Need tips...

Do any of you have hard water? And if so, how do you keep your
bath towels soft? I've tried adding vinegar along with Snuggle in the washing machine dispenser. It isn't helping. I buy more expensive towels. That isn't helping. What does help? Or do you just keep buying new towels when your's turn into sandpaper?

Our water here is so hard it's off the scale. I use Seventh Generation liquid softener in the washer with Ecos laundry detergent, and Seventh Generation softener sheets in the dryer. Our towels were raspy coming out of the dryer with just the dryer sheets, so I started adding softener to the washer. If I hang them out to dry, they dry in minutes and are back to being crunchy, so I only put them in the dryer now. They are much softer now.

Thanks yonuh. I'll give that a try. 7th Generation, hey...

It might not matter what brand you use, jabber, you just might need to use softener in both washer and dryer.

We live in a hard water area too. And we don't have a water softener. I don't use any kind of fabric softener in my washer ever. And I don't use dryer sheets when I do a load of towels.

In my understanding - learned back in college in my textile chemistry class at the University of Wisconsin-Madison -- the softener coats the fibers of the towels, making them less absorbent. Want who wants towels that don't dry?

IMHO, the best thing is to be sure you are successfully rinsing all of the soap (washing machine detergent as sell as soap and cleansers used on washcloths)out of the towels.

To do this, start by running towel loads alone -- and then run them through an extra cycle with no soap. (You may have to do this a few times until the water shows no signs of soap during the agitation cycle.)

You'll be amazed at how much soap shows up in the water during the soap-free washings!

yonuh, I do use softener in both washer and dryer. I was thinking about that 7th Generation name. They didn't have washing machines 7 generations ago....lol...

Anne,
I do the towels alone, always. But perhaps I use too much soap.
I'll try what you say and see if that works. Thanks.

Thank you Ruth; thank you Anne. I combined both of your suggestions and the process really helped. Washing them a few times without detergent and using more softener. Thanks again.