Caring for your Towels
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General Care Of Towels - A Brief Summary
- Wash a towel at 70 degrees Celsius, at this temperature, thermal disinfectant, most bacteria is eliminated.
- White towels may be brightened slightly by using sparing amounts of Bleach.
- Coloured towels must not be bleached using Chlorine bleach as this will cause the towel to change colour, usually an orangey, rusty colour.
- You do not need to iron your towels, however will not harm the towel if you do. Iron usually flattens the loops on the towel. The best towels have a soft fluffy handle with upright loops like soldiers.
- Towels do not need to be dry cleaned. If a towel is stained, rather spot out the stain with a recommended stain remover.
- For tumble drying, it is not recommended to exceed 60 degrees Celsius. This temperature is sufficient to restore the pile and maintain a soft fluffy towel at all times.
- When using fabric softener use very sparingly and follow the manufacturers minimum dosing guidelines. Too much softener will cause the water absorbency of your towel to be reduced resulting in a greasy feel when drying yourself.
- Some hair dye and other beauty therapy chemicals contain Benzyl Peroxide which can cause some colours to be destroyed resulting in a discoloured towel.
- If you keep these simple facts in mind your Hartdean Snag Free Towel should last for many years to come.
Towels are used by most people everyday. Have you ever wondered where towels originated and how they are made?
The first towels were shown in the Great Exhibition of 1851 at Crystal Palace and in the same year a set was presented to Queen Victoria.
Terry cloth or woven towelling is manufactured with extra twisted warp yarns that are held slack during part of the weaving and knitting process.
The loops stimulate the skin while removing moisture, in addition to trapping air and thereby maintaining body temperature.
Cotton .....v Polyester (get properties)
The most widely used of fibres for towels is cotton - so what is so unique about Cotton than?
Cotton is entirely made up of cellulose
Cotton fibre is stronger when wet which makes it ideal for towels.
Cotton has an incredible ability to absorb moisture up to 27 times its own weight in water
It can also withstand high temperatures in water and tumble drying and remarkably can be bent as many as 50,000 times before breaking point.
Make sure you start with a quality detergent and a recommended amount for your type of machine load size.
This will assure you of a controlled quality product capable of removing soiling effectively without any harm to your towel.
Make sure the quantity of detergent is as recommended on the instructions.
Without it being realised, the quantity used is often far greater than the quantity recommended by the detergent manufacturer. Apart from being uneconomical, over use of detergents can reduce the washing efficiency and could slowly effect certain colours and tenderise certain fabrics.
Use a suitable/recommended measure.
A generally accepted shrinkage for terry towels is between 5 & 9%. Hartdean Snag Free Knitted Towels will only shrink a MAX of 3% if that, we pride ourselves on using a unique process which leads to little or no shrinkage, particularly an advantage on the cross boarder.
Problems can occur with dyed towels if precautions are not taken. Please note that no absolute colour fastness of dyes exists.
Even though Hartdean uses the best dyes available, a small amount of un-fixeddye remains in the fabric, called excess dye.
Excess dye will be eliminated during the initial washes without the original colour fading.
It should, therefore, be remembered that deeper and bright coloured towels should be washed and dried separately.
Dyed towels should be washed in warm water, they should not be treatedwith bleach and should be thoroughly rinsed after washing to remove the remaining detergent and excess dye.
The following elements increase wear & shrinkage of towels during the washing cycle, and it is therefore advisable to determine weather some or all are absolutely necessary.
- Increased Loading
- Longer Cycles
- Stronger Detergents
- Higher Temperatures
- Bleaching Components
The following elements increase wear & shrinkage of towels during the tumble drying process, and should be avoided.
- Increased Loading
- Longer Cycles
- Rapid Drying
- Higher Temperatures
- Over Drying
Care must be taken with coloured towels as they can be prone to colour loss. This is mainly due to the presence of optical brighteners in some washing detergents. In addition with some softeners these may interfere with the light reflectance resulting in fading, colour loss & dullness.
To avoid this problem ensure that the washing detergent of softener does not contain an optical brightener.
The purpose, to improve the whiteness or, to make stains disappear. In doing so, the bleach will react to the dyes, causing the colours of the fabrics to change shade as well as weaken the cellulose cotton fibres. A bleaching agent should only be used when required, follow the manufacturers guidelines at all times. In addition the follow these simple guidelines:
- Temperature - The water should be cold, unless otherwise specified.
- Concentration - the quantity should be minimal and well measured.
- Mix - the solution should be well stirred.
- Soaking - The towels should be immersed and well soaked.
- Time - The shortest time necessary in order to obtain the results.
- Rinsing - The towel should be thoroughly rinsed.
Please also note that some cleaning agents for bathrooms and certain other household chemicals may contain agents similar to that of bleach.
The purpose, to improve the softness of your towel and increase the bulkiness. They are best used when your towels are feeling a little harsh, but beware, they can have adverse effects, such as:
- Softeners make towels less absorbent.
- Softeners also weaken the fabric of towels, shortening the life of the product.
- Use softener sparingly.
General stain removing compounds are widely available. Whenever possible, follow these guidelines:
- Act as soon as the stain has occurred.
- Try to remove as much as the stain as possible before it is absorbed, dries or sets, by either gently scrapping with a blunt blade or absorbing with an absorbent paper, etc.
- Work inwards from the outside of the stain to the centre. Do not use salt, rub or spread the stain into the fabric. Remember that the more you remove, the less you have to clean.
- Wash the towel as soon as possible, to rid as much of the stain as possible.
- Do not use your best towels when using hair dyes.
Try these tips next time:
- Blood Stains - Wash immediately in cold water.
- Lipstick - Use a commercial stain remover and wash immediately.
- Makeup - Was as per normal wash.
All statements within this site are expressions of opinion which we believe to be accurate and true but are presented without guarantee.
