I bought my towels when I first moved out of my parents' house about 8 years ago. Our local K-Mart was going out of business & I was able to score a killer deal on Cannon towels. I've used a lot of towels in my life & nothing compares to them. I love how thick they are after almost a decade.
I do admit though, if I don't overdose on Tide & Snuggle - they have an odd musty smell. Have you smelled your bathroom hand towels after a day or two of use? What the heck is that?
Build up.
And I've got to tell you - the Tide & Snuggle duo are not the most environmentally friendly products. I'm trying to be better & after 10 years - it was time to say goodbye,
I learned a lot about laundry when I was cloth diapering my daughter & decided to revisit the proper way to strip. I have used Tide & Snuggle since living on my own. Fabric softener leaves a coating on fabrics that can create a loss of absorbency & give off a musty smell after a use or two. While I didn't notice a loss of absorbency, the must has been there for a few years.
Stripping should occur if you have been using a DIY laundry soap (A big no-no I discovered), a weak laundry soap, frequent use of fabric softener, musty clothes (Example: athletic clothes that have had their fair share of sweat), or clothes that have come from an unknown source (Example: thrift store, or secondhand cloth diapers).
There are a couple of options but I chose the DIY option. It didn't cost much to gather the supplies & there's plenty of leftovers for future strippings.
The line up:
Borax - Detergent Booster: $4.47 at Walmart.
Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda: $3.97 at Walmart
Calgon Water Softener: $5.34 at Walmart
I filled my bathtub half way with the hottest water the tap would shoot out along with 3 tablespoons of each of the above listed ingredients.
I threw all of my (clean) towels in before bed last night & this morning I discovered what the mixture was able to pull out of the towels. I was hoping for dingier water but I was satisfied with what I found. You also have to think - all the crap you can't see too.
I think it helps that Tide is considered one of the best on the market in terms of cleaning. It may not be environmentally friendly but I think we can all agree it gets the job done better than most.
Once I wrung them out, I tossed them in the washer to run one quick wash cycle without any detergent. This helps rinse out anything left behind. I did some research & found that Seventh Generation seemed to have the best reviews in terms of natural detergents. I went with it & figured I wouldn't be able to smell anything once they were washed - especially after skipping the Snuggle.
To my surprise, I could smell a faint hint of lavender. I also gave up on dryer sheets & dropped some essential oils on my wool balls. The towels came out smelling of lavender & seemed to have a bit of a fluffy feel to them - definitely softer than usual.
I am typing this after a day of washing my hands & drying with the hand towel. No must at all. the towel still smells of lavender which I'm ecstatic about considering the mustiest of them all were the bathroom hand towels.
Let me know if you had success with this DIY laundry stripping recipe or if you have another one you'd like to share.