You're Washing Your Towels Wrong, Here's the Old-School Method

Your towels are not old, and they are not cheap. They are coated. Detergent that never rinsed out and a softener that was designed to stay in the fibers have been building up for years, and that coating is why they stopped absorbing water, why they smell musty two days after a wash, and why they went scratchy. The old-school method fixes it in one load and keeps it fixed: towels alone, three-quarters full, half the soap, no softener, warm with a second rinse, vinegar once a month, out of the washer within the hour, a snap before the dryer, medium heat and not bone dry, a bar instead of a hook. Then the reset load that takes years of coating off the towels you already own. Chapters 0:00 The coating 0:18 What most houses do 1:44 Why it fails 3:23 Step 1. Towels alone, three-quarters full 4:15 Step 2. Half the soap, no softener 5:18 Step 3. Warm, and the second rinse 6:21 Step 4. Vinegar once a month 7:34 Halfway 7:56 Step 5. Out within the hour, and the snap 8:53 Step 6. Medium heat, not bone dry 10:15 Step 7. A bar, not a hook 11:22 The reset load 12:46 The money 13:33 Where the modern way is better 14:45 The rule 15:35 This week Next: Friday, "Margaret's 7 Rules for Keeping a House Clean Without Cleaning All Day." Margaret's Kitchen Table: The Things They Stopped Teaching Us. Old-school home economics for modern life. New videos Monday, Wednesday and Friday.