A good microfibre towel should last you a decade with minimum fuss. Here is how we keep ours going.

After every use

  • Shake it out hard — away from your bag, your partner’s face, and anything else that cares about sand.
  • Hang it to dry before packing. On a balcony rail, a hostel line, a shrub, a kayak paddle. Twenty minutes in the sun is enough.
  • Fold loosely; don’t crush it into a damp ball.

Washing

Machine wash cold or 30 °C with a mild liquid detergent. Avoid fabric softener — it coats the microfibres and reduces absorbency over time. Avoid chlorine bleach always. If you can, pop the towel into a Guppyfriend wash bag; this catches the small amount of microfibre shedding that happens in the first ten or so wash cycles.

Wash the towel with other synthetics or on its own. Keep it away from heavy terry cotton in the drum — the cotton sheds lint which the microfibre is very good at trapping.

Drying

Line dry. If you must tumble, use the lowest heat setting, and do not use dryer sheets (same reason as fabric softener). Our fibre handles heat up to about 60 °C without damage.

Stains

Sunscreen is the big one. The avobenzone in many sunscreens oxidises and can leave rusty-brown spots on light fabric. Treat it as soon as you can with a dab of dish soap, massage, rinse, and wash normally. For stubborn stains, a soak in oxygen-based stain remover (not chlorine) for 30 minutes before washing works well.

Suncream oils will come out eventually; be patient. Red wine, olive oil, octopus ink and the occasional bougainvillea leaf stain will all wash out in cold water with a decent detergent, usually on the first attempt.

Storage

Keep it in its drawstring pouch when travelling. At home, we fold ours and keep them in a shallow drawer. Avoid long-term storage in a damp bathroom cupboard — microfibre doesn’t rot like cotton, but it can hold musty smells.

When it is truly done

Our towels come with lifetime take-back. If yours is beyond rescue, post it to our Athens workshop (postage reimbursed) and we’ll feed it into an industrial textile-to-fibre recycler. We also knit a few throw rugs each winter from returned towels, which we give to a women’s shelter in Athens as part of our December donation drive.