The towel item isn’t as absorbent as it used to be and it should be re-buffed. For the mundane mini-games of drying hold items or the player’s hands, the amount of grinding is really unnecessary for such low Exp. gain. The towel item used to be much stronger, right? Anybody remember what patch broke the mini-game?
If you’re using fabric softener that could be the reason why. Supposedly fabric softener ruins a towel’s ability to absorb water.
Can confirm! I recently stopped applying [fabric softener] to all my [cloth] items and it feels more absorbent. Now using [wool balls] to soften and dry faster.