Poll: What detergent do you use for towels?

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My towels are very brightly colored and it's very prett

I too have for as long as I can remember loved watching towels wash in top loading machines. Not only is watching towels wash in the washer one of my earliest memories it is one of my secret pleasures in life. Like you I think they are pretty to watch. Not being able to watch the pretty colorful towels watch is the one thing I do not like about having a front loading machine. Yeah, you can look thru the glass door and watch but it just isn't the same. And I must also confess, I've harboured a lifelong "towel fetish". I love beautiful brightly colored towels. My wife does not share this fettish and thinks towels are just a utilitarian necessity.
 
Whatever is currently on the go, normally Ariel but currently Persil Bio - all my bath and hand towels are white so don't use colour varients.
 
Recently I use arm and hammer with oxiclean. Towels and washclothes seperated by color soak and extra rinse hang dry. Other detergents I've used and like are All regular or free and clear, tide HE free and gentle...
 
My towels get washed in hot water and a cold rinse. I use Gain regular scent. It's very rewarding when you come out of the shower and use the towel. I also wash my bed sheets in the same set up with Gain. Sniff, Sniff, Hooray!
 
For us its Tide Original scent powder with a half cup of borax. Then I add Stop and Shop brand liquid bleach for colors. For the rinse they get Downy April Fresh and not this stinky version...I am able to find the last incarnation in the refill cartons. My towels always emerge from the dryer fresh and clean. And one thing is that we use a towel twice and in the hamper it goes. I have been to a few peoples homes and they use the same towel all week then wash it in cold...talk about musty smelling.
 
Tide with Bleach

Our bath towels are white and I was using Fresh Start due to the low sudsing in the SQ front loader but recently changed to a smaller portion of regular tide with bleach (I am very interested in the new Tide with Bleach HE that I have heard about). I almost always use the front load for maximum water extraction, I wash on Hot with cold rinse as well select the extra rinse option.

I accidently put softener in the dispenser this past weekend (Snuggle white lavender sandalwood) and I think I may start doing it every third or fourth wash for the bath towels. If not using Snuggle I use Downey lavender vanilla.
 
Sears unsceneted formulated for he machines with warm or hot water. It really get things clean. For dark colors or things I think may fade, I used ALL Mighty concentrated unscented liquid and cold water.

I do not use fabric softener. Our water is soft where we live and I never have a problem with static elecricity. But now my Mom when she was keeping house had this little mesh bag that she put her undergarments in. Delicate cycle with a special laundry liquid she ordered from a dress shop and then they went in the dryer on low with a bounce dryer sheet. It was a ritual with her.
 
When I lived in my first place there WERE NO WASHER / DRYER HOOK-UPS! I know. I hope Robert is not reading this. Anyway, I did my laundry at my mother's when I would go over to eat supper. Once I reached for her special bottle laundry detergent and I glug glug some in with my wash water. Later that week she called me and asked if I had washed clothes with her special liquid. I confessed and she blew me out in a loving motherly way. :)
 
Towels were washed today in Sears Ultra Plus and a bit of Clorox 2. "Hot" water was used (don't forget, I've discussed that subject before in regards to the laundromat I go to).
 
Jim, I"m just like you--towels are a load, undergarmets are a separate3 load, bed linens are separate,  other clothes are primarily work or casual; and jeans are washed separately.  I on't think I"M anal either, just diong things the right way (for me). 
 
Hey Mike

Have those people ever been to your house, used your towels, and commented on how clean or frsh smelling or ... your towels are? 
 
Tide free&gentle liquid (free of dyes and perfumes) plus a Tide stain release (free of dyes and perfumes) pack.

 

I like my laundry to have "no smell". Nothing worse than sitting next to someone who smells like "bounce" or "gain".

 

I use all white towles for everyday use. It's just easier, no sorting colors. I wash all my towels in one load. No mixing with shirts or under clothes. I like to wash like colors with like colors and like fabrics with like fabrics. Just common sense. Washing heavy towels with a dress shirt is pretty tough on the shirt and can add wrinkles.

 

Jim
 
I'm not sure why so many people use harsh detergents and "stain release" products for items that aren't that dirty. Bath towels need light, gentle cleansing without being heavy handed or build up residue. For this reason I use VASKA HERBATERGENT for my towels and linens. It's gentle and leaves your towels smelling wonderful and fluffy without the need for fabric softener. Highly recommended.
 
Bath Towels Light Duty?

That depends on how the household uses them, IMHO.

If one does a serious scrubbing down in the bath, then dries off with towel and it goes into the hamper after one use, then possibly. OTHO if the things are used as a bath mat (why do men do that????), dry the family dog, wipe up spills, used as a wet wipe after incomplete hand or body washing, and so forth then a little stronger laundry methods may be required.

Personally find Vaska too frothy for use on terry-cloth items in my Miele as the machine uses so much water and only does two spins before the final rinse (one short burst after the third then another longer spin after the fourth rinse), that anything very absorbent will sends torrents of foam/water gushing as the washer begins extraction. If this amount is too much for the pump to handle the washer slows extraction down. However as the timer keeps moving it can and often will happen that the cycle will not fully extract before going into the final rinse. This leaves all that froth inside the tub, sump, pump and so forth.
 
'harsh' detergents on towels

Well my towels are washed together with cleaning cloths, tea towels and dish cloths etc, which are often very heavily stained.

I see no reason to change my bath towel and bath mat more than once a week. Hand towels, tea towels cleaning/dish cloths etc are changed whenever they start to look at bit grubby.

All are washed on cottons 60c with Persil bio powder, which is the detergent I use on everything.

Matt
 

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