My Grandma’s Simple Laundry Trick That Gets Bathroom Towels So Fluffy and Clean

If you’ve ever been to a spa, you might notice a few relaxing details, like the calming aroma of lavender in the air, the refreshing lemon-infused water, or the tranquil music playing in the background. (Clearly, I’m desperate for a spa day.) But of all these ah-inducing accoutrements, those fluffy towels facialists drape on my face at the end of a session are my favorite. I’ve always wondered — how do they get them so darn fluffy?

When I mentioned this to my grandma, she shared a two-part cleaning trick she uses to get her towels nice and plush. It’s best to do this monthly, as it requires more time and water than a typical wash.

All you’ll need is one cup of white vinegar and one cup of baking soda. You’ll be using these two ingredients separately, as using them together will only cancel out the effectiveness of each one, during two washes on the same load of towels. (Again, this trick isn’t about saving time or water — it’s mostly about indulgence!)

Start by putting your used towels in the washer, being careful not to cram them in. Do not put any detergent, and instead add one cup of white vinegar to the detergent compartment. Place your washer setting on “warm” or “hot,” depending on if they are colored towels (warm) or white ones (hot). Then allow the towels to go through one complete cycle.

Once your towels are through their first wash, my grandma says to wash them again. This time, you’ll be sprinkling one cup of baking soda directly into your washer before you shut the lid. 

After these two washes, your towels will have much less detergent caked into their fibers, which tends to be the reason why they lose their softness. And following a cycle in the dryer, you’ll have cleaner and fluffier towels than before! You may even find yourself wanting to wrap up in them, which has a certain spa-like appeal. 

Vinegar is pungent, and there’s a chance you might still smell it after your soft, fluffy towels come out of the wash. It’s tempting to try a fragrant detergent or fabric softener, but you’ve just done so much work to strip the towel fibers of commercial product buildup. Instead, try these alternative methods to get rid of any vinegar scent that might linger in your laundry.

• Spray with essential oil. Just fill up a spray bottle with some water and a few drops of your favorite essential oil, then give the towels a spritz (don’t douse them!) before air drying. Consider using lemon for a clean, citrusy scent or eucalyptus, which is reminiscent of a day at the spa.
• Air them out. A bit of fresh air always makes a difference — even for towels. If you don’t have a clothesline to pin them, hang the towels over a drying rack and open the windows to ventilate the room until the odor dissipates.
• Rewash with just baking soda. Again, this hack is not about conserving water. You can either run the second baking soda cycle again, or you can sprinkle the towels with baking soda, let them sit for a few hours to absorb the odor, and then put them in the wash (no detergent) one last time.