I do not use liquid detergent for towels. For some reason, they really suds up. So I stick with powder, Tide with Bleach. My towels are white and I use the "Whitest White" cycle on my front loader. I add 2 extra rinses. No need for liquid bleach, but occasionally, I'll add a small scoop of Oxi Clean. Then throw in dryer on regular heat, no liquid fabric softener and no dryer sheet. Been doing this and never had any problem with stains or lack of softness. I do buy towels that have "texture". I don't like soft, fluffy towels. Right now I have Vera Wang, Chevron pattern from Kohl's. Always buy 100% cotton, never any blend.

I don't wash towels on their own.

My (solid white) towels get washed with all my whites (except bedding), socks, tees, underwear, cleaning towels in my high efficiency front load Electrolux.

I'll switch between Whitest Whites, Heavy Duty, Sanitary wash cycles.

I'll always use hot water for whites.

Detergents...well now I have a bunch. Miele UltraWhite powder, Persil ProClean liquid (also 2in1), Tide Ultra liquid, Mama Pinks Tide Professional (usually 2 Tablespoons dose)

Additives, borax / baking soda / I force 1/4 cup bleach into the last 5 to 10 minutest of the wash portion of the cycle (instead of the washer adding it to the first rinse).

No fabric softener nor dryer sheets are used.

I have not used my STPP yet, I just received it this week. I'll use that when I'm done with the borax.

Our daily use towels are all white. Since they are one time use only and light soil, they are washed @120F for 20 minutes and a 5 min. chlorine bleach, then three rinses. Will either use Persil 2in1 pro clean or 1 scoop of UltraPlus, 1 tbls Borax, and 1 tbls STPP, and softener. If I am using the Persil I do not use the softener. Conflicting scents. LOL. I refer to this as my maintenance wash. Other times I'll bundle with T-Shirts, Socks, Underwear and use a more aggressive wash @ 143F, a 5 minute bleach and three rinses plus softener. The later cycle is 2 hours long so unless I have a sufficient load they generally get my maintenance wash.

Colored Towels are ditto. Once in a while I'll sub Sodium Percarbonate in place of chlorine bleach.

I tend to not use liquids on towels either, as I find that they suds too much and are too hard to rinse!

I do have two sets of beautiful white towels, but the rest are brown, sand coloured or melon-orange (my favs!!).

The whites are washed on Cottons Universal or "Towelling" as it's called. Tide with bleach powder or Miele UltraWhite powder. Cycle fills with about 85F water and then heats gradually up to 140F. 3 DEEP rinses and 1400 spin. Oh yeah...a little softener too.

Coloured towels get 120F, again cycle beginning at 85F. Tide HE powder or Miele UltraColor! 3 DEEP rinses, softener and 1400rpm spin.

My best towels are two color jacquard -- white and taupe -- and I ruined them washing them in very hot water. The towel retailer told me to wash them in cold water. But I only use cold for woolens. They were incredibly fluffy when new and now they need softener.

Was washing them in Persil for longest time at 140 with Mrs. Meyers softener. Now washing on warm or very warm (which is still likely too hot) with Vaska tabs or lately the LeBlanc towel wash which I don't think I like.

New towels are gray and seafoam green. Vaska tabs were recommended; also cold water. Been using Vaska tabs but only half with warm water. They are OK without FS but nicer with. So I'm using softener occasionally.

I wash the various colors in separate loads. I don't mix colors or textures. Nor are towels ever mixed with other linens or clothing. They always get 3 rinses as I have extra one enabled. If I see suds I do an additional rinse cycle. Sometimes, the spin doesn't get them as dry as I like them before they go in the dryer so I run them through an additional spin.

Started drying on Wrinkle Free which is less hot than normal but needs to run a bit longer. That seems to be not as intense and produces a fluffier result. Overheating the towels in the dryer is also a reason the older set needs softener.

Rococo- I also ruined my towels by washing them in hot. They were super soft and wonderful for six months being washed on Eco-warm. I kept reading that towels should be washed in hot, so I tried it and now they are as rough as sandpaper. Won't make that mistake again.

I wash whites with either Chlorox or Oxyclean in the load. I try to use either hot water or the sanitize cycle of my Samsung. I find that softness is much better when I use fabric softener like Downy.

I don't have any white bath towels, but I do have plenty of white wash cloths, that I wash with the white underwear and socks, using bleach and hot water.

As for my bath towels: I recently retired all of my old towels and bought all new ones that were Egyptian cotton. I only wash them together in warm water, detergent and downy.

Two tablespoons of Oxi "White Revive" for towels, warm wash, 2 tablespoons of liquid detergent. if I can get to it, a couple of tablespoons of white vinegar in first rinse. Nothing added to the dryer. Gorgeous, clean and fluffy towels!

