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How to Care for Your Luxury Towels | Gilly Nicolson

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How to Care for Your Luxury Towels

Picture this: it’s Sunday evening, and you’ve just stepped out of a stress-melting bubble bath complete with your most extravagant scented oils and a page-turning read. Sounds like heaven, doesn’t it? Now, the only thing left to do is envelope yourself in a warm, sumptuously soft and impossibly fluffy towel. Bliss.

Our 100% pure cotton towel collection can be found in some of Europe’s most luxurious hotels and boutiques. Featuring 500 and 720gsm options in a range of versatile hues (not to mention bespoke trims in shades from our unrivalled colour library), our towels truly are the best you can get your hands on. But even with fabrics as premium as these, the towels we use day in and out can soon lose their lustre – turning that hotel-grade softness and absorbency into dull towels that feel scratchy on the skin.

Luckily, we’re back with a blog from our ‘How to care…’ series – this time focusing on your everyday essential towels, with simple tips on washing, drying and stain removal to keep your luxury pieces looking and feeling as good as they did on day one. Let’s get into it.

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How to Wash Your Towels

Start by separating your towels based on colour, washing white towels separately from coloured ones to preserve their brightness and stop discolouration over time. Next, load your towels into the washing machine. Be mindful not to overfill the drum, as the fabric must have enough space to move freely and let the detergent do its job.

Wash white towels using a non-chlorine laundry bleach or a natural fabric brightener like sodium percarbonate, using a hot water cycle to retain your towels’ brightness. For coloured towels, opt for a colour-safe laundry detergent and set your machine to a warm water cycle. 

Simple, right? Now, with the basics out of the way, let’s tackle some frequently asked questions.

How Often Should You Wash Your Towels?

Even if you can’t see it, our towels can be a hotbed of yeast, mould and bacterial growth, which thrive in damp, steamy bathrooms. To keep your towels in optimum condition and as hygienic as possible, we recommend washing your bath towels every three to four uses, while hand towels should be replaced every two days.

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Should You Use Fabric Conditioner on Your Towels?

There’s nothing worse than a scratchy towel, but should you use fabric conditioner when washing? We’re here to settle the age-old debate: you can use fabric conditioner on your towels. However, we recommend adding it only every third or fourth wash cycle to prevent absorbency-blocking product buildup. 

For a more natural alternative, white vinegar makes a great substitute (we were just as shocked as you – but believe us, it works!). Add a 250ml cup to your drum before popping your towels on to say goodbye to stiff, scratchy towels forever. And don’t worry, they won’t smell like your local fish and chip shop.

How to Rid Your Towels of Odours

Once laundered and out of the washing machine, shake your towels vigorously. This will help fluff out the woven loops that aid absorbency. If using a tumble dryer, pop your towels in and use a medium heat setting, avoiding high heat to prevent that ‘pulled’ look that can occur due to broken fibres. Then, once finished, ensure your towels are dried thoroughly to avoid mildew.

If using a drying rack instead, keep your towels separate and laid flat to give them plenty of breathing room and to speed up the drying process. Bear in mind that towels need considerably more time to air dry than clothing and should be totally dry before packing away to prevent odour-causing dampness and mildew.

How to Remove Stains from Your Towels

For stain removal, you’ll find a number of simple, natural and homemade remedies already inside your kitchen cupboard. Here are a couple of products we recommend reaching for to keep your towels looking spick and span

  • Distilled white vinegar – a natural and effective way to remove stains from towels, simply add one cup of vinegar to your washing machine drum to remove yellowing, staining, mildew and odours. For tougher blots, pre-soak your towels in a mixture of vinegar and cold water for a couple of hours before popping them in the wash.

  • Hydrogen peroxide – a household favourite for all sorts of cleaning maladies, hydrogen peroxide is a simple and cost-effective way to remove stains from white towels. Great for removing yellow stains, make-up, nail polish and even blood – the oxygen safely bleaches without discolouring.

  • Baking soda – a cupboard staple and excellent stain remover, baking soda is a great way to tackle light or new stains. Simply mix with a little water and rub onto the blot using a toothbrush or lint-free cloth to gently dissolve the stain from the fibres of your towel.

Discover Whole-Home Luxury with Gilly Nicolson

Create a home that’s as individual as you are with our classic and beautifully made products. We specialise in timeless pieces you’ll want to show off, from bespoke bed linen to hand-crafted tableware, luxurious throws, fluffy towels and everything in between. Shop our entire range of products here.

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