How to Care for your SilverGuard Towels

Top tips to make sure your SilverGuard towel stays soft and luxurious

 

Wrap yourself up in luxury with a SilverGuard Towel

There is nothing like wrapping yourself up in a soft, absorbent, and luxurious organic cotton SilverGuard towel after an indulgent bubble bath or a hot relaxing shower. Make sure you follow our top tips on how to keep your towels feeling plush and comfy all the time, wash after wash.

 

Caring for your SilverGuard Towel

From washing to drying and storing your towels, here is our guide on how to best care for your SilverGuard organic cotton towels:

 

Washing and laundering

Proper towel care starts in your washing machine! We recommend that you wash your brand-new towels before their first use. This will ensure your towels are clean and fragrant before their first use and reduces the amount of shed.

To keep your towel at its best we recommend that you always check the laundry symbols on the tag. It is important to launder your towels separately from other items, as this helps avoid pulls and pills on your towels and ensures you can use the correct care when washing. Some items such as zips, fastenings, Velcro, etc can catch on the pile of the terry towel causing it to pull.

As much as it is tempting to wash towels at a high temperature to kill bacteria, this doesn’t keep them soft. The heat strips the natural fibres of their natural softness resulting in overly dry stiff towels.  Also, in SilverGuard towels the IONIC+* antimicrobial silver thread is weaved through the organic cotton in our products which prevents the growth of bacteria, fungi and other germs. Why is this important? Your towel can be a host to numerous bacteria, fungi, bodily secretions, along with dead skin cells. These microbes are continually multiplying, particularly if they are hung to dry in a moist, dark place like some bathrooms. The IONIC+ silver thread technology works to prevent the growth of bacteria, making your bathroom environment a safer and cleaner place in between laundering and cleaning. All this means that you can wash your towels on a warm gentle cycle at 30-40°C.

It is also important to not overload your machine as this restricts your washing machine’s ability to clean and rinse properly which can leave your towels crunchy and stiff.

And finally, how often should you wash a towel? It is generally recommended that you should wash your towels after every three to five uses, especially when hung to dry in a moist, dark place (like a bathroom). To extend the time between washes, avoid putting towels on top of each other and let them dry out completely after use.

 

Cleaning products

Avoid brightening laundry detergents. When shopping for your detergent, avoid using laundry detergent that contains brightening agents such as bleach, alpha hydroxyl acids and benzoyl peroxides. These ingredients can cause colours to fade, lead to patchy towels and deteriorate the fabrics which can reduce their absorption and softness.

And DO NOT use softener on your towels. Fabric softeners effectively clog the fibres and leads to a waxy build up which reduces the absorbency of the towel. It will also decrease the softness of the towel and make them stiff. 

 

Tumble Drying 

To get a soft and fluffy feel we recommend tumble drying in small loads, at a low-medium heat setting. We recommend using the automated setting on your tumble dryer which will stop drying when the towel is fully dried. It is important not to over-dry your towels as this can cause them to feel rough.

Avoid tumble drying your towels on full heat and maximum time as this will cause shrinkage and damage to the threads resulting in a loss of softness and absorption. 

 

Line Drying 

The eco-friendlier option is to is to hang your towels out to dry and then put them in the tumble dryer on a cool setting for a 20-minute tumble to get that fluffier feel. If you line dry on a windy day, the wind will help keep them moving and agitate the fibres, just like a tumble in a dryer.

 Avoid drying them on top of a radiator as this only leads to over-drying and crusty towels. Use a clothes horse next to a heater. 

 

Ironing

Ironing damages the loops in terry towels which reduces softness and absorbency. We do not recommend ironing our towels.

 

Storing Towels 

Whether you roll your towels for a perfect spa feel or neatly fold them away from sight, before storing, be sure to give your towels a good shake. This helps loosen the threads making them softer and easier to fold. It is important to make sure the towels are fully dried before storing.

 

General Towel Care Tips for your SilverGuard Towel

Here are some additional helpful tips to keep your towels feeling plush and soft:

Lost Lustre - Regular use and washing can cause your towels to lose their lustre and become stiff. The most likely culprit is a build-up of chemicals, some of which will be found in your tap water. Adding one cup of white vinegar to your wash can help restore your towels – and rest assured that your towels won’t smell of vinegar when you take them out.

Pulls - Unfortunately, no amount of care will stop the occasional pull and snag. To keep your towels looking their best make sure to cut the pulled loop with a pair of scissors as this will stop the strand from getting caught and pulled further. If you notice a high number of pulls in your towel, we recommend checking inside your washing machine or tumble dryer as sometimes a sharp edge inside the drum may catch fibres and cause loops in towels and garments.

Beware of skin and body treatments - Some skincare products can bleach your towels! When using skincare products that contain acids and brightening agents, ensure your skin is thoroughly rinsed before drying your face. This will help prevent bleach patches and discolouration of the towel with an orange hue. 

Tumble Dryer Balls – Using tumble dryer balls will help your towels dry quicker and agitate the fibres which helps to soften them. 

Course Crunchy Towels – Be gentle on your towels. Our towels are made from organic cotton and harsh detergents can permanently damage these fibres. We recommend using a gentle detergent but more importantly don’t use too much detergent. We are all guilty of using too much laundry detergent in our washes. With towels, if you use too much, it is harder for your machine to remove the detergent during the rinse cycle. This will then accumulate over time and add to the stiffness. If you accidentally use the wrong detergent on your towel, it will have a ‘crunchy’ feel. To soften the towel wash it in hot water, and ONLY then tumble dry. This should make it soft again.

 

* IONIC+, formerly known as X-Static

For more information, please contact us at:

SilverGuard Ltd

e: office@silver-guard.co.uk 

t: 0207 538 2678

w: www.silver-guard.co.uk 

 

SilverGuard is a UK-based company which produces an antimicrobial textile range using Noble Biomaterials renowned IONIC+ antimicrobial silver thread technology. Our current consumer product range includes bed linens, towels, baby & children’s clothing, face coverings and more.