How to Wash Towels and Sheets

There’s nothing quite like the luxurious feel of soft, fluffy towels on your skin after a shower or bath and climbing into a bed with freshly laundered sheets for a great night’s sleep. But there’s no need to book into a five-star hotel for this VIP treatment, as it’s easy to achieve the same results at home. Our Product Trainer, Sophie Lane, offers her expert advice on how to use your laundry appliances for five-star results.

Why are my towels hard and stiff after washing?

Make sure all detergent is rinsed away so that no detergent or residue is left in the fabric. Detergent residue builds up on the fabric and causes towels to be hard and rough when they are dry. Adding an extra rinse or using Miele’s Water Plus option that adds extra water when washing as well as an extra rinse, will help.

Miele’s TwinDos system automatically dispenses the optimum amount of liquid detergent for each wash cycle. Using two separate cartridges for different types of detergents, it can be used to achieve five-star results on both white and coloured towels.

Miele also has a range of capsules and detergents that help protect and preserve your fabrics. There’s DownCare, Outdoor and SilkCare, Sport, UltraDark and Woolcare, which work in harmony with your washing machine for best performance while reducing environmental impact and saving money at the same time. Free from microplastics and synthetic polymers, they come in 100% recycled plastic cartridges and can also be used with non-Miele appliances.

How do I make my towels soft and fluffy again?

Using too much detergent in the wash can leave a residue on towels. This will build up over time and cause towels to become hard and flat. Towels are not as dirty as you might think, as they are usually used to dry clean people, so always use less detergent than you think you need.

To take the guesswork away, Miele’s TwinDos detergent uses around 30% less detergent and a bespoke amount for every load based on the absorbency of the fabric.

The intuitive two-phase detergent dispensing system provides just the right amount needed, helping to reduce waste, save money and keep your towels soft and fluffy after every wash. Use the CapDos system for stubborn stains and you should have hotel or spa-quality towels whenever you want.

How do you wash towels so they stay soft?

Fabric conditioner is used to soften fabrics, but should not be used every time, as it can reduce towels’ absorbency. When drying towels, they will be softer and fluffier if dried in a tumble dryer. If dried outside, they may be harder, especially if dried in the sun. To help with this, you can place the towels in a tumble dryer using the warm air programme for a short time to help soften and fluff out the towels.

How can I get hotel-quality bed sheets?

To keep your white sheets white, add half a cup of baking soda to your laundry detergent, as this acts as a natural cleanser that helps to soften hard water and increase the effectiveness of your detergent. It also neutralises any odours to give a fresh, clean smell.

How can I turn basic bed sheets into silky soft bedlinen?

There is a simple trick to help – just add one cup of baking soda and half a cup of white vinegar to your wash cycle and your bed sheets will come out silky soft. When drying in the tumble dryer, use the low or medium setting for gentle drying that takes care of your linens.

Miele’s EcoSpeed heat pump tumble dryer is one appliance to look out for, as it comes with a new DryCare 40 setting, which allows any fabric that can be washed at 40˚C to be tumble dried, even if the label advises not to.

It also has a new HygieneDry feature to eliminate 99.99% of all bacteria and is Wi-Fi enabled, so it can be operated via a smartphone, tablet or Amazon Alexa voice control for ease of use. It also comes with EcoDry technology for shorter running times and lower energy consumption.