Vinegar needed to set color in dark towels?

[shoyski]

I recently purchased some dark brown towels from JC Penney which I ended up returning. The problem was two-fold. After I washed them, we used some and found that the water wrung from the wash clothes were brown. Eww! Also, they shed. I have dry skin so I ended up rubbing bits of brown fluff-stuff into my face, arms, etc. while I moisturized. Didn't care for that, either.

The sales person at JC Penney treated me like an idiot and told me that I needed to pre-soak my towels in vinegar to set the dark color. I had never heard that before but as I told her, even if I did that, it wouldn't take care of the shedding part. The clerk fgave me the credit, but she was very unhappy about it.

So, is this something new I need to do with towels when I purchase dark colors, or is the sales person smoking the drapes?

Thanks,
Shelley

[AzAnne]

I recently purchased some dark brown towels from JC Penney which I ended up returning. The problem was two-fold. After I washed them, we used some and found that the water wrung from the wash clothes were brown. Eww! Also, they shed. I have dry skin so I ended up rubbing bits of brown fluff-stuff into my face, arms, etc. while I moisturized. Didn't care for that, either.

The sales person at JC Penney treated me like an idiot and told me that I needed to pre-soak my towels in vinegar to set the dark color. I had never heard that before but as I told her, even if I did that, it wouldn't take care of the shedding part. The clerk fgave me the credit, but she was very unhappy about it.

So, is this something new I need to do with towels when I purchase dark colors, or is the sales person smoking the drapes?

Thanks,
Shelley

I have never heard of this. I purchased some maroon towels and have not had either of the problems you described. Probably the brand of towel

btw.. smoking the drapes cracked me up

[Gilgamesh37]

Using vinegar to set unstable dyes isn't that uncommon--and I think it tends to be dark colors just cuz that's when you notice it--but as dyes have become more stable, it seems like it's less and less necessary. That said, I do still wash my bright red towels only with dark colors, in case they run.

As for the shedding issue, I can't say why, but I did give away 4 lovely new bath sheets for exactly this reason--they shed little pills all over me when I tried to dry myself, and they felt...greasy somehow. Blick.

[Gumbeaux]

The sales person at JC Penney treated me like an idiot and told me that I needed to pre-soak my towels in vinegar to set the dark color.

Next time you talk to this salesperson be sure to take this meter with you.

[shoyski]

Next time you talk to this salesperson be sure to take this meter with you.

LOL, how many am I allowed to put in this response? That was hilarious!

Thanks for all the replies. I appreciate that other people have had the same issues. I've purchased from Target and JC Penney, both with the shedding problem. Today I hit Linen-N-Things and am hoping to have more luck.

Have a good weekend.

Shelley

[Gilgamesh37]

Shelley, if the Linen n Things towels still don't do it for you, check out The Company Store--not the cheapest line, but the medium ones (shoot, can't remember the name, but the bath sheets run about $40 I think). I loooove them--they're soft, wonderful, don't run, don't pill, and they last forever. Totally worth the up front investment, imo.

ETA: hey, they're cheaper than I remember and they're on sale right now--here is the bright color collection, they have a more muted collection as well.

Company Store Towels

[little_bopeep]

I saw some wonderful bath sheets at Costco for $17.99 that I'm thinking seriously about.

[shoyski]

Thanks again, guys!

[leightx]

I saw some wonderful bath sheets at Costco for $17.99 that I'm thinking seriously about.

Your faithful Costco ho checking in here! Those bath sheets totally rock, and are the most luxurious towels I've ever used. They even beat out the $55 Restoration Hardware towels, IMO. The only downside is that they are so big and thick that they tend to unbalance my washing machine.