time on the heavy duty cycle. I usually add baking soda and borax to the wash water with the detergent too. A tablespoon of fabric softener is usually added in the dispenser. I am trying the second rinse option and no softener to see if I like them that way. The chlorine bleach is alternated with use of Amway's All-Fabric bleach added with the detergent. No set in stains seen here yet! and my towels don't show any wear yet. Towels are in the hamper after one use. I replaced all my towels about 5 yrs ago having watched an Oprah show about running a more efficient home, one suggestion was to have all white towels so that you do not have to worry about stains and fading and use chlorine bleach that removes most stains. Previous to this set of towels I was using towels that were 15 yrs old and finally needed to be retired, I was tired seing them and they were starting to become unsewn. The are now in my stache of car cleaning rags

 

[mixergal]

So many different routines!

I'm with golittlesport - if I didn't change my hubby's towels from time to time I think he would be using the same one from when we met!

Bath towels get washed once a week - or sooner if they start to look grubby, or I want to change up the look in the bathroom (hey, sometimes a girl gets a good deal on a really funky set of towels!). Washcloths get changed out daily - hung up to dry after one use, then in the hamper they go. I have TONS of matching washcloths and towels, so I only wash them when we start to run low. Always hot water and a dryer sheet.

After they start to look shabby I recycle the washcloths into dust rags (if I've changed the decor and they don't fit in anymore), or hotpads (by surging 3 of them together - only if they don't have holes or too many thin spots). Sometimes if just the edges are starting to fray I will run them through the surger to give them a little more life - waste not, want not! Large towels can be cut up and surged to make servicable washcloths (as long as there is plenty of pile left in the terry), or cut into strips and tied into bath rugs.

Unfortunately, I change my color scheme often enough, I don't get to make many bath rugs - but I do have lots of dust/polishing rags!

Dishcloths/towels get washed as needed - also in hot water. They don't usually have as much material to them, so they don't recycle as well - once they start to get holes/thin spots they are usually relegated to rags.

And I USE my rags for everything from polishing silver to washing my car. Also, I'm a painter - so I have an endless need for rags in my studio.

-Sherri

 

[autowasherfreak]

Once or twice during the hot summer months and during the winter two or three times if they still smell clean. I don't use fabric softeners or dryer sheets anymore. I like the slight scent from the Sear's Ultra Plus detergent. Most of my towels are dark colored. If I wash them in the Frigidaire FL heavy cycle, warm wash cold rinse. In the Maytag A806, after they have washed a full cycle I restart the wash for another 8 minutes for a total 18 minutes warm wash cold rinse.

 

[chuffle]

Bath towels are used all week, and then washed on Monday in hot water and tossed in the dryer (no softener).

Kitchen towels (hand, tea, and dishrag) are changed daily, washed in hot water with a dose of bleach.

Joe

 

[angus]

Once for a bath towel and then into the wash. Some years back, I would use a towel twice or three times, hanging it to dry between showers. After a time, i began to show little white circles where it looked as if my skin had lost pigment. Very noticeable on us swarthy Mediterranean types, especially in summertime. The dermatologist told me that this was nothing that unusual, but it was the result of an overgrowth of fungus. We all have this on our skin normally, but the towels stayed damp just long enough even with a fan in the bathroom to remove the moisture to develop an overgrowth quickly. His mandate - fresh towel for each shower, hottest wash possible, bleach if you can.

So after a month of showering with a special soap and dabbing my arms and legs with some foul smelling concoction, it went away. Never used the same towel twice after that and never had a problem again. Same advice with facecloths. Use once and wash.