Got pics? I don't quite understand what you mean by "bunch up".

-Babka

Here is a pic (not a good one, sorry!) of what I mean by bunched up. This is an old towel, but I believe it was from Pottery Barn, so not exactly inferior quality (or one hopes!) This is also happening to a cotton bathroom rug from Ikea, and I see you can only post one pic per posting, so I'm going to try and post again with a photo of the rug. :-)

Here's the bathroom rug - it drives me crazy, b/c I'm always trying to flatten it out and it's hopeless. I have no idea what causes this, either with the towels or the rug. I guess the thing they have in common is that they're both cotton.

Sure. It's common, at least in my experience. I can't tell you what causes it - maybe the cross threads shrink a bit?

At any rate, when you pull the towels/rug from the dryer, while they are still warm, give them a quick yank so they come out straight and flat. Not a big job; to me, it's just part of the folding process.

The decorative band is shrinking more than the rest of the towel, because it has a different weave causing the puckering. Cheaper towels seem to do that very quickly, but even the designer ones will do it too, given enough heat and time. You can help yourself out by using cold water to wash them...and Yes! cold water will get them clean with the newer detergents that are formulated to do just that. Then tumble dry them on low, removing them before they are bone dry. My dryer stops when they are ever so slightly damp, which allows me to do that quick yank that Gladys refers to above.

It's too late for the ones already shrunken, but for the next ones, think about less heat.

-Babka

Thanks! I have wondered about this for a long, long time :-)

Just bought some towels from Ikea. I like the "loop" they have so they can be hung easily on a hook. But also realize, they don't have the common "band" - it's one solid sheet with very small little geometric squares for texture - so hopefully there won't be any "bunching" even though they were quite inexpensive. Crossing fingers.

Elphaba mentioned she likes the loop on Ikea towels so they're easy to hang on a hook. We have towel hooks in our bathroom and I wrap masking tape around each hook, sticky side up. That way the towels stay on the hooks, and don't fall off every time my teenage daughter breezes in and out of the bathroom! I change the masking tape about every two weeks. Seems to work.