I run my towels thru the dryer for about 10 minutes and then hang them out and when they are dry I run them thru the dryer just to soften and fluff and have had no problems at all. I use hot water and maybe that is the difference or maybe the towels have chemicals from the pool that make them rough. We used to have a diving pool at our other house and I know the chemicals in our pool water made the towels a little more stiff.