Soften Up Stiff Towels With An Overlooked Remedy That Actually Works

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What's worse than stepping out of the shower, reaching for your freshly washed and dried towel, only to feel the crispy, crunchy fibers scratch against your skin. Even after following all of the laundering instructions, towels can become stiff over time. That can be due to a number of factors like fabric quality and dry cycle temperatures, but two of the most common reasons are that you're washing your clothes in hard water, and/or detergent and fabric softener has built up in the fibers, causing a harsh, bristled texture that's unpleasant to the touch and can cause poor absorption (the thing we count on towels to do the most). There's a simple ingredient you can add to your laundry routine to get rid of crunch towels — citric acid! Citric acid is one of the best methods for getting your towels soft again. 

Citric acid occurs naturally in, you guessed it, citrus fruits, and is mass produced for use in food making like sour candies, as a preservative, and as a cleaning agent. No doubt you've heard of using white vinegar as a multipurpose cleaner plenty before, and citric acid is effective for similar reasons, with citric acid having some of the same properties as acetic acid, the active ingredient found in vinegar. However, citric acid is typically a stronger acid than acetic, making it more powerful at similar concentrations. The acid compounds are able to break down alkaline buildup from hard water like and magnesium, as well as alkaline detergents still lingering in the fibers. 

Although citric acid might not be as easy to find in grocery stores as vinegar just yet, you can still find it, including in your market's cleaning aisle or local home improvement store. However, if you can't track it down there, you can order a 2-pound bag of Viva Doria pure citric acid from Amazon. Trust us when we say that a little citric acid goes a long way, so this bag can go far when you discover its many uses around the house. For instance, did you know you can clean stainless steel with citric acid?

All you need to do to get your towels feeling fluffy and soft again is launder them as usual with your preferred laundry detergent, though a pH neutral solution is ideal if you're struggling with hard water and detergent buildup. Then during the rinse cycle, just pop one teaspoon to one tablespoon of citric acid in your washing machine tumbler, then dry as normal. You should have noticeably softer towels as the citric acid neutralized limescale and detergent buildup while rinsing. 

It should be noted that in high concentrations, citric acid can corrode rubber, like the seals of a washing machine. In such small quantities like this, you shouldn't have any problem with this, but if you'd like to avoid using citric acid in your washer, there are alternatives. Simply fill a large tub or basin with hot water, dissolve the citric acid, then submerge the towels completely for at least 15 minutes. After, drain and rinse the towels, then launder as usual.