How to Keep Towels White & Fluffy

Do you love soft, white towels as much as I do? Here are my favourite tips on how to keep your towels white and fluffy!

Since launching our Little Lake House vacation rental, I have learned SO much about hospitality, cleaning and laundry. I’m a huge white linens & towels fanatic, so coming up with a system that keeps all of our white laundry white is extremely important. To me, white towels and white sheets signify luxury and cleanliness. If you love white towels and sheets like I do, you’ll love these tips to keep them that way!

How to keep towels white and soft

My best tip is to wash your white towels with oxygen bleach EVERY TIME. I use a scoop of Oxyclean White Revive in every load of white towels or sheets. Follow the directions on the product label and use Oxyclean alongside your regular detergent. Us the hottest water setting that your fabric will allow. The towel on the left has never been treated with oxygen bleach, and the towel on the right has been washed regularly with it:

I find Oxyclean and regular detergent keeps my towels soft, but a couple other tips for soft towels are:

Shake the towels before putting them in the dryer

A little shake of your towel before placing it in your clothes dryer should help fluff up the fibers.

Add distilled white vinegar periodically to your wash

If you’re finding your towels getting stiff, I find that adding distilled white vinegar alongside your detergent every so often helps strip the towels and get them feeling fluffy again. Add a small amount (about 2 Tbsp) of white vinegar to your machine’s rinse cycle.

Don’t overuse fabric softener

Interestingly enough, I find that overusing fabric softener makes my towels stiff over time. Opt for one dryer sheet or dyer balls instead.

How to get stains out of white laundry

My favourite product for removing stains from white towels and sheets in none other than simple distilled white vinegar. Keep a spray bottle of vinegar on hand, and spray any stains on white laundry as soon as you see them. Spray the item, let the vinegar sit, and then dab at the stain with a microfiber cloth. Then, wash with detergent and oxygen bleach on the hottest setting the fabric will allow. 

DON’T ever dry a towel or sheet with a stain; the heat will set the stain and make it even harder to treat. If you see that the stain is still in your towel after washing, retreat and wash again.

How do hotels keep laundry white

Apparently some hotels boil and/or soak their white laundry in bleach or detergent for long periods of time, but I love using this hack for when my laundry is looking dingy:

1. Add the recommended amount of Oxyclean White Revive and laundry detergent to your laundry cycle
2. Add your laundry to the washing machine and start the cycle
3. Pause the laundry cycle about 30 minutes (or when there’s a lot of water in the drum) and let the laundry soak for at least an hour
4. Resume or restart your laundry cycle

This is a lot easier than soaking white laundry in a tub or sink, and I find that it gives me great results.

See how I keep towels white & fluffy and get more easy cleaning hacks by watching this video:

Get more of my cleaning and home organization tips right here.

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