I feel like one of the best simple things in life is getting some new towels, whether for the bathroom or the kitchen. There is something so great about a fresh, fluffy towel that cannot be beat. It seems like it isn't too long before towels can get dingy, scratchy and flat instead of fluffy. Today I wanted to share a couple of tips to keep your towels looking as fluffy and fresh as possible.

How To Re-Fluff Your Towels

Did you know that one of the best things you could do for your towels is to not wash them with all your other clothes? I typically do this and just throw my white kitchen towels in with all my other white clothes, etc., but you don’t want to do this, particularly if you use fabric softener. The fabric softener actually has silicone oil in it, so they can make your towels greasy and less absorbent. So you’ll want to avoid this as much as possible--wash your towels and kitchen towels separately and without fabric softener. If they damage has already been done and your towels seem ragged and dingy, add a quarter to a half cup of vinegar to your load of laundry, or presoak them in vinegar to fluff your towels back up again. This removes any soap build up that might make your towels feel rough or stiff.

How to Whiten Your Dingy Towels

My favorite towels by far to use in the kitchen are white flour sack towels. They are so great for drying dishes, especially pesky glasses, and I also love to use them to dry produce after washing. They are thin and absorbent and perfect. The only probably with them, especially if you are doing anything like drying strawberries, or anything with staining potential, they get stained pretty quickly. If you’d like to really give them a good deep, color-restoring cleanse, you can go two ways:

#1: OxyClean Method

This is the method tested and used by writers at America’s Test Kitchen that they love. You soak your towels in a mixture of OxyClean and water for six hours, then wash them in your laundry load with even more OxyClean and your towels will emerge unrecognizably clean to you!

#2: Jillee’s Way: Super Whitening Homemade Laundry Detergent

This is a method I have been using for years to get my bright white linen chair covers (that have been used by messy toddlers who LOVE spaghetti ha!) bright and white again and again. There are similar “recipes” for this brightening mixture used by Martha Stewart and many others--the formula I am sharing today is from OneGoodThingByJillee.com. It is advertised as being used to brighten up old yellowing pillows and it works fantastic for this as well! Basically, you are using four cleaners and brightening products to whiten the heck out of whatever it is you are laundering. The key is to make it HOT! You will start with soaking your white load in HOT water--if you have a top-loading washing machine you can do it right in there; if you have a front-loading washing machine, you can do this in a bucket or the bathtub instead. Starting by soaking with the hot water gives your load a chance to loosen up the stains before you add your whitening ingredients. You are prepping them to whiten and shine.

While those are pre-soaking, you will boil a big pot of water and add your four ingredients: powdered laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, bleach (or bleach alternative) and borax. Mix until the ingredients are dissolved and add to your wash. Launder your load using the hot setting and try to do an extra rinse if you can. You can choose to dry based on care instructions on the label of whatever you are washing or air dry them. You will be amazed at the whitening power of this solution!

Do you have any tips for getting your kitchen towels (or any towels) fluffy, clean and bright? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

 

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