Washing Towels

[lavamat78800]

Hey guys!

What I like to know is how you wash towels.
Especially on what temperature.
I used to wash my coloured towels at 60° C (140° Fahrenheit) with a detergent for colored laundry.
I selected the 1800 rpm spin and dried them in my dryer.

What I think about is:
Towels aren´t dirty at all, so why do I have to wash them at 60° (140°) ?
40° (104° Fahrenheit) is sufficient, isn´t it?

So, how do YOU wash towels?
What temperature do you choose and which detergent do you use?
Do you put them in the dryer, or not?

If you own an american toploader please gimme more information than "I select the regular speed and fill with hot water".
Because I don´t know how hot hot/warm/cold is!
Please say how much hot/warm/cold is in Celcius or at least in Fahrenheit.

Best regards, n!no!

 

[aquarius1984]

The proper way to wash towels,

I have 2 sets of towels, a white set which are thick heavy prestigious hotel quality towels I bought 5 years ago and I use on a daily basis. These get washed on a 95deg White Cotton wash, Medic Care rinse and always with Non Biologic Persil which gives superior whites to anything else IMHO. 1200rpm final spin which is the fastest it will go. The towels are still in the same condition as new. They dry in Mums Hoover Crumble Dryer for 2hours. Folded up and put in the airing cupboard until used. My other set are chocolate brown regular towels, more used on occasion. These get a 60deg Cotton wash with a colour powder detergent. Never ever use softener in towels, Im not keen on tumble drying them either, I like hard towels and prefer line dried and radiator dried towels best. Rougher the better for me. I never wash any coloured towels lower than 60degrees for the simple reason, after being left damp for a day or so the bacteria in them multiplies by double every 20 minutes from the time they are used. No wonder they stink, combined with that damp smell. i would say though 60deg is not really hot enough. Bacteria is not killed at 60deg you should really aim for 75deg for this. However most machins dont have this temperature unless it has a temp select dial. 95deg on dark towels is overkill for their colour and 60deg is a good compromise. Never wash towels at 40, give them a week and they are vile. My mums towels reek from 40deg treatment so I wont use one. No amount of fabric softener she uses covers it up hence I use my own towels. Rob

 

[zanussi_lover]

at uni i do mine on 40 because i don't have many whites, and i have white t-shirts with delicate prints on them

i use Cheap tablets because i'm a student, so asda bio tablets/daz tablets with a bit of comfort pure in the wash

i only use 60 if i'm doing dirty socks/bedding/towels load

at home in the Zanussi, we do our towels on 60 degrees with Surf tropical powder/Persil Biological powder/tablets

i put a bit of comfort pure in too and they go in the dryer for 60 mins

i don't bother using colour detergent for coloured towels, as you need bleach to disinfect the towels

 

[seamusuk]

A convert here...

My opinion for what its worth..

I used to wash towels at 40( all mine are white or cream).

After being nagged by Rob and Jon I now use 60 and it does make a huge difference to the freshness .

Bio non colour detergent,no softener but always tumble dryed- im obviously not quite as hardy as Rob lol!!

Seamus

 

[whirlcool]

We use Persil Bio powder on ours. Most of our towels are beige/brown or white. We wash them in a Whirlpool TL machine. Then they get spun in our Pakistani spinner to get all the excess water out. The water temperature we use is about 60 C. Then they are tumble dried on the "Delicate/Knits" setting for about 45 minutes. They do come out nice and fluffy. On occasion we will use a very small amount of Downy Lavender fabric softener on them, but not very often. I like the smell when you step out of the shower and get hit with that fresh smell.

 

[sadose]

Depends on what towels I'm washing. My day to day bathroom towels are of the pure white Turkish and Egyptian variety of which they receive the 75c treatment with either Persil Bio or Ariel Non Bio (or occasionally a bit of Bold). Every 3 or 4 washes I do them on 95c. I also add half the normal dose of fabric conditioner every other wash.

Coloured towels which match the wet rooms (black and charcoal grey) get a cottons 60c wash or if it's a big load then the Hygiene cycle on the Miele with a quality colour powder, either Ariel colour and style or Persil Colour Care, I also add half the normal dose of fabric conditioner every other wash.

Kitchen linen gets done on a 95c usually with prewash and a hefty helping of biological powder detergent and usually a Dylon DeToxy tablet with no fabric conditioner. (whether they work or not is another matter but hey ho!)

 

[mrboilwash]

Old school here

I insist on thermal sanitation of towels, so I wash them at 95°C or at least at 75°C when I am in the mood to save energy.
I use the extra rinse option of my Miele as for everything else too and I normally use a detergent that contains oxygen bleach ocasionally a liquid. I soften sparingly and tumble dry. I don`t buy dark colored towels so fading is no issue.

If I had to use an American toploader I`d probably switch down to warm and add chlorine bleach instead of boiling. But I think the negative enviromental impact and the stress on fibres is lesser when using high temperatures in a frontloader so bleach is no option for me.

I don`t think I suffer germ phobia nor am I afraid of getting an infection from laundry. But I am not comletely happy with the results (odorwise) when doing dark sheets with a color detergent at todays dumbed down 60°C which seem to be a far lower temperature in favor to the energy A-rating.
I wonder why washer manufacturers needed to introduce those new 60°C- Hygiene programmes....

 

[lavamat78800]

Hey,

Thanx for all those replies.

I think aquarius1984 way of washing white towels is the most interesting one.
But what´s the secret of non-biologic Persil/detergent?
I use Persil too, but I never heard something about non-biologic.
What is different to other detergents?

Well, now I go to do a boilwash with some kitchensheets a dishcloth and some towels;-)
I´ll give them a 95° wash with some Persil and 5 rinse-cycles.
They´ll be spun out at 1400 rpm and then they get their journey in my AEG Lavatherm dryer.

 

[dj-gabriele]

I have two sets of towels:
light coloured ones that use almost everyday, I wash them with regular Dash (Procter & Gamble) or (when there are sales... dash is the most expensive!) Dixan tabs (Henkel) plus I always throw in a full dose of Coccolino or Vernel fabric softener (classic scent) and run a standard programme at 60°C (sometimes I do 90°C).
For my gym towels that are completely coloured and dark I hardly ever go more than 40°C but use a powdered hygenizer that is also loaded with perborate, enzymes and oxygen bleach that simply smells beautiful, that is it leaves the clothes odour free even if I always use a full dose of softner.

 

[foraloysius]

Nino,

Non-biologic detergent is detergent without enzymes. In Europe I've seen this type of detergent only in the UK. It's a good detergent for people with allergies.

I always wash my towels (very very thick ones, with a bit of pushing I manage to get six into my Miele W715) at 60*C, extra water in the main wash and high water level in the rinses. I use Ariel liquid for towels.

 

[gyrafoam]

I prefer to use a (top-loader) Frigidaire "Unimatic" because of the 1140 rpm spin-speed.(Currently using a 1953 WO-65-2.) If the towels are white,I use hot wash/warm rinse. And my favorite detergent is Paloma although Viva works well too. I always add a cup of Clorox liquid bleach towards the end of the wash cycle to kill any cooties that may be lurking in there. If the towels are colored, I use FAB detergent and warm wash with warm or cold rinse. The over-flow rinse is great.

I am currently drying them in my '66 Whirly (Gas) Dryer with a window. As soon as I can get an outside clothes-line up, I will start to hang them out. (I have just recently moved).

 

[lavamat78800]

Louis,

I already saw your white towels in "Photos of collections".
I was fascinated of those dazzling whites!!!
But as other users are always telling me, liquid detergent is rude..
Does it a better job on whites than powder?

Dj-Gabriele:
When I was 8, I was working in a Lavanderia near Venezia, on a camp site.
They were using a professional detergent for delicates, I think it´s name was something with Coco, it´s scent was fabulous!
In Germany, Dash is a bad detergent, I only use it for colored towels washed at 40°C
It´s scent is great!

 

[foraloysius]

Nino,

Does towels are older ones, they weren't as thick as the ones I have now. I used to wash those towels with powder, mostly Ariel. But I find that the thick towels I have now rinse out better with Ariel liquid. I still prefer powder over liquid though.

 

[dj-gabriele]

Really? Venezia isn't far at all from Bologna
Dash is bad in Germany!? what do you use then, Persil is it the Italian Dixan, isn't it? I think Dash is the best available in Italy and Dixan is a close second (if it gets rinsed well)... but only if I can't put my hands on my father's professional laundry detergents hehe.
Yup, that Coccolino softener is just great, the smell is the best to me!

 

[gansky1]

Towels almost always go into a Frigidaire Unimatic. The "pumping" wash action really brings up the nap of the terry-cloth and the spinning, like Steve said, is best for rinsing and quick drying. In the winter, I dry all of them in the Frigidaire Filtrator (condenser) and in the summer, a Maytag or other low-airflow vintage dryer so they come out nice and soft.

 

[mattywashboy]

we have coloured towels, mainly blue and sea green. These get washed on a 60* Cotton with 1000rpm spin and Omomatic powder, no softner.
In the old machine (top loader) it was a Hot (bout 50-60*C water) Long Regular wash, once again no softner.We always dry our towels on the line coz they are fresher and we like rough towels.
Matt

 

[rolls_rapide]

...and we like rough towels.

UGH!!! I absolutely DETEST towels that feel like sandpaper!

 

[pulsator]

I personally have my own towels due to the amount of fabric softener I require! I generally shift machines each week so towels are washed in either the Miele, the Amana Enlighten (Neptune), or the BD Kenmore washer. I don't have any white towels, just my pink, lime, and turquoise ones so I only wash them in warm.

With the Miele, I use the Normal cycle, extra rinse (totals 3), Tide HE powder, a cap and a half of Downy April Fresh, and I wash in warm which is 40 degrees C.

With the Amana Enlighten (rebadged Maytag Neptune), I use the Cotton/Sturdy cycle, extra rinse (totals 4), Tide HE powder, a cap full and a half of Downy April Fresh, and I wash them in warm which I believe is around 115 degrees Fahrenheit or about 45 degrees Celsius,

With the BD Kenmore, I use the Normal cycle, normal rinsing (which with 6 spray rinses is the best rinsing washer I have ever seen!), Original Tide with Bleach powder, a cap and a half of Downy April Fresh, and a warm wash which is again around 45 degrees Celsius.

I always require that my laundry is spun at at LEAST 1,000 RPM before it goes in either of the dryers (Electric F&P Smartload or Whirlpool gas dryer) and everything gets dried on low heat. I know I use a lot of fabric softener but my towels have no trouble whatsoever absorbing water and they come out so very soft and so very fluffy and so very sweet smelling!!! YAY!!!

 

[appnut]

I wash all my towels, even deep dark colors, at either 50C or 60C wash and my final rinse in my Frigidaire front loader is warm, aorund 40C. Use Sears StainFighter detergent (powder) and , OxyClean oxygen bleach for the lighter color towels, and a bit of fabric softner.