Towel discoloration and fading?

Question

We bought brand new towels (Biltmore towels from Belk and Laura Ashley from Kohls). Before realizing we were supposed to wash the towels before use, we used them. After about two days we noticed a bleach type look on the towels (the light green towels had yellow splotches and the light blue towels had orange/red splotches) but we have not used any bleach product. I don't know if the 'wash before use' has anything to do with this or not.

Does anybody know what is causing this? I've never had towels do this before. We did just move so I don't know if it is the water. We also just bought a new washing machine. So far it appears that only these new towels are experiencing this discoloration.

Any advice or suggestions?

Answer 1

Well...I am not sure I have the complete answer, I am just guessing...a lot of times, the water may be too hard (hard water) and contain lime / calcium.  When you dry yourself you with the new towels, drips of hard water remains on the towel, while other parts remain dry.

The dry areas retain the original color. The parts which were wet and then re-dried now contain lime / calcium. The lime / calcium reacts with the organic coloring of your towels.

I don't know how you can reverse that but have you tried dipping a small part of one towel in the water and then let it dry to see if produces the same weird color? If so, then my theory is correct. In that case, just wash the entire towel in hard water, and the towel should be one color (though not the same as before).

To reverse it, you probably have to concoct a way to reverse the chemical reactions between LIME and the COLORING AGENT. My chemistry fails me but I am guessing the coloring agent got oxidized in contact with lime (calcium carbonate CaCO3) (lime + water is an alkali) and the color changed. You may try to see if de-oxidizing it with a home-made based agent helps to return the color to normal (maybe a light acetic acid like vinegar?).

Let's see what others think of this advice before you actually do it. I think trying out water dripping is ok.  Hope this helps..

Answer 2

If you are pouring detergent directly onto the towels before the washer fills this could cause it. Always allow the washer to fill and start to agitate before adding detergent...