How to Wash Towels So They Stay Fluffy and Absorbent

Jun 26, 2025

Plus, learn how to banish musty odors for good.

Caring for your towels seems simple enough. Just toss them in the wash and you're good to go, right? As it turns out, there's a bit more to it than that. For example, you need to consider fabric type and whether you're cleaning white or dark towels, which call for different temperature settings and ingredients.

To help you wash your towels the right way, we asked laundry and cleaning experts for their best tips. From washing and drying to folding, they shared how to maintain these essentials so they stay fluffy and absorbent for years to come—and also explained how to tackle musty odors and stubborn stains.

Martha Stewart

Most towels should be washed in warm water in a regular cycle, but read the tag to be sure. "If the label stresses that you should separate your dark colors from your white colors, you better do that," says the team from Garnet Hill, a home textile company. "And each towel could differ depending on the fibers."

Speaking of those fibers: To avoid getting lint all over your clothes, wash towels separately from your garments.

Wash new towels before using them to open up the fibers, says the team from Garnet Hill. "If the fibers aren't open, they won't be as absorbent," they say. New towels are also often coated in fabric softeners so they're nice and plush, but these ingredients prevent towels from soaking up water. To get rid of that buildup, add a 1/2 cup of white vinegar to the rinse cycle during the initial wash.

It's best to wash colorful towels with similar shades to prevent bleeding, at least for the first few washes.

Never mix bleach and vinegar. On their own, bleach and vinegar are two effective household cleaning supplies, but they should never be used in tandem. Mixing the two results in the formation of chlorine gas, which is best avoided.

Avoid overloading your machine with towels when washing them. This will not only prevent them from getting clean, but it could also damage your washing machine's drum and decrease its efficiency, says Mooney. As a result, your towels may inevitably need another wash to remove stains and odors.

In general, skip fabric softeners and dryer sheets when washing and drying bath towels to ensure they remain as absorbent as possible over time.

The team at Garnet Hill suggests washing towels after every three or four uses—but frequency also comes down to personal preference, they add.

White vinegar is an all-natural towel stain remover—and it can eliminate that musty towel smell, too. To use this ingredient to your benefit, follow Mooney's advice: "Soak items in distilled white vinegar for three minutes before adding them to your washing machine," she says. Better yet, a vinegar soak will also make them feel soft and fresh once they are dry.

"Always dry towels immediately after washing them," says Mooney. "If you leave your towels in the washer or lying around damp, they'll likely get a mildew smell, and you don't want that." After running your towels through the washing machine, follow these expert tips to dry them.

Once you've dried your towels, it's time to put them away. If you plan on displaying them in your bathroom, follow Martha's tip, which she shared on her TV show in April 2008: "Fold towels so that the edges are hidden and the towels look fluffy and neat," she said. "Fold the towel in thirds lengthwise, and then hang it over a rod."

If you're planning on putting towels in your linen closet, follow these steps for folding your towels.

Vinegar and baking soda work well for washing towels. Use vinegar alone for one cycle to remove buildup. Wash towels again with a cup of baking soda in a hot water cycle to remove odors and to act as a natural fabric softener. Or, do one cycle of hot water with a cup of both vinegar and baking soda.

Stripping towels, or other laundry, means you are removing built-up residue from body oils, chemicals, hard water minerals, and excess detergent. It's a way to deep clean your towels. You can strip towels by soaking items in borax, baking soda, and detergent. Or, for quicker stripping, use the vinegar and baking soda method mentioned above. Laundry stripping works best on whites, not colored towels.

Yes, dryer balls will reduce any fiber clumping as towels are drying. Consider wool dryer balls for towels because they also reduce static cling.