Are any other fabrics showing different results since stopped with the dryer sheets or did you only stop using the sheets with towel wash? I don’t ever use any kind of softener or dryer sheets. Both do reduce absorbancy & the sheets can be a fire hazard, I do use wool dryer balls. I find they reduce wrinkling, improve dry time & also increase softness of fabrics. These wool balls do wear out as in getting smaller so I do replace every year or so. I also use white vinegar in fabric softener dispenser when washing whites, towels & sheets & loads of underwear. It helps get soap out as well as maybe a bit of a sani wash. I also use less detergent than my Eco detergent recommends for my front load washer. We have very hard water & also have a water softener in which we use potassium pellets not salt. But, my suggestion for you is to try wool dryer balls.

I use the wool dryer balls, they don't do squat other than fluff up the items in the dryer. They are older, but they never really did anything when they were new, either.

I have very soft water, softener system that uses salt pellets. I could try the vinegar in the wash, maybe that would help.

I might go back to the dryer sheets with my clothes. The static this time of year is terrible, and the sheets help immensely with that (I use the unscented so no you can't smell me coming down the street...)

I quit using FS a few years back, but I still use dryer sheets. Earlier this year I stopped adding Borax to the wash water. About a month ago I started adding it back in (20 Mule Team or Arm & Hammer) and I began noticing that our towels feel harsher. I thoroughly dry our towels to keep them from getting the sour smell I can't stand. In my experience if I took them out of the dryer when I think they are dry versus when the sensor on the dryer thinks so, and before the full cool down portion of the cycle, either I or my partner would notice a faint smell. I suspect that the additive is making our towels feel harsher, and they have an industrial smell versus say the Gain's fragrance. I am very careful with the dosage of both the detergent and the additive.

Dryer sheets are fabric softener.

Yes, cut way back on detergent and use white vinegar as your rinse agent/fabric softener.

Do I just dump the vinegar in at the start of the load?

I add vinegar to the fabric softener dispenser. Then it mixes in with rinse water cycle. If washer doesn’t have dispenser & it’s a top loader then pour in at start of rinse cycle.

Some of this may also just be the towels themselves. We have four sets of towels from different brands in circulation right now, all of which started off fluffy at around the same time. One set is extremely scratchy, one moderately scratchy, one still soft but not holding its coloring, and the last still soft with the original coloring. They all get washed together with the same detergent on the same temperature settings, so I think it has much more to do with how (and of what) they're made. (My kid actually asked me to buy more of the last type in another color so they could have a non-scratchy towel, but alas, that brand is now defunct!)

They're these towels from Garnet Hill: Signature Egyptian Cotton Bath Towels | Garnet Hill

I'm also wondering if it may be the laundry detergent being a little too harsh. I tried a bag of Grab Green, the towels have been washed in that since the time I got them. I don't like the Grab Green and am going to try a different powder, in the meantime I can wash the towels in the liquid 7th Generation to see if that makes any difference along with the vinegar.

Vinegar is acidic (lower pH), detergent and soaps are alkaline (higher pH). The appreciable effect of vinegar regards to softening is in balancing toward a more neutral pH which can reduce harshness caused by detergents or soaps. It goes into the rinse for that purpose, or a rinse period if the machine does more than one. Also known as a laundry sour. Commercial laundries may add a sour to the first rinse after the wash period.

Vinegar does not soften fabrics with lubricants as do fabric softener products (including dryer sheets).

If you are getting static from your towels, check the fabric content. 100% cotton does not do that. Synthetics are all about static, and they turn rough and unabsorbant when dried with too much heat. Also, most people use WAY too much detergent. Wash a load of towels without any detergent at all and look for suds. Suds is residual detergent. You should only use a couple of teaspoons. And that is it.

I think Minardi is correct. The 100% cotton towels I've purchased from more high end places never get static and stay soft. I recently bought a supposedly 100% turkish cotton bathrobe for my grandson from Ama*zon and it get's scratchier each wash. I suspect the cr*p that comes from china is not really 100% cotton or is some kind of inferior staple. And if there is static, you can be certain it's not 100% cotton. I recently bought some bamboo towels from Company Store and they are dreamy soft and absorbent and wash up beautifully, but I think they quit selling them for some reason.

FWIW ours are a mix--the scratchiest is Land's End bamboo (70/30 cotton/bamboo rayon mix). The other three range widely in scratchiness but are all 100% cotton: Hotel Collection from Macy's, Nordstrom at Home Hydrocotton, and Wamsutta Microcotton. All but the Nordstrom towels are made in India, and that one's made in Turkey. All four sets were comparably priced when new. So who knows. The Wamsutta towels are the favorite, but sadly they're discontinued.