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I'm guessing the smell is a mildew smell, which happens when towels sit wet or damp for a while. I'd leave them in the dryer for a little longer when you wash them to make sure they're TOTALLY dry before you fold them. Also, use the high heat setting for towels if you're not already. Also, don't leave them in the washer after the wash cycle is done - immediately transfer them to the dryer.
To get rid of mildew smell that's already stuck in your towels, you can wash them with vinegar. Run them through the washing machine with 1-2 cups of white vinegar and HOT water (no detergent or anything). Then run them through a second time with whatever detergent you would normally use. Dry them on high heat, and they should be back to normal!
If all else fails, go buy yourself some "quick-dry" towels. Those kind are WAY less likely to get mildewy.
maybe kill the bacteria by leaving them in the sun
and to prevent this, do not let your towels sit around damp and crumpled up....spread out to dry properly (before washing or in between uses)
Penguin sport detergent (available at some sporting goods stores) does amazing things for eliminating mildew smell. It's a little more expensive than regulat detergent, but sooo worth it. I use it really infrequently, whenever I notice that something has sat around for a while damp and/or developed an odor.
I have had this same problem-- since I got a front load. I have learned the following from a TON of experimentation:
1. Mildew can form in the drum of the washer by keping the door closed. Always keep the door to a front load open to dry out the seal.
2. For some reason, Tide detergent can react with some types of water and cause mildew smell. Switching from Tide to Gain and Arm and Hammer got rid of a lot of the smell
3. Keeping your towels in the washer or dryer for more than 10 min after the cycles are done can cause the mildew smell to get strong. Always promptly take them out.
To get rid of the smell, depending how long they have smelled and how bad the smell it make take three or four washes of the following:
- wash with vinegar, full strength, 1 cup and use vinegar as a rinse
-wash with a colour safe bleach (NOT WITH VINEGAR AT THE SAME TIME)
-try adding 1/4 c of baking soda into your detergent
And, just when you are about to give up trying to get rid of hte smell, it will disappear! :)
Using vinegar really works! I actually add vinegar all the time when I wash towels. You can use it right along with your detergent and it's fine. I never measure it, but I probably use about a cup per load. When you use vinegar, if you accidently leave the towels sitting in the washer for a while, they don't smell like they normally would!
Our towels tend to smell like cellar sometimes, we have to put them directly into the dryer to keep them from getting than musky odor. I'd recommend also putting some potpourri or something scented in your towel closet. We live in an old house and the wood gets damp in the closet and makes the towels smell even if they didn't smell before going in there.
I second what PP's said about vinegar and baking soda. I also run the washing machine with nothing in it except for bleach on hot every once in a while which helps too. Most standard dryers do not get towels all the way dry on one cycle, so sometimes you have ot put them in twice in order for them to actually be dry.
@takemyhand: You just blew my mind! I never thought about this (mildew in/on the seal of the front-loader) AT ALL.
Would a dryer sheet work?
or would that cause issues with the absrobancey again?
I've had this. I thought it was because I washed dog stuff in the previous load so now in case I do an empty wsah. I find using the tumble dryer in it helps (though this broke last week!) I'll have to try the vinegar thing and wiping mildew off from inside the door.
I have this happen to my towels ALL the time, it's so gross. I hate it.
So every time I do a load of towels, I do 1/4 cup of baking soda with the detergent and wash on a hot cycle to kill any mildew/bacteria. It works every time.
When I first found the smell, I had to do 3 cycles thought, the first was hot cycle with baