Have you noticed that towels don’t seem to absorb water any more? Pick up a cold drink from the countertop and try to wipe away the ring of water. What happens? You smear the water across the surface. My wife and I complain all the time about how modern towels can’t absorb water.
Bath towels that are heavy, plush and soft bother me. These are the towels that seem to be least absorbent. They’re so thick, I can’t get them into narrow places, such as behind my ears. And they’re heavy so it takes effort to pick one up and move it around, so I end up working up a sweat. Such towels are good for:
- decorating
- lining the dog bed
- gifting to people whom you don’t really like
My preference is a cheap, plain, white, 100% cotton towel that I can wash in hot water to get out all the oils that prevent absorption. I like them because they're light weight and a bit scratchy. And they absorb really well.
I don't use fabric softener because it coats the towel with a film that repels water. See for yourself. Lay a towel on a flat surface and drip water onto it. The water will form a bead, then a puddle, indicating the towel is hydrophobic.1
Advice abounds on the Internet about not using fabric softener on bath towels.2 I see the same advice even on the bottles of fabric softener itself as shown below. (Note that most towels are made from terry cloth.3)
I’m convinced that if we just had towels that can absorb water, we will make America great again.
So, MATA -- Make Absorbent Towels Again!
1 https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hydrophobic
2 https://duckduckgo.com/?q=why+no+fabric+softener+on+some+clothes&ia=web
3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrycloth
No comments:
Post a Comment