Proven tips for washing, bleaching and boiling towels

The adored house, and especially the kitchen in it, is a wonderful environment for the creativity of a loving hostess. It’s so cool to experiment with recipes and draw on the walls, to create a unique, special world around you. For yourself, for family, for friends. However, materials are important in any work. Quality brushes, products, clay. And also — textiles, which will always be at hand. To wipe off the excess and smooth out the corners, to fill the house with comfort and emphasize the beauty of what has been created. Only now you can admire a picture or a festive table for a long time, and a friend-comrade-assistant towel will have to provide an ambulance!

What needs to be done to ensure that home towels retain their original factory appearance, whiteness and shape as long as possible?

First, a few general recommendations.

GOLDEN RULES FOR LONG SERVICE OF HOME TEXTILE

— Towels in the kitchen should be changed every two days. Change bath towels and face towels for fresh ones at least once a week.

— White towels made of natural material (cotton, bamboo) perfectly tolerate washing in a washing machine at a temperature of 95 degrees. Colored — no higher than 50.

— If the scale of contamination is large, white kitchen towels can be boiled. To do this, be sure to pre-soak them, and then wash them in the usual way (by hand, or in a washing machine). And only then — prepare the container and boil it in a special soap-chlorine solution. If the sequence of these procedures is not followed, you will simply have to throw away the towels, as the dirt will stick to the matter and you will no longer be able to get rid of it.

— To extend the intervals between washes, try to starch the towels during washing, and be sure to iron them after drying. Towels will not only look neater, but will also become more resistant to dirt.

— For dishes, hands and a table in the kitchen, there must be different towels.

— «Fresh» stains are removed much easier than «outdated». Don’t let dirt live on your towels for more than a day. If it is not possible to drop everything and do laundry, just wash the stain from coffee, juice, meat with any detergent at hand. Even dishwashing liquid is great!

Well, now — let’s deal with the features of the string of various types of towels, depending on the material from which they are made.

HOW TO WASH Terry towels CORRECTLY?

First of all, you should know that terry towels are not recommended to be boiled and machine washed at temperatures above 60 degrees and with a spin of more than 600 revolutions.

If you need to get rid of heavy soiling or stains, we recommend pre-soaking towels in water with the addition of detergent for washing clothes with bleach. The procedure should last from half an hour to an hour. Towels should not be soaked longer, as the fabric may have an unpleasant putrefactive odor, less — the procedure will not give the expected effect.

To return terry towels to their former softness and elasticity, use conditioners or emollient folk remedies (for example, a light solution of 9 percent table vinegar). After using chemical or folk emollients, towels must be rinsed in plenty of clean water.

Dry towels in a well-ventilated room and avoid direct sunlight (the sun adversely affects the terry cloth and contributes to the yellowing of the fabric).

HOW TO WASH BATH TOWELS CORRECTLY?

The principle of washing bath towels is identical to the principle of washing terry towels. But there are several features.

When washing bath towels, pay special attention to softening and conditioning the fabric. A little grandmother’s secret will help soften water and towels: add half a glass of ordinary baking soda to the washing powder. Sodium carbonate will not only make your towels soft to the touch, but also rid the fabric of fungi, harmful bacteria, and dirt odors.

HOW AND WHAT TO BLEACH HOUSEHOLD TOWELS?

White terry towels, and especially kitchen waffle towels, need bleaching in addition to washing. The household chemicals market offers a large-scale abundance of various stain removers, powders and miracle products. Their effectiveness is commensurate with the cost. Everyone knows this. However, there is another nuance that should never be ignored. The effect of chemicals on the tissue, and subsequently on your skin and the body in general. The remnants of household chemicals accumulate in the body, and sooner or later explode into a powerful volcano of health problems, malfunctions in the functioning of the body and complex diseases. To avoid all these troubles, we recommend using very simple and no less effective home remedies, proven by housewives for many generations.

ALGORITHM FOR FIGHTING WITH DIRT AND SPOTS

Each type of pollution has its own secrets. But there is a well-known scheme for dealing with them:

— pre-soaking in detergent;

— washing at medium and high temperatures (depending on the fabric);

— bleaching with the help of industrial and folk remedies;

— boiling.

Each next stage is used only when the previous one did not give a visible or desired effect.

PRE-TREATMENT AND SOAKING OF TOWELS

Each type of towel has its own pre-treatment methods. Most often, kitchen towels suffer from non-specific and stubborn dirt. To get rid of them, you can try one of the soaking methods:

— prepare a solution of warm water and 30 grams of hydrogen peroxide, dip towels into it and leave overnight;

— apply dishwashing solution to stains, rub well and leave to soak for a day;

— prepare a saturated saline solution (1:1) and leave towels in it for 1.5 — 2 hours;

— soaking in a solution of ammonia and water (1: 2) — for at least two hours;

— stains of juice or berries can be removed by soaking towels in a pre-prepared solution of glycerin and alcohol (1:1). Keep at least 1.5 — 2 hours.