I have only white bath towels. They are the pottery barn hydrocotton which were top rated by the sweet home. The shed lint like crazy for like 10 washes, but now are soft, light and fluffy. I go through a ton of towels (mostly hand towels and wash cloths for drying), and I wash towels separately. I air dry them then wash when I have enough for a full load. I wash in hot water, with STPP, and Tide powder or Miele UltraWhite powder, and a Tide F&C boost pod or sodium percarbonate. Sometimes I soak for about 30 minutes, and sometimes I add a splash of chlorine bleach near the end of the wash. I do not use any fabric softener on the towels. I tumble dry with Nellie's dryer balls and they always come out super soft and fluffy, but I think it's the towels more than my wash regimen. They stay very white! They smell clean after washing, but I can't smell any detergent. I know that is good in terms of rinsing etc., but I wish there was a faint whiff of detergent scent left on the towels. I have been considering testing liquid detergent vs. powder in terms of softness and scent.

Bath towels are single use for me, so they are definitely light soil. They are of mixed colors, honestly, but they have been washed so many times, I just mix them in one load. I only use white washcloths, so I can tell if they are truly clean or not. I rarely use liquid detergents on towels, because of rinsing issues. I do have mechanically softened water. I wash bath towels in my Miele on 120 F, with a "whites detergent", something with bleach in it. Persil, Tide w/ Bleach, etc. I have a select few dark guest towels that do get washed alone, 120 degrees, and usually powdered Cheer. I always wash kitchen and cleaning towels in their own load. I wash these every 2-3 weeks, depending on how much cooking and canning I am doing. These get a pre-wash with any liquid detergent that happens to be on my shelf and borax, and then main wash with a bleaching detergent, 200 F wash temp, extended wash, and 3-4 rinses. I line dry all of my towels, pretty much all year round. I might use a tiny dose of unscented softener in my bath towels once in a blue moon, but never on my kitchen towels.

I have both mixed colors and some white hand towels. Mixed colors I wash together because the colors on them don't bleed anymore. White towels I wash together with my white sheets. I l usually use powder detergent because it rinses better. Both are washed in cottons 60 (140 F) degree wash. I wash the mixed colors with 2 tablespoons of Bio Luvil professional or Serto color powder. White towels and sheets are washed with Ariel actilift powder for whites. I don't use softener every time because I don't want it to build up in the towels. When I do use softener I use Ecover yellow for the mixed colors because it is milder than other softeners. On white towels I don't use softener at all because I usually take them out and then do an additional rinse with Lenor Gold orchid for the sheets. I don't like my towels to be very perfumed or soft when I wipe my face off on them. Ecover is a good middle ground between too soft and too crispy, and it doesn't make the towels feel coated and slimy.

Mine are dark color Vera Wang towels from Kohls. I wash them on Sanitary using either powder detergent (Euro Persil for colors) or liquid detergent (Green Works). The powder works better. A little bit of FS. They come out very soft and smelling fresh. Until I started washing my towels on Sanitary, they would go funky smelling within a couple of years of use. The current set is over 5 years old.

Most of mine are light colors and white. Kitchen towels are various colors and cloths are mostly white. Washed in hot with smaller amt. of either Tide powder or liquid turbo he. About 5 or minutes into wash I add half a cup of Great Value bleach. two rinses and dry on reg. or permanent press.

Washed on hot with liquid chlorine bleach. Rinsed twice. I use Sears detergent for everything. All towels and bedding linens are white.

Warm water, Mrs. Meyers, towel cycle for my color towels... after all, they're only used for clean bodies and hands and changed every week. The pool towels are washed the same. Dryer balls and used dryer sheets keep them soft and fluffy.

All white towels. Wash on hot in my FL SQ (after running g the laundry sink tap to get the hot water upstairs.) I use 2 tablespoons Gain and 2 tablespoons borax. Occasionally will prewash using Clorox. Always finish with 2 rinses, and never use LFS in towels as I was always told it would reduce water absorption when drying off. IDK if that's true . . .

Oxi Clean and liquid detergent for white towels, hot wash and medium dry(135F). I use to use LCB and high heat to dry but the towels were never soft, in fact I damaged the fibers.

Pinky, just curious -- what temp you keep your water heater set on? Your new SQ does not heat water like, say, Larsi's Miele, right?

Lizzie, no my washer has no heater.my water heater is set at 130 by the time my washer fills its about 125f . Lucky for me my laundry room is the mud room right off the kitchen, I have a large soup pot that I boil water in...haha,

A few weeks ago I had hubs turn the water tank up to 140 ..that gave me perfect hot water in the machine at just about 135 which I can live with but he keeps sneaking and turning it down.

Wow. You continue to impress me with your determination!

LOl..thank you Lizzie, I do love my soup pot lol

White towels get washed with powder detergent and LCB on the bulky cycle using hot water and an extra rinse.

Color towels get washed the same except instead of LCB I use Borax.

All towels get fabric softener.

My FL'er does not dumb down the temps so I get a true hot wash.