My towels no longer dry

[cardaddy]

i disagree with the hot water part. boiling microfibers has long been a treatment for towels with certain conditions, and that water is a lot hotter than the hot feed in your house for your washer.....

also, i used to hang dry and have found machine drying (i use automatic and i believe it doesn't say high or low heat, just more dry or less dry - everyone's machines are different) is vastly superior. i've had WAY less linting and just overall better experiences with my towels now that i machine dry.

it makes sense because i think hang drying leaves more opportunity for anything in your household water to stay bound to the fibers. i do have a very comprehensive softening system for my household well water but the fact remains that it goes through pipes, sits in the water heater with a sacrificial anode, etc., so the water is always going to have solids in some capacity.

:iagree:with :whs::dblthumb2:

There is no way a residential washer AND dryer, on say medium heat (if you're really concerned) would have any detrimental effect on all but the most fragile, ultra long haired sheep like towel.

We have a top loading, totally programmable washer and dryer. I setup several different saved settings for microfiber towels, even old "garage towels" (old bath towels). Washer setting for Microfiber is pre-soak, regular wash, medium heat, extra rinse, extended spin. (The Korean 500's and similar split weave towels are gentle wash.)
When the washer is done, it sends data via a serial cable to the dryer (if you've used a factory preset setting).

Considering that microfiber towels are mostly polyester you *could* use a polyester setting on your washer for instance. Cold water will NOT be your best option. Hot water will (perhaps) cause color fading in polyester, but warmer water will remove contaminates, period.

As for the polyester setting from the washer to the dryer. On my dryer, that'll be low heat at the very least. From there you can tell it whether to extend the tumble, as well as "less" or "more" dry. (Neither has anything to do with the heat, just the moisture level.)



To the OP.

I'd look at the responses you've gathered here, plenty of great advice. Likely you're just suffering from a buildup of product in the towels and they need a GOOD cleaning.

Wouldn't hurt to have some dedicated microfiber detergent next time around. Soaking in it with hot water, (presoak) couldn't hurt, as well as a vinegar rinse in the liquid softener tray. FWIW, I used to use All F&C (only All) but switched to Wolfgang over a year ago, (that I may also use along with All F&C from time to time).

Also, if your wife is using softener when washing (most do) you'll need to wash a load of bath towels as hot as you can, as full as you can get it, with an extra rinse to try and get residue out of the washer.

After drying those bath towels, WITHOUT any softener sheets your dryer would be safer place for your microfiber collection.

Doesn't hurt to take a alcohol solution and give a good wipe to the dryer with a cotton towel for a couple wipes either. (Warning... it'll get FUNKY in there whilst you're doing it!!!!!)

Then again... what do I know about microfiber towels. :laughing: