My brother told me never to use fabric softener on towels and I laughed at him for 2 years until I saw the buildup

After 24 months of using a half cup of liquid softener per load, my towels felt like sandpaper and stopped absorbing water, so I ran a washing machine cleaner cycle and stripped them with vinegar and baking soda and now they actually dry me off again, has anyone else noticed a difference after ditching softeners?

2 comments

2 Comments

hugo_robinson253d ago

Dude YES. I went through the exact same thing. Used softener for like a year straight and my towels got this weird waxy feel and just pushed water around instead of soaking it up. Did the vinegar soak thing too and it was disgusting how much gunk came out. Now I use nothing but a little detergent and my towels are actually fluffy and dry me off in one pass.

casey_wood23d ago

Hard disagree on this one. Fabric softener serves a REAL purpose and not everyone wants a rough scratchy towel that feels like sandpaper. Some of us actually LIKE the way softener makes towels feel against our skin, especially if you have sensitive skin or live in a dry climate. The whole "wax buildup" thing is overblown too - if you wash your towels on hot and don't use a gallon of softener per load it's fine. Plus the smell factor is huge, my towels smell AMAZING with softener and guests always compliment them. I tried the no softener thing for a month and my towels came out stiff and rough, had to rewash everything with softener just to get them back to normal. Different strokes for different folks, but I'm team softener all the way.