Someone will be around to help with Temperatures Kpyeatt, in the meantime what detergents/boosters do you use on towels? Hard water? What's the last rinse look like suds no suds?

If I remember right mamapinkyO's machine has a sanitize cycle but it really doesn't heat to that point, right mama?... If I were you I'd test the water with a thermometer.

MiMi yes my Duet is broken..in the best way Lol. My sanitize reaches 111F but my Allergen reaches 154F after the water drains ( me stopping cycle) ...so may be closer to 160F. I just love my Duet.

mama - my water is about medium hard. On towels, I usually use Linenwash Lavender. If I use more than 1/2-1 tsp, I get suds galore so I always do as many rinses as the machine will let me (on every load) because I seem to have too many suds left over no matter what I do. I usually add STPP to most loads but not towels or sheets.

mimi - I have a NSF certified sanitary cycle but I don't use that for towels. I'm trying to find out what this machine's "warm" cycle temperature is and the "hot" cycle temp, as well. Then I need to know what temp is best for washing towels. I've just read a lot of posts that say washing in "hot" will eventually ruin the fibers.

I loved my Duet too. Wish I still had it.

Not about temps....but run a load of clean towels using only STPP it will strip all residues out, but only if you use the correct amount of STPP. I'm wondering if you have a residue problem. As for the linen wash..I'd switch to something else, 1/2 to 1 tsp could cause excess suds, but it won't have enough surfactants to clean the towels, not even a compact could get away with so little.

I wash my bath towels 100%cotton at 140F, their white so I use Tide with Bleach powder and a very low dose of Downy, spin on medium.

I've read a lot of people complain of stiff or scratchy towels, some have good luck lowering the spin some have found the cause to be residue.

Why don't you use your Whites Cycle or Allergiene Cycle for washing towels. There's a "push two buttons" sequence for LG washers that will show you spin speed RPMs and another 2 that will show you water temperature in Celcius. Do not use Normal, it's the energy star cycle and temps are dumbed down. How about adding the steam option, that will raise temperatures for wash.

I've found washing bath towels on very warm is best (105F in my machine). I do 3 rinses and then spin at 1200rpm (most loads I do 1400rpm spin). Using hot, hot water on towels results in scratchy, for me.

Fabric softener for towels is a MUST, even our Rococogurl uses liquid fabric softener on towels. It will NOT affect absorbency. I have never had a bath towel not work, because I used liquid FS.

I dry towels on Cottons, low temp. Soft, fluffy towels weekly!!

Towels are a huge issue because the cotton today is very dry and scratchy because The goods are woven from short fiber yarns. Long staple cotton, which stays soft, is rarely used in towels today. The only ones i know that will stay soft are Swiss amde and prohibitively expensive.

For me, Larsi has it 100% right. Warm water --105 F -- is where I also got best results. I switched from liqid to powder tabs and got better rinsing. And, as Larsi says, fabric softener is a must. Incant stand the commercial fragrances. I tried several softeners and now stick with Ecover. It has a good fragrance and softens perfectly.

Just did a batch of towels today. Great results. Even the most expensive towels still require softener.

if someone has been sick or has an infection then high heat is ok. otherwise, I find it makes them look and feel like cr*p.

I wash my towels on the whites cycle in my Duet using Hot. The biggest difference in softness did not come from using warm, slower spin, or lower heat. For me it was using 2T STPP and 1/2 the recommended amount of detergent. I may try these tricks again however as I have been using bleach with every load of towels (1/4 cup).

Thanks for all the great info and tips y'all. I'm going to try a warm wash. Just need to figure out what 105 temp is in the LG. Already doing a medium spin. I'm going to break down and add a little FS, as well. Roc, that's interesting about using the powder pods instead of liquid. I was always under the impression that liquids were better for towels. But the rinsing thing you mention makes a lot of sense. I have some Grab Green pods I could try??? And use STPP along with these??? My towels are white. I know I don't have residue. I tried a "strip the residue" out of the towels and I had no residue. Larsi, I went and bought the HUGE container of the Kirkland FS on your rec. If I don't like it, I'll try the Ecover brand.

@kpyeatt - I have gray towels and use GG with the Ecover softener. I don't use other additives. My rinsing is very good (even in the stupid top loader) and the towels are soft. Glad to no longer wrestle this one to the ground. Been there, as they say.

Let us know how it goes.

Well I must say - did a load with a GG pod and a wee bit watered down Kirkland softener, warm wash, medium spin, low heat dry. Seems to have done the trick. I think it was mainly the softener that did it.

I have to say - I have a real aversion to softener. But I have much more aversion to stiff and scratchy towels. Thanks again!

roc - what "flavor" is your Ecover FS?

Resisted as long as I could then worked through the brands that had tolerable fragrance. The Ecover I use is Morning Fresh. Best texture for my towels (Currently CoyuchinAir Weight) and not offensive.

OK thanks. I think I'll try this. Have you tested the Sunny Day, as well?

Love Sunny Day, but didn't they discontinue it? Or maybe it was just the detergent.

I'm finding Sunny Day FS on Amazon, mama.

But the weird thing is that the 32oz Morning Fresh is 4.39 and the 32oz Sunny Day is 7.00 ???????? whatever.

Found Ecover at the health food store. Just bought what they had. Have seen the other but never tried. MF doesn't bother me at all and does the job.

I have tried both of the Ecover fabric softeners- I like Sunny Day better. You can barely smell it on dry towels.

Yep Sunny Day very light....I do think the Sunny Day detergent was discontinued and I loved it on lightly soiled sheets.

I ordered both "flavors". Hopefully, I'll like both.