Why towels go stiff and musty, and how to get them fluffy again

What actually makes towels stiff and scratchy?

Stiff towels are nearly always coated towels. Detergent overdosing leaves residue that builds up wash after wash, and fabric softener, ironically, is the worst offender: it deposits a waxy film that glues the cotton loops down flat. A coated towel feels hard, absorbs poorly and starts holding odour because water and detergent can't move through the fibres properly.

Line drying adds its own stiffness because the loops dry flattened in place, but that's mechanical and harmless; a good shake, or ten minutes in a dryer on low, brings line-dried towels back to soft.

Why do towels smell musty even when clean?

That sour, damp smell is mildew and bacteria living in residue deep in the pile, fed by every hour a towel spends damp: scrunched on a hook, left in the machine overnight, or folded away before it was fully dry. A normal wash removes the surface of the problem and the smell returns as soon as the towel gets wet again, which is the tell-tale sign.

Persistent mustiness means the towel needs a reset wash, and it usually means the washing machine itself could use a clean too; the two problems feed each other.

The reset: strip-washing towels

This two-step reset clears years of build-up from most towels.

• Wash 1: hottest water the label allows, no detergent, one cup of white vinegar in the drum. Vinegar dissolves alkaline residue and kills odour
• Wash 2: hot again, no detergent, half a cup of bicarb soda. This neutralises leftover vinegar and lifts remaining residue
• Dry completely, ideally with a tumble on medium with dryer balls to re-fluff the pile, or a hard shake before and after line drying
• Don't mix the vinegar and bicarb in the same wash; they cancel each other out fizzing in the drum instead of cleaning the towels

Habits that keep towels fluffy for years

Use about half the detergent you think towels need, never use fabric softener on them, wash at 40–60°C, and don't overload the machine; towels need room to rinse clean. Hang towels spread out on a rail after every use rather than bunched on a hook, and wash them after three or four uses.

Shake towels out when moving them from washer to line or dryer; it lifts the pile and makes a genuine difference to how they dry. And accept that towels are consumables: after years of daily service even well-kept ones thin out and graduate to gym, beach, pet and rag duty.

Or let towels be someone else's problem

Towels are the heaviest, slowest-drying part of household washing, especially through a Melbourne winter with no dryer. If the towel mountain is what breaks your laundry week, our wash, dry and fold service handles them properly, washed warm, rinsed thoroughly, machine dried to actually dry, and returns them folded; the same goes for salon and massage towels through our linen service.