MacSo you have bought a bamboo towel? Now what?
April 6th 2010 15:05
Wash towels three times separately in plain warm water before use. This may seem excessive and a waste of water, but will eliminate the pesky problem of towel fluff sticking to you when you get out of the shower. After three washes, the fibres will stay put.
How do they know to stay put?
High quality bamboo towels come straight from the loom and have not been subjected to any wet processes such as scouring, bleaching or dyeing after weaving. Therefore the small amount of shrinkage that occurs during washing (about 3%) tightens the weave structure and binds the loops more firmly into the cloth, leaving the towels ready for service. Nifty eh? If snags appear simply cut off level with the pile, the towel will not ladder (run) or unravel.
When it comes to washing the towels on a regular basis, make sure light and dark items are washed separately, as well as away from any fancy clothes that may pick up a bit of lint from the towels. Also, we know you want to save water but please don’t overload your machine when your bamboo towels are in there, as the excessive abrasion and agitation will cause the towel fibres to break down.
There are lots of super dooper washing detergents and stuff on the market to transform your washing into bright whiteness with every wash- but no! Please do not use chlorine bleach, bluing agents or optic whiteners as these may alter or remove colour and can weaken fibres.
My grandma would be shocked if she knew about this advice, but don’t use fabric softener! It actually makes bamboo towels less water absorbent. And they are super soft already.
Make sure your detergent is added to the load as the washer fills, instead of pouring it directly onto the bamboo towels. This will avoid damage to the fabric and prevent a detergent build up which reduces softness. A handy softness tip is to only use half the amount of detergent than you normally would – of course this depends on just how dirty the towel is!
When the washing cycle is done, shake them as they come out of the machine to get rid of wrinkles, and don’t delay in getting the towels out on the line. We urge you to use nature’s energy and line dry the towels, but if you absolutely have to use a dryer then a medium heat setting will be best.
We have to cover all bases, so if you wanted to iron the towels then go for it. They are best ironed when still damp on a medium (cotton) setting.
If you need to pack the bamboo towels away for a while, they should be stored in a cool, dry, well aerated place. We recommend storing towels in old cotton pillow cases, as storing them in plastic bags or boxes may cause yellowing. We also think reusing old pillowcases is cool.
Last of all, whatever you do, DO NOT DRY-CLEAN your bamboo towels.
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