I ran my hand over the high-density, thirsty Turkish bath towel in the store, and compared it to its Egyptian cousin. They were both rich in lovely colors. Adorable for my bathroom. They would probably make me even more adorable by proxy.
And then I put the towels down. Did I really need new towels? Well, yes and no.
The high-quality towels I got when I moved into my place in 2005–yes, that’s right, 15 years ago–were unfortunately, still too good to replace. I say “unfortunately” because even though every thread is still intact, Southern California hard water means that stains just don’t come out, regardless of how much bleach them, dump in Oxy-product, or yell prayers to the laundry goddess. On a feng shui and energetic level, you want your stuff to be in good shape. It’s a small drain on your soul every time you use something you don’t like, or that’s broken or stained or not up to par. And today was the day I wasn’t going to take it any longer.
I had some space in my time this afternoon and got out a bottle of denim-blue RIT I’d stashed away from an unfortunate incident I’ll just refer to as “three 9-year-old girls and some tie-dye.” I dumped the dingy towels, washcloths and hand towels in the laundry room sink with salt and hot water and swooshed them around a little. Within two hours, they were dyed, washed and dried, and I’m honestly excited about how they turned out–a sort of moody dreamscape blue-on-blue sky effect. (If you want solid colors, opt for two bottles of dye and perhaps a longer soaking session.)
Now I’m jonesing to dye some other stuff. Underwear drawer, here I come!