Not a fan of crunchy towels? Here’s exactly how to keep your towels soft and fluffy when air or line-drying them, without using the tumble drier.
Whilst the tumble dryer may be convenient, it’s one of the most expensive household appliances to run.
The average tumble dryer uses around 3000 watts per hour to dry your clothes. At the current energy price cap (June 2026), that means it costs around a whopping 78p per hour to dry your clothes. That soon adds up – especially when you think about a full drying cycle lasting well over an hour.
Minimising your use of the tumble dryer – by line drying or drying them indoors on a clotheshorse – is a great way to save energy and save money. However, one common gripe is that air-dried towels can end up feeling a bit like sandpaper.
If you’re hankering after fluffy towels, yet want to save energy, then don’t worry. I’ve got a few clever tricks up my sleeve that can keep your towels from feeling rough.
Simple Tips for Soft, Fluffy Towels When Air Drying
Towels tend to go stiff and crunchy after air drying because of a mix of things. Detergent build-up, fabric conditioner residue, and how quickly the towels dry can all impact on fluffiness (or the lack of).
Through trial and error over the years, alongside some help from Moral Fibres readers, I’ve found the secret to fluffier towels without the tumble dryer. Here’s all you need to know:
Don’t Overdo The Laundry Detergent
When it comes to washing your towels, less is definitely more. I would recommend using half or even a third of the amount of detergent that you normally use when washing clothes.
This is because using too much detergent can cause a build-up of soap residue in the fibres, which can lead to your towels feeling rough and scratchy. This build-up can even reduce the absorbency of your towels, which is the last thing you want.
Even by using reduced detergent, they’ll still come out clean. I promise! And going easy on the detergent means you’re on the right track to getting those towels fluffy.
If you’ve been a little heavy-handed with the detergent in the past, there’s no need to replace your towels. Simply pop them in the washing machine on a hot wash, and use around 250 ml of white vinegar in place of detergent.
Known as laundry stripping, that should help to remove any lingering detergent in your towels and help restore their softness.
Skip The Fabric Conditioner (Even If It Feels Wrong)
Although conventional fabric conditioner might seem like an obvious choice for keeping towels soft, it can, over time, have the opposite effect. Which is quite ironic, really.
Most fabric conditioners work by coating the fibres of your laundry with a waxy layer. This helps your laundry to feel softer. The thing is that this coating has to be water-resistant to survive the washing process.
This means that repeated use of fabric conditioner lessens your laundry’s ability to properly absorb water and laundry detergent. This means your towels won’t respond as well to washing, and will be more likely to lock in bad odours. Plus it can reduce the absorbency of your towels, and leave them feeling stiff after air drying.
So, for soft and fluffy air-dried towels, step away from the fabric conditioner!
If you’ve been using fabric conditioner on your towels, all is not lost. Again, follow the hot water and vinegar laundry stripping technique to help remove any residue and you should be all good.
Add White Vinegar To Every Wash
One of my top tips to keep towels soft when line drying them is to add white vinegar to every wash.
All you need to do is fill the fabric conditioner dispenser of your washing machine with white vinegar. Your washing machine then releases the vinegar during the rinse cycle, which helps to break down any lingering soapy residue and soften the fibres of your towels naturally.
Don’t worry about your towels smelling like a chip shop. I’ve been using vinegar as a fabric softener for almost 20 years now, and promise that the vinegar scent disappears as the towels dry.
Yes, I was super sceptical the first time I used vinegar in the wash. However, I quickly came around to the idea when I saw how effective it was. So even if you are suspicious, give it a try, I promise it’s a game changer!
Get Shaking
How you wash your towels is just one part of the fluffy puzzle. The other part lies in how you dry them.
It may sound simple, but one of the easiest and most effective ways to make your towels soft is to give them a good shake before and after hanging them up to dry – either outside or on your clotheshorse.
When towels come out of the washing machine, the fibres can be tightly compressed. By shaking them out, you help to separate the fibres and loosen them up, which can prevent stiffness as they dry.
Before hanging your towels up to dry, I recommend holding your towel on the short edge and giving it a really firm shake or four. Then swap over to holding it by the other short edge, and then give it another really good shake several times. This helps to separate the fibres, giving that fluffy feel.
Once they’re dry, a second shake helps release any remaining stiffness, making the towels feel more flexible and softer to the touch.
If you need a little helping hand to get a shake on, then I’m going to let you in on a little secret that you have to promise to keep between you and I. Promise? Ok, I know you’re a person of your word, so I trust you.
My secret is that when no one else is around I sing one of these three songs to get a good shaking motion going! If my kids saw or heard me they would absolutely melt with embarrassment!
If you have any good shaking songs, let me know! I’d love to expand my repertoire, and I’m sure my neighbours would too!
Avoid Drying Towels On The Radiator
How you dry your clothes can also affect their softness.
I’d always recommend drying your clothes outside on the washing line, or indoors on a clotheshorse. That’s because drying clothes on the radiator isn’t a great idea in terms of energy efficient. And it’s also a one-way ticket to stiff and scratchy towels.
It all comes down to how the heat affects the fibres. Radiators provide a direct and intense source of heat, which dries towels much more quickly than air drying. While this might seem like a good thing, the reality is very much the opposite.
You see, when towels dry too fast, particularly under high heat, the moisture in the fibres evaporates rapidly. Without any agitation – in the form of wind or the tumbling action of the tumble dryer – this causes the fibres to become rigid and compacted. This results in that dreaded cardboard-like texture.
Another factor is airflow, or rather, the lack of it.
Unlike drying outdoors, or on an airer, where the air circulates around the towel, drying on a radiator usually leaves one side pressed up against the heat source. This prevents air from moving freely. This lack of circulation can further contribute to uneven drying and stiff towels.
Opting for line drying or a clotheshorse helps keep the towel fibres soft and fluffy.
Give Your Towels A Good Rub
Elizabeth, a Moral Fibres reader, shared a great tip with me a couple of years ago to help make your towels soft and fluffy after drying.
They said “When your towels are completely dry, pick up a towel and holding aloft, rub one half of the towel against the other – vigorously. Then turn the towel over and do the same to the other side. Works a treat.”
I immediately tried this out, and can confirm it works great. It’s also a good wee workout!
Not Soft Enough?
Finally, if you’ve shaken up your laundry routine, and started rubbing or shaking your towels, and they still aren’t soft or fluffy enough for your family’s tastes, then all is not lost. There is a lower energy way to amp up the softness without resorting to a costly two-hour tumble in the dryer.
Simply pop your air-dried towels in the tumble dryer for 5-10 minutes on a low or medium heat. This is just enough time for the dryer to loosen up the fibres and release any stiffness that might have developed from air drying, without racking up big energy bills.
I’d recommend using wool dryer balls (like these ones from Ethical Superstore) or similar. This energy-efficient technique helps agitate the fibres in your towels, helping to make them fluffy without needing to fully dry them in the machine.
Any More Top Tips?
Have you got any other top towel tips that you swear by? Do let us know in the comments below!
And ready for more towel chat?
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