How to soften towels

You know that feeling when you get out of the shower and your grab your brand new, big, fluffy, bath sheet and wrap it around your body? It's like a soft, warm hug! If you are anything like me you want them to stay that way forever, but they don't. No, it's not as easy as washing them with your favourite detergent and adding a great fabric softener then tossing them in the drying on the "fluff cycle".

In fact those things actually contribute to roughing up your towels. All those great smelling laundry products build up in the fibres over time. So what do you do? Find a new, better product? Sure, and you might even get them a tad softer. Or you could go buy new towels every few months? Um, no. I can't afford that!

After scouring the web for ideas I was surprised to see that the answer might be very simple. I saw people recommending the following things:

• Soaking in hot water with fabric softener for an hour before each wash (who has time for that?!)
• 15 Easy Steps to soft towels! (I'm not buying that. If there are FIFTEEN steps it ISN'T easy)
• Sodium tripolyphosphate. (What now? If I can't say it and I'd have to go to a chemistry supply store it's WAY too much effort for me.
• Adding a cup of salt to the wash cycle. (I salt my fries, not my laundry.)

I guess you are starting to see a trend here. I'm looking for a sure fire way to do it with as little effort as possible. After trying all sorts of combinations here's what I can say worked really well for me.

1. Go shopping! Buy a pack of tennis balls from your local dollar store. Three seems like a good number. Then hit your grocery store and get a big box of baking soda and a big bottle of white vinegar. You can get the Big box of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda at a big box store for next to nothing. Same with the vinegar.
2. Start your machine on your favourite cycle using warm or hot water.
3. Add your detergent, 1 cup of the baking soda and 1 cup of the vinegar.
4. Toss in your towels, but not too many. They need room to swirl around and get clean.
5. Avoid the temptation to use liquid fabric softeners. They build up, making towels crunchy and therefore less absorbent.
6. When your load is finished, transfer to your dryer along with the tennis balls and a fabric sheet (if you MUST have that extra scent added)
7. Dry them on your heat setting but remove them just before they are fully dry. You don't want to cook them.

You should find they are dramatically improved! It certainly works for me! 

I'd love to hear your tips! Have any tried and true methods, please share them in the comments.