Water repellent microfiber towel

**giraff** · May 28th, 2023, 01:57 AM

So, I just bought two brand new microfiber turbans on my journey to gentle haircare. But during my first use, I found the towels to actually repel water instead of absorbing it.. After having my newly washed hair up in it, the towel was completely dry, and my t-shirt and neck were soaked.. My hair wasn't much dryer than when I put it up.

I've had this happen before with regular cloths, where I found out that my mistake was fabric softener.. But this is not the case now. I also know that the cloths absorb better if they're slightly moist from the washing machine, or a wring in the sink. Are the towels I bought just bad quality, or is there something I can do to "activate" its drying abilities?

**foreveryours** · May 28th, 2023, 04:47 AM

I think there's something on the material. My towels get like that too after some use where they just have low absorbancy when dry. Water buildup over time. Your experience with "fabric softener" suggests similar. Try washing alternately in acidic (Palmolive) and alkaline (Dawn) dish soap. Easy and may fix the problem. Good luck

**giraff** · May 28th, 2023, 05:27 AM

Originally Posted by foreveryours

I think there's something on the material. My towels get like that too after some use where they just have low absorbancy when dry. Water buildup over time. Your experience with "fabric softener" suggests similar. Try washing alternately in acidic (Palmolive) and alkaline (Dawn) dish soap. Easy and may fix the problem. Good luck

Thank you! I'll try that. Looks like all my cloths and the new towels are gonna have a spa day in the kitchen sink today

**giraff** · May 29th, 2023, 06:20 AM

Originally Posted by foreveryours

I think there's something on the material. My towels get like that too after some use where they just have low absorbancy when dry. Water buildup over time. Your experience with "fabric softener" suggests similar. Try washing alternately in acidic (Palmolive) and alkaline (Dawn) dish soap. Easy and may fix the problem. Good luck

Looks like this worked! Turns out that our most common dish soap over here(Zalo) is not very alkaline at all. It's has a pH of 7

But I alternated with a hand soap and an alkaline cleaning agent, rinsed many times AND gave it another go in the laundry machine. The cloths work much better now, hopefully the same is true for the towels. Thank you!

**foreveryours** · May 29th, 2023, 11:47 AM

Originally Posted by giraff

Looks like this worked! Turns out that our most common dish soap over here(Zalo) is not very alkaline at all. It's has a pH of 7

But I alternated with a hand soap and an alkaline cleaning agent, rinsed many times AND gave it another go in the laundry machine. The cloths work much better now, hopefully the same is true for the towels. Thank you!

Glad it helped. Clarification seems always a good starting point when it comes to problems with "fibers"

**Shorty89** · May 28th, 2023, 08:16 AM

I haven't had that with my hair towels but I've had that with regular cloths. For hair, I've always used the ones from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Where did you buy yours?

**KameRose** · May 28th, 2023, 08:17 AM

I too had a problem with my cloths not being absorbent and fabric softener seems to be the culprit. Brand new cloths especially, it seems like manufactures love soaking thier products in the stuff. I have taken to always doing a vinegar rinse instead of fabric softener on all of my loads now. Sometime it takes several washes before the slick oily feeling of the fabric softener is gone and full absorbency is achieved. Vinegar also helps insure that the detergent is completely rinsed out and I suppose it would help with any hard water issues too, but I don't have hard water here, so can't speak to that in this fashion too much.

P.S.: I read a tip once that if you want immediate results to boil the offending article in vinegar. I've never done it so cannot speak to it's effectiveness but it sounds logical too me since hot vinegar is great for removing build up.

**Suortuva** · May 28th, 2023, 08:20 AM

Did you wash those before the first use? Sometimes it's needed.

**giraff** · May 28th, 2023, 09:19 AM

Originally Posted by Shorty89

I haven't had that with my hair towels but I've had that with regular cloths. For hair, I've always used the ones from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Where did you buy yours?

I live in Northern Europe, so we likely don't have access to the same stores. It's a generic cheap brand from a shop called Normal over here. They sell a lot of different brands that don't exist in regular stores. Everything from hair care to cleaning supplies to candy. My favorite place to go window shopping

Originally Posted by KameRose

I too had a problem with my cloths not being absorbent and fabric softener seems to be the culprit. Brand new cloths especially, it seems like manufactures love soaking thier products in the stuff. I have taken to always doing a vinegar rinse instead of fabric softener on all of my loads now. Sometime it takes several washes before the slick oily feeling of the fabric softener is gone and full absorbency is achieved. Vinegar also helps insure that the detergent is completely rinsed out and I suppose it would help with any hard water issues too, but I don't have hard water here, so can't speak to that in this fashion too much.

P.S.: I read a tip once that if you want immediate results to boil the offending article in vinegar. I've never done it so cannot speak to it's effectiveness but it sounds logical too me since hot vinegar is great for removing build up.

Thank you! Vinegar is now on my shopping list. I was empty! Yes, it's probably some kind of build up/manufacturer potion for the new ones. But I don't have hard water either, it's actually very soft (2-3 dH).. Hmm

The only thing I worry about with boiling in vinegar, is that the microfiber might melt. Apparently that's a thing

Originally Posted by Suortuva

Did you wash those before the first use? Sometimes it's needed.

Yes. But just once on a 60 degrees cycle. Washing again now, after following foreveryours' instructions. But good tip, and thank you for replying

**KameRose** · May 28th, 2023, 10:05 AM

Originally Posted by giraff

The only thing I worry about with boiling in vinegar, is that the microfiber might melt. Apparently that's a thing

Yes, I do believe some micro fibers melt. You can always perform a small test with a lighter if you can cut off a small inconspicuous piece and see if it will melt when it gets close to the flame. Of course you can try soaking in vinegar overnight, it's probably the safer alternative.