The Nightmare of Washing New Towels

Living in my home in an adult community for fourteen in a half years forced me to replace wear and tear items. Mainly it is the new towels I wish to address today.  Whether it is right or wrong, I replace my towel after each use. We do not use the big giant bath towel just the regular size.  I always used dryer sheets to make everything soft.  However, during the past couple of years I have discontinued using them due to the chemicals that harm us. With the dryer sheets in the past and all the excessive use, my towels lost some absorbency and started to wear.

All new linen, towels, lingerie and underwear get washed in the machine prior to its use.  I placed only the new towels in the machine last night.  I was very smart not to wash them with my other clothes.  I could kiss myself for being that smart. 

When the towels were finished from the wash cycle I noticed lint everywhere including  my machine.  At first I thought I purchased poor quality towels and planned on returning them the following day.  Then I remembered I had the same problem with other towels I purchased a long time ago. They say the better the cotton towel quality the more lint in the beginning.

Removing the lint was a horrible nightmare.  First I tried raking it off with my nails then rewashing them again.  Still the lint was present but not as bad.  After placing them in the dryer, the lint was still present. I used the lint roller which helped a little.  I took a wash cloth which showed a lot of lint, and vacuumed it.  The vacuum worked best until the vacuum sucked the washcloth into the hose. Now no suction was possible and it became my evening nightmare. I bent three knitting needles trying to get it to come up. I tried using a skinny knife, but all was impossible.  Now my vacuum cleaner was inoperable.

For fifty four years of marriage, I only used Electrolux Vacuum machines and upgraded them about three times.  I could not find a place to blow out my hose with the last upgrade.  I was surprised not to be aware of the change in the product.  I planned on calling  our wonderful handyman in the morning to solve my problem, as he always had in the past.  My husband had gone to bed leaving me in distress, but he must have heard me going crazy in the laundry room as he came to my rescue. He reversed the hose where the wash cloth was closer and the machine suctioned it right in the bag.  I was able to retrieve it and then gave   my husband the biggest "Thank You" ever

Thus, if this nightmare should happen to you, my best advice is to wash the towels two or three times. DO NOT MIX OTHER ITEMS IN THE WASH. They say it takes ten times to remove most of the lint. Some say to use one half cup of vinegar in the rinse cycle but it also loses the towel absorbency.  After the towels are dry use your vacuum cleaner, making sure you cleaned the head of same first, and hold the towel tightly.  (Skip the wash cloth}