You can never have enough...

[R2x1]

I remember an importer telling me to add salt to that cold water soak to let the fibres swell back after the crushing force when they were palletised for shipping. Very handy trick, especially on those that come in from India, though I guess the others go through the same packing.

I must renew my towels too soon. I noticed my favourites are starting to thin in places, and so they should after all those years...

I once wound up doing quite a few contracts for a dyeworks. Salt rises were definitely de rigueur for most batches. Long rinses for high grade fabrics. Cheaper fabrics just got a bit of salt dosing in a routine rinse. The salt helped fix the die and alleviated some of the weaving/knitting stresses. The chief chemist was a strong promoter of long salt rinses in water with mild agitation and lukewarm temperatures in the process and before each of the first couple of washes. He said it was essential to do a wash cycle after the salt rinse as any salt crystals would cut fibres, a bad thing apparently.