We will probably skip the washing step. Everything is clear here: for bath and terry towels, it is enough to wash in a machine at 50-60 degrees, for kitchen, white ones — you can apply a temperature of 95 degrees.

But we need to talk about whitening in more detail.

STAIN REMOVAL AND BLEACHING OF TOWELS

Towels, especially in the kitchen, suffer the consequences of your culinary creativity. They take the «main blow»: the remains of ketchup and fruit jam, fat and wine. Each type of stain has its own secret weapon.

Types of stains and how to deal with them

Grease spots

There is a method proven by many generations. To remove greasy stains from kitchen towels, soak them in a solution of vinegar and warm water (1: 1) an hour before washing. Then — wash in the usual way for you. If, after soaking, not all stains have gone, you can also use ammonia as a bleach (15 g (1 tablespoon) per 10 liters (bucket) of water). Ordinary 72% laundry soap will also help with small greasy contaminants. Lather your towels well and wrap them in cellophane. Leave them in such a «bath» for a day. Wash the next day. After using such a product, not only the stains will go away, but the former whiteness will return to the towels.

Fruit, beetroot, tomato, juice and red wine stains

First way. Soak the towels in a cool saline solution (10 tablespoons of salt with a slide in 5 liters of warm water) for several hours. Then wash by hand or machine. The stains will disappear, and the towels will regain their former freshness and cleanliness.

Second way. Wash towels using laundry soap in warm water. Then, sprinkle the stains with citric acid and leave for 20 minutes. Rinse the textiles with cold water. For a faster effect, you can dissolve citric acid in a tablespoon of heated alcohol, moistening the stain on a towel with this solution.

These remedies are good if the stains are still fresh. But what to do with old stains? Pharmacy hydrogen peroxide will help here. Soak the stain in the peroxide solution, leave for half an hour and wash by hand using the same laundry soap.

Coffee and tea stains

In the fight against the remnants of morning tonic drinks, again, ammonia will help the hostess. Prepare a solution of ammonia with water (1: 1), soak towels in it for an hour and wash. If the trace still remains, once again treat the stains with clean ammonia (without water) adding a couple of drops of glycerin to it.

Mold

Sometimes it happens that kitchen towels become a victim of fungus. You can remove the «bloom» with the help of ordinary table 9 percent vinegar. Moisten the stain with vinegar and leave for 10-15 minutes. Then — wash.

Well, now let’s talk about how to return home towels to their former whiteness. Indeed, almost all stain removers (both industrial and folk) give a small side effect — towels turn gray, or even acquire a yellowish tint.

Towel bleaching

You can bleach kitchen towels, as well as terry, plain ones, by soaking them for a while in a pale solution of potassium permanganate and powder in water. Approximate proportion: for a bucket of hot water, a glass of detergent and manganese on the tip of a knife. When the water in the bucket has completely cooled, the towels must be removed and rinsed several times in clean water. The result will not be long in coming!

Perfectly copes with bleaching and hydrogen peroxide. Prepare a solution: 2 liters. warm water 1 tsp peroxide. Soak clean towels in it for 20-30 minutes, rinse.

And one more «whitening cocktail» beloved by many housewives. Add boiling water to dry mustard powder, let it brew, strain. Soak towels in this liquid. Leave for a few hours, rinse. Mustard has not only bleaching, but also antibacterial effect. Fungi, mold and other troubles will be washed off your textiles, leaving with water.

BOILING TOWELS

But if you have already tried everything, but traces of stains remain? Then it’s time to connect heavy artillery to the laundry! Boiling or boiling. The ancient, grandmother’s way is trouble-free in our time.

Before boiling, towels must be washed thoroughly, since dirt (and especially of protein origin) can tightly eat into the fabric when boiled. Then prepare the container. Take a large pot or bucket, rub laundry soap on a fine grater (at the rate of ¼ large bar per 1 liter of liquid), heat it up. When the soap dissolves, add 1 tbsp to the solution. a spoonful of soda for every liter of liquid. Place towels in container. Boil for at least an hour over medium heat. Then let cool and rinse.

If you also want to get a whitening effect during boiling, add a little dry chlorine to the soap solution. True, this method is only suitable for towels made of natural fabrics and white, without color inserts, stripes, etc.
As for bath, terry white towels, the method of bleaching by boiling will not work for them. Since after this procedure they become stiff and wear out quickly. For them, a regular machine wash using high-quality industrial oxygen bleach is suitable.

All these methods, if used correctly and in proportion, will help prolong the life of your textile pets, and once again emphasize the indisputable fact: you are a wonderful hostess!

In addition, earlier we gave recommendations on the rules for caring for towels, as well as tips for caring for home clothes..