UK households are being urged to try a simple kitchen staple to tackle a frustrating laundry issue that plagues bathrooms across the country. The common problem of towels turning from fluffy to scratchy might be reversed with an unusual method involving white vinegar.
The Science Behind Scratchy Towels
According to consumer champion Which?, the loss of softness is a scientific process. Dr Primrose Freestone, an associate professor in clinical microbiology at the University of Leicester, explained the cause. Most towels are made from cotton, a natural fibre composed of many tiny filaments.
"What happens to these interlocking cotton filament structures during washing determines if your towels stay soft and fluffy, or if they feel hard and scratchy," Dr Freestone stated. The expert identified that detergent and fabric softener can, over time, leave a waxy residue on the fibres. With repeated washing, this build-up leads to that familiar rough texture.
She noted that Egyptian cotton towels often stay softer for longer due to their more concentric and ordered fibre layers, but eventually, most towels succumb to the scratchy fate.
The Vinegar Soak Method Tested
To combat this, Which? specialists propose a pre-wash soak using distilled white vinegar. The theory is that the vinegar helps dissolve the detergent and hard water mineral deposits clinging to the fabric.
Victoria Purcell, laundry editor for Which?, put the method to the test. She soaked towels in a bath with enough water to cover them, adding two litres of white vinegar, and left them for an hour. Afterwards, she rinsed them and ran a 40°C cotton wash cycle with no detergent or softener.
Following the wash, she gave the towels a vigorous shake and dried them flat on a heated airer, shaking them again during the process. Purcell reported that the process did lead to noticeably softer towels, though admitted they were "not new-towel soft by any stretch of the imagination".
She also issued a caveat: the lengthy process made her flat smell strongly of vinegar, leading her to question if she would repeat it.
A Crucial Warning and Final Resort
The experts stress a vital safety point: you should never pour vinegar directly into your washing machine drum. Doing so can corrode rubber seals and plastic components, leading to costly damage.
For those seeking to try the method, a cheap bottle of Distilled Vinegar from Aldi, costing as little as 35p, is suggested. However, the vinegar trick may not work on very old or poor-quality towels that are beyond revival.
In such cases, Which? advises against simply binning them. Old towels can be repurposed as DIY or cleaning rags, or donated to a local textile recycling facility, giving them a useful second life and keeping them out of landfill.
