How to Wash Towels So They Stay Fluffy and Absorbent

Key Points

Wash towels separately from clothes to avoid lint transfer.
Use vinegar and baking soda to remove musty odors and soften towels.
Avoid using fabric softeners and dryer sheets to maintain towel absorbency.

Washing towels requires more than just tossing them in the laundry; it involves understanding fabric types and adjusting techniques for white or dark colors. Experts in laundry and cleaning have shared their insights on how to keep your towels fluffy and absorbent, while also handling musty odors and stains. Follow these tips to preserve your towels' quality and extend their lifespan.

Maria Mooney is a cleaning expert and brand director of Truly Free, a company that makes non-toxic cleaning products.
The team from Garnet Hill, a home textile company.

How to Wash Towels

Most towels should be washed in warm water in a regular cycle, but read the tag to be sure. "If the label stresses that you should separate your dark colors from your white colors, you better do that," says the team from Garnet Hill, a home textile company. "And each towel could differ depending on the fibers."

Speaking of those fibers: To avoid getting lint all over your clothes, wash towels separately from your garments.

Wash new towels before using them to open up the fibers, says the team from Garnet Hill. "If the fibers aren't open, they won't be as absorbent," they say. New towels are also often coated in fabric softeners so they're nice and plush, but these ingredients prevent towels from soaking up water. To get rid of that buildup, add a 1/2 cup of white vinegar to the rinse cycle during the initial wash.

Materials You'll Need

Color-safe bleach for colorful towels
Gentle laundry detergent
White vinegar
Non-chlorine bleach for white towels
Washing machine

How to Wash Colorful Towels

Use a cool to warm water setting (about 40 degrees Fahrenheit) when washing your dark-colored towels, says Maria Mooney, cleaning expert and brand director of Truly Free. This will help preserve the colors but still eliminate bacteria.
Add your detergent to your washing machine.
If you choose, add a color-safe bleach to remove strong stains without damaging the towels.
For an extra brightness boost, use half the recommended amount of detergent while washing and add 1/2 to 1 cup of white vinegar to the water during the rinse cycle, says Mooney.

It's best to wash colorful towels with similar shades to prevent bleeding, at least for the first few washes.

Never mix bleach and vinegar. On their own, bleach and vinegar are two effective household cleaning supplies, but they should never be used in tandem. Mixing the two results in the formation of chlorine gas, which is best avoided.

How to Wash White Towels

Use a hot water setting when washing white towels—it helps to maintain their brightness.
Add the recommended amount of detergent (follow the manufacturer's instructions) and a non-chlorine bleach with a natural fabric brightener to the washing machine, like Truly Free's OxyBoost, which contains sodium percarbonate, a technical-grade oxygen boost.

Avoid overloading your machine with towels when washing them. This will not only prevent them from getting clean, but it could also damage your washing machine's drum and decrease its efficiency, says Mooney. As a result, your towels may inevitably need another wash to remove stains and odors.

In general, skip fabric softeners and dryer sheets when washing and drying bath towels to ensure they remain as absorbent as possible over time.

How Often to Wash Your Towels

The team at Garnet Hill suggests washing towels after every three or four uses—but frequency also comes down to personal preference, they add.

How to Get Smells and Stains Out of Towels

White vinegar is an all-natural towel stain remover—and it can eliminate that musty towel smell, too. To use this ingredient to your benefit, follow Mooney's advice: "Soak items in distilled white vinegar for three minutes before adding them to your washing machine," she says. Better yet, a vinegar soak will also make them feel soft and fresh once they are dry.

How to Dry Towels

"Always dry towels immediately after washing them," says Mooney. "If you leave your towels in the washer or lying around damp, they'll likely get a mildew smell, and you don't want that." After running your towels through the washing machine, follow these expert tips to dry them.

Remove your towels from the washing machine, shake them, and tumble dry on medium heat in the dryer.
Once dry, remove immediately (inhale that fresh scent!) and fold.
To avoid a musty smell, ensure your towels are completely dry before folding and storing.
If you're considering line drying your towels, be prepared for a not-so-soft result—line drying makes towel fibers stiff and scratchy.
To avoid wrinkled towels, pull them out of the dryer as soon as they are 100 percent dry and fold them.

How to Fold Towels

Once you've dried your towels, it's time to put them away. If you plan on displaying them in your bathroom, follow Martha's tip, which she shared on her TV show in April 2008: "Fold towels so that the edges are hidden and the towels look fluffy and neat," she said. "Fold the towel in thirds lengthwise, and then hang it over a rod."

If you're planning on putting towels in your linen closet, follow these steps for folding your towels.

Fold the towels in half lengthwise.
Then, fold down one-third from the top.
Continue folding that portion onto the bottom third to form a rectangle.
Then, tuck them away in a dry storage area to prevent moisture buildup.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is vinegar or baking soda best for washing towels?

Vinegar and baking soda work well for washing towels. Use vinegar alone for one cycle to remove buildup. Wash towels again with a cup of baking soda in a hot water cycle to remove odors and to act as a natural fabric softener. Or, do one cycle of hot water with a cup of both vinegar and baking soda.
What does it mean to strip towels?

Stripping towels, or other laundry, means you are removing built-up residue from body oils, chemicals, hard water minerals, and excess detergent. It's a way to deep clean your towels. You can strip towels by soaking items in borax, baking soda, and detergent. Or, for quicker stripping, use the vinegar and baking soda method mentioned above. Laundry stripping works best on whites, not colored towels.
Do dryer balls keep towels fluffy?

Yes, dryer balls will reduce any fiber clumping as towels are drying. Consider wool dryer balls for towels because they also reduce static cling.