Recently I came across a blog about running your bath towels through the wash with vinegar and then again with baking soda to help get rid of any smells or residual soap. I tried it out and felt like it did help freshen them, but it seems that nothing will bring back the softness that our towels had over six years ago. So I started the search for new towels.
After realizing the amazing qualities of bamboo sheets – anti-microbial, softness, moisture wicking – I thought bamboo towels might be the way to go. Turns out, from what I can tell, towels are not made from 100% rayon from bamboo. The ratio seems to fall right around 25% bamboo/75% cotton. This gives the towels the softness and absorption expected from bamboo but the durability of cotton.
I purchased a set of towels by the same company that made our sheets at Tuesday Morning. Initially, I am very excited about these towels. They are really soft, but not in the way our cotton towels were when new. It is kind of a silky soft rather than a fluffy soft – and supposedly will get softer over time like the sheet sets (although initially Bradley is not 100% convinced – he likes the fluffiness of nice cotton towels). They seem to be very absorbent even though they aren’t as thick as high-end cotton towels. Also, they seem to hold the heat from our towel warmer much better than our old cotton ones. I plan to be diligent about washing them as recommended: wash in cold water and dry on low heat, use no bleach or fabric softener. Time will tell.