Washing Towels

[sudsmaster]

Hot water (130F) for 25 minute wash, hot first rinse, cold subsequent rinses. Use a mild liquid like Safeway Select dye/fragrance free HE 2X. Supplement with about 1 oz of STPP.

 

[lavamat78800]

Hey Dj Gabriele,

If you want to know where we´ve been for holidaying more exactly:
We´ve been near Cavalino, the camp site´s name is Marina di Venezia.
Yeah, Dash doesn´t perform very well, white laundry is getting grey by the time.
For whites I prefer Persil (Dixan) or Ariel, but Ariel just let whites get grey too.
Sometimes I use Tandil which is from Aldi (Eurospin), but I don´t like it´s smell.

In Germany Coccolino is sold as Kuschelweich, but my favourite freshners are from Lenor (Downy).

 

[mielabor]

I don't wash towels separately but always combined with other stuff. My procedure: wash at 95C with Neutral Color powder and a large dose of Ecover oxygen bleach to get that wonderful fresh smell. No softener in summer and a small dose in winter to avoid static discharges. Dry on line and than a few minutes in the dryer to remove lint and soften them a bit.

 

[lavamat_jon]

Towels here almost always get a Cottons 60*C short wash, (or reduced time as it was on the Bosch), and are done with a colour or biological powder dependent on the colour , and I use the water plus option if I remember to select it or not. Done towels on 95*C before but not noticed any difference in cleanliness or freshness - more often than not people will only use towels 2 or 3 times in this house anyway before using a new one so freshness doesn't really matter. Softener I will use depending on the mood, though I won't use Lenor on towels as I've found it reduces their absorbency a lot but a usual half cap dose of Sainsbury's or Comfort fabric softener seems to do the trick in fluffing up towels especially if they've been line dried.

I used to be fussy about using the dryer for towels, but these new towels (from Primark believe it or not) seem to stay nice and fluffy even if they've been on the line - though if they do go in the dryer I always do them on low temperature as they seem to be more fluffy when dried at low heat rather than on a higher heat setting.

My nana does all her towels on a 40*C wash, but they never smell musty as she always hangs them on the line even in the depths of winter so they always have that fresh air smell. Still makes me feel kinda gross though, but they haven't died yet of hot washed towels so I guess there can't be anything too much wrong .

Jon

 

[newwave1]

Towels in our house are coloured, they make for fun loads They go on cotton 60, with colour liquid or powder detergent with maximum rinses, and 1600rpm & into the dryer i am one of these people who cannot stand hard towels or clothes it just grates me! lol.

Darren

 

[samsungfl]

Towels here are always washed on a Colourfast Cottons 60*c wash, sometimes with the Time Saver option depending on if I'm in a rush. I tend to give the lighter coloured towels a wash at 90*c every few weeks or so. I always use a Biological powder on towels as I believe the bleach helps to sanitize them! I tend to use just over half the recommended dosage of softener, that way they seem to stay soft and quite fluffy even without tumble drying

Richard

 

[chachp]

Our towels are white. They are some kind of thick cotton. I wash them at 161F with an extra rinse and a 1200RPM spin. I use the Persil formula for light colors and always add a scoop of OxyClean. On occasion I add a little Fabric Softener only because I like the scent. I dry them at a Permanent Press cycle so they are cooled down before they come out to get folded.

THey come out very nice and are very white.

 

[lavamat78800]

Ariel vs. Persil

Hey,

just had a bath and compared those towels which were washed with ariel with them which were washed with Persil at boilwash temperature.

Persil washes much more white than Ariel!

Persil -you know what you got´.

 

[foraloysius]

That's odd Nino, my experience is exactly the opposite. The dangling white towels on the clothesline you mentioned were only washed with Ariel. I still find that Ariel washes whiter than Persil. But YMMV ofcourse.

 

[chachp]

I haven't seen Ariel in the stores here in Arkansas unless I've missed it. I have to send away for the Persil but in my opinion it's worth the effort. I get the formula for light colors and the formula for dark colors.

 

[brisnat81]

Here I stick with a 50degC wash, a scoop of Drivematic and a normal dose of Huggie Fabric softener.

With the 1800RPM spin, I find there is very little softener left at the end of the cycle, almost no smell and the absorbancy is not affected. The white towels stay bright white, and the colours dont fade.

I recently changed the cycles on my Miele from the AU program to the EU program and have found an improvement in rinsing and a reduction in the vibration that I get on our wooden floor.

The Cycles have gone from 40minutes to 1:25, but the rinses now take 15 minutes each, and the spins are much more stepped.

The noticable improvement has been with towels, now when line dried, they have a fluffiness that never used to be there. Kind of what they feel like when they come out of my 1970's Miele.

Coming from a cold water only wash upbringing (20-25degC), the towels were washed once per week and we never had musty towels, and the world didnt end. The towels were always line dried outside, or on clothes horses behind the combustion stove in winter, so perhaps complete drying is a big factor in ensuring a fresh smell. The detergent was always SA8 or Coldpower.

Having said that, I now dont wash below 40deg, and occaisionally as high as 75. I prefer to wash at 40 or 50 depending on the cycle and run a maintenance wash at 95 every other month.

 

[chestermikeuk]

Towels

Coloured Towels - Normal Wash, 60d Temp, 4 Spin Rinses, 1600rpm
White Towels - Normal Wash, 70d usual, 95d when required, 4 Spin Rinses, 1600rpm
All with Ariel of course, What Better IMMHO!!! & a splash of Ecover or Blue Comfort

Of course it helps when you have the Creme de la Creme of Laundry Appliances....
Mike, Ducking n Running Fast, Being Slapped silly, Appliancevillers chomping at the bit!!!

 

[2drumsallergy]

Ariel Washes Whiter

Hi Louis,
I totally agree with you Ariel definitely washes whiter. I have tried literally every detergent over the years and Ariel consistently performs best for me. I am regularly asked how I get my whites so white and the answer is Ariel. Amway SA8 Premium with Bioquest is also an exceptional quality detergent and my second favourite after Ariel.

As for towels; my towels are all white and get washed with Ariel Bio on Cottons 60ºC with extra rinse and a half measure of Spring Awakening Lenor. I occasionally use SA8 Premium with Bioquest and SA8 Alpine Floral Fabric Softener. I run them through a Cottons 95ºC cycle with extra rinse once a month for good measure. I line dry whenever possible to save energy but that's not always possible during the winter months so a trip through the dryer is often necessary.

David

 

[timon90]

I ALWAYS wash my towels on Normal cycle, 95*, and full spin speed(1600rpm)! And then in the tumbledryer!

Withes is washed on Normalcycle, 60* and 1300-1400rpm.

Coloured is washed on Normal or short cycle, 40*-50* and 1000-1300rpm.

 

[westtexman]

Ariel vs. Persil Debate . . . .

I find that the Henkel (German Version) of Persil works better in my water conditions than UK Ariel. Perhaps it's because the UK Ariel doesn't seem to rinse out as easy as the Henkel Persil.

I also use Unilever (UK) Persil, and I find that the tabs seem to whiten better than Ariel, but the Powder doesn't seem to whiten as well as Ariel.

I really think I need counseling or something as I seem to be OBSESSED with getting the whitest whites possible. Do they have a 12-step program for that?

 

[logixx]

At home, I wash towels on a 60°C quick wash cycle: wash, drain, deep rinse, spin, rinse, spin, rinse, final spin at 1400 rpm. Always use Lenor softener, always dry them in the dryer. Detergent is usually Ariel powder.

Here it's a *little* more complicated as I have to use a commercial Speed Queen FL. So what I do is I put one Ariel Liquitab in the drum, add the clothes and start the pre-wash using the 40°C cycle. In order not to set-in any stains by a super hot fill, I'm trying to wait as long as possible before switching over to the actual 60°C cycle (usually about 2:30 minutes before the first fill ends and the cycle is locked in). For the main wash I add powdered detergent and Calgon. For the first rinse I add some vinegar to the bleach dispenser to help the washer remove all that detergent. About one cap full of Lenor goes into the final rinse.

Drying: on high heat until completely dry.

 

[rapunzel]

We don't throw our towels in the wash after only one use - but after about three they go in. They get washed in a Speed Queen top loader on hot/regular. Our water temp is set at sixty degrees (140 Fahrenheit) and my favorite detergents are Cold Power with Cuddly regular scent, Cold Power Rainforest scent, Tide Mountain Spring, Tide with Downey April Fresh or Amway SA8 (with phosphates) and Cuddly Jasmine and Bergamot softener. Once in a while I chuck a Bounce sheet in the dryer. Yes, I do have a stash and like to indulge my whimsy. I add a couple of scoops of Clorox oxygen bleach as well, because we tend to wash our cotton bath mats, kitchen towels and microfibre wipe-up cloths in the same load. Then everything goes into the SQ dryer on regular heat for an hour.

Most of our towels are white and washing them in hot water keeps them looking bright and fresh. The hot water gets out the body oils and better cleans the kitchen towels and rags. Most of my frieds only wash their towels on cold water and they tend to take on a musty smell after a while.

 

[vivalalavatrice]

Whites! 60°C

I don't think my mother has never provided bathrooms with coloured towles...(but sometimes I see linenes-towels though).

Towels are washed with cotton cycles, with bedlines, pillowcases, and underwear...60°C and 1cup of DASH... then depending on soil level we add OminoBianco(is a perborated wash activator), and i case of extremely hard soil items I set the prewash(45°C)...

Very rarely I use fabric softner...I prefer to hang out towels drying in wind...better if they're in shadow and not under the direct sun light...

I think however I would wash them at that temperature even if they were coloured...it's an hygienic safe IMHO!

BYE
Diomede

 

[Unimatic1140]

I have 4 huge white bath sheet style towels, I love really big towels after long hot showers. I wash them in the Super Unimatic always. Every few washes I select a 1 hour warm water presoak where I use a full serving of Tide with Bleach, 1/3 of the detergent goes directly into the wash tub for the soak, the other 2/3rds goes into the detergent dispenser to be dispensed at the start of the wash. The presoak fills the tub with 11 gallons of warm water, agitates for 60 seconds, then soaks for 19 minutes, agitates 1, soaks 19, agitates 1 and soaks 19. Then the soak water is spun out over the top (with the required Let's Make a Deal harp sound effect) and for 30 seconds hot water is sprayed into the outer cabinet and pumped down the drain to flush out the hot water line so the new incoming hot water is at full temp. Then the machine does a catalyst style spin/spray/recirculation prewash and goes into a full heated wash cycle which gets the water up to 155F. They are rinsed and spun at 1140rpm for 12 minutes. My white towels are 9 years old and are still as white and bright as the day I bought them and almost as fluffy.

I never use Fabric softener on the towels because it reduces their absorbency, Oct-May I will dry the towels in the Frigidaire Filtrator dryer to make them really soft. In January and February when the temperature of the basement is in the low 60's the towels dry almost instantly in the Filtrator as it low basement temperature keeps the condenser tubes cold.

 

[rapunzel]

Reading all these great posts I surmise that we, here at AW, have the cleanest, sweetest smelling and softest towels this side of the galaxy. Our mothers and grandmothers should be so proud of us ;o)