Material
Towel
Absorbent looped cotton, built for repeated washing. The stain comes out with enzymes and the hot hygiene wash is available once it has.
- SurfacePorous
- WashingMachine
- Colour run riskLow
- Reviewed7 September 2026
What towel can and cannot take
- Heat Use with care
- Water and soaking Tolerates it
- Acids, including vinegar Tolerates it
- Strong alkalis Tolerates it
- Solvents Use with care
- Chlorine bleach Use with care
- Abrasives Use with care
Always test on a hidden area first and let it dry before you treat the visible mark.
General rules for towel
Rinse it under a cold tap, work biological detergent in and soak it. The loops of a towel hold a lot of milk, so rinse for longer than feels necessary.
Once the mark has gone, a hot wash for hygiene is entirely appropriate on a cotton towel, which is not true of most items in this family. Deal with the stain first and the temperature second.
Skip fabric softener. It coats the loops and reduces absorbency, which is the whole point of a towel.
Check the label
Towels are the easiest item in this family. They are absorbent cotton, they are made to be washed often, and they are the one place where the usual constraint about heat only applies until the mark has gone.
Stains on towel
- Baby sick Rinse the towel from the back under a cold tap and keep going, because the looped pile holds milk far deeper...
- Blood Blot first, then use cold water and a tiny amount of compatible detergent. Work from the edge, rinse or blot...
- Body oil Blot towel, pretreat a permitted washable patch with liquid detergent, rinse and use a cool labelled wash. Ai...
- Breast milk Blot and cold-rinse a label-approved washable item. Use your compatible biological liquid detergent and a per...
- Bronzer Lift loose bronzer from towel before it is rubbed in. Blot cream bronzer, follow the material or care label,...
- Coffee Blot first. If the label permits, gently rinse cool water through the back of the mark, supporting the fabric...
- Concealer Lift the concealer, flush Towel from the back with cool water, pre-treat the oily residue with one drop of wa...
- Cooking grease Lift and blot cooking grease from Towel, absorb the oil, pretreat both sides with washing-up liquid for 10 mi...
- Deodorant Rub a fresh white deodorant mark off towel while it is dry. For residue that remains, follow the care label a...
- Hair dye Blot Towel, flush cool water through the back, pretreat with liquid detergent, wash to the care label and air...
- Lipstick Lift lipstick from Towel, work from the reverse with a drop of washing-up liquid, rinse cool, wash to the car...
- Motor oil Blot motor oil from Towel, absorb the residue, pretreat both sides with a little washing-up liquid, wash to t...
- Nail polish Lift free polish without rubbing. A small mark on plain washable compatible cloth may respond to the linked l...
- Period blood Lift any tissue with a spoon edge, then blot. Use cold water and a tiny amount of compatible detergent for th...
- Pet urine Blot until nearly dry, then use only the cool-water quantity towel can tolerate. Use a labelled pet urine enz...
- Sweat Rinse fresh sweat from the back of Towel with cool water, pretreat retained residue, wash to the care label a...
- Tomato sauce Lift tomato sauce from Towel, flush from the reverse with cool water, pretreat the remaining film, wash to th...
A towel is cotton woven with loops that stand up from the base, which is what makes it absorbent.
The loops hold everything
Milk goes deep into a looped pile and rinsing has to reach the base of the loops rather than the surface. Rinsing from the back and for longer than feels necessary is the difference between a clean towel and one that smells sour after a week.
It is one of the few items that can go hot afterwards
Cotton towels tolerate a 60 degree wash, which matters when the sickness was a stomach bug. The order is what counts: get the stain out cool, then wash hot for hygiene.
Softener is counterproductive
It coats the loops and reduces absorbency. Towels are one of the clearest cases where softener actively spoils the item.
They mildew if left damp
A towel with milk in it, left in a laundry basket, will smell within a day.
Sources
What we checked and when. Where a manufacturer instruction disagrees with anything here, follow the manufacturer.
-
A guide to newborn laundry, American Cleaning Institute
trade body
Cleaning trade body guide to pre-treat breast milk, formula or spit-up with an enzyme stain remover, soak fresh marks for at least 30 minutes and older marks for several hours, launder, and keep stained items out of the dryer until the mark has gone.
Checked 7 September 2026
-
How to remove stains from baby clothes, Persil UK
manufacturer
UK manufacturer guidance to act quickly on formula, blot when immediate washing is impossible, rinse under cool water, soak for at least 15 minutes where the care label permits, pre-treat with detergent and then wash to the care label.
Checked 7 September 2026
-
Norovirus: what to do and how to stop the spread, UK Health Security Agency
authority
UK public health guidance establishing that illness related vomit can carry norovirus, that contaminated laundry should be washed with normal powder at 60 C where the care label permits, and that compatible hard surfaces should be disinfected with a bleach based product.
Checked 7 September 2026