system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why do old scratchy towels dry better than soft fluffy ones?
gpt
Because of fabric softener.

Fabric softener is what makes those towels so soft and fluffy. The way it works is by coating the towel in a thin layer of a special chemical. This chemical conducts electricity, so it prevents static electricity from making fibers from clinging to each other. That makes it fluffy. The chemical is also slippery, so it makes the cloth slide smoothly against your skin. That makes it soft.

The problem is that that chemical doesn't mix with water. That means that when you try to soak up something with the towel, some of it gets blocked. So the very same thing that makes the towels *look* like they'd be more absorbent actually makes them *less* absorbent!