Social Media Divided Over Washing Hack That 'Shows How Dirty Clean Towels Are'

A hack which claims to show how dirty clean towels really are has divided social media.

Jared Guynes shared his wife's 'towel stripping' technique on Facebook, whereby she uses a combination of cleaning products to soak the clean towels in the bath overnight.

The result, is grim bath water like this:

Explaining what exactly went down, Jared - who is also incidentally a three-time Guinness World Record holder - said: "So my wife Ashley Guynes watched some thing online about 'Towel Stripping' where you use a specific combination of household cleaning chemicals to do a deep clean of towels.

"In this case she took our collection of clean towels, let me say that again, the towels were totally clean, washed and folded and in the linen closet, completely clean, completely normal.

"So she took those clean towels, and put them here in the tub with this mixture of arm & hammer baking soda, borax and oxi clean + hot water and let these things soak overnight.

"This water is the result."

He continued: "The story that she told me is that over the years of use microscopic amounts of soap and detergent get locked in to the fibres of the towels. Subsequently that stuff gets gummed up and can also trap microscopic amount of dirt and grime and bacteria, even after going through the washing machine with detergent.

"So after seeing someone else do it she decided to do with the experiment on our own towels here in the tub.

"I'm literally freaking out right now.

"The towels at your house, no matter how clean you think they are, are probably this nasty too."

The post has since received 46,000 comments and 142,000 shares, however, not everyone is convinced by the results of this towel stripping. Why you ask? Well, these are the towels he used:

Yeah some of those towels are brown, aren't they? And you're not supposed to wash colours with whites because dye can leak, can't it? Never mind when you leave 'em to soak overnight with a load of chemicals.

Jared defended the method in the comments though, claiming they 'have gotten similar results using ALL WHITE towels too'.

Some people backed up the technique as well and said it had worked for them; though others said the method isn't necessary if you clean your towels properly in the first place.

One person commented: "If you wash your clothing and towels properly each time, stripping is unnecessary and this won't happen. This is what happens when you always wash on 30/quick wash - minging!"

So as you can see, it's a divisive subject is towel stripping. I suppose the only way for you to make an informed assessment is to try it yourself. Or, just keep drying yourself with your potentially but not necessarily filthy towels. I for one shall be doing the latter.

Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Jared Guynes

Topics: Viral, Hack, Community

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey