Why are my clothes crunchy?

9 years ago

When I hang clothes to dry, rather than putting them in the dryer, they often end up sort of "crunchy" once they are dry.

Does anyone know what i'm doing to cause this? Too much detergent? Wrong detergent?

Thanks in advance for your help. Ã°ÂÂÂ

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Comments (5)

dave1812
9 years ago
Google is your friend.

Possible causes: too much detergent (or not enough rinsing, of course), hard water.

Easy fix if you can't get (or already have) a water softener: put the clothes in the dryer to fluff them (after line drying). If dryer has a "refresh" cycle, use that if FLUFF cycle doesn't help enough.

This post was edited by dave1812 on Sun, May 11, 14 at 20:52
venmarfan
9 years ago
dave1812's suggestion of dryer fluff or refresh cycle to restore the softness is right on-I think the main cause of this is if it is not very windy when they hang dry then the fabric fibres are not being flexed as in a dryer and the fibres take on a sort a strectched pressed set. If you firmly smooth slacks or jeans before hang drying they almost look as if they were ironed;a good thing in that case.
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cold_weather_is_evil
9 years ago
Wait until you hang things in the winter in cold country. They freeze hard and you can tell they're dry when they can move in the breeze again.
georgect
9 years ago
When fiber is moistened, it relaxes. Then, if it is air-dried in one position, such as on a line, it holds the shape and becomes fixed in that position to some degree. That is why you get that stiff feeling: all the fibers are locked in position, whatever position they were dried in. If, however, it's agitated as it dries (such as being flopped around in a dryer), it doesn't dry in any one position and is more flexible.

You can shake the heck out of the clothing before hanging it on the line (to loosen the fibers).
User
9 years ago
Line dried clothes will almost always be stiffer when compared to tumble dried clothes. The heat, moisture and tumbling of a dryer fluff the fibers of textiles. Unless it is a windy day, line dried laundry does not get all that extra friction. I line dry all year round, personally. I discovered that if you toss a load of clothes in the dryer on AIR/FLUFF for about 10 minutes before hanging them outside, it makes a huuuuge difference in the stiffness and wrinkling of line dried clothing and towels. Proper rinsing will help ensure that clothes will be softer, fabric softener is an option too ( I rarely use it). Remember, fluff BEFORE the clothesline, not after. Hope this helps.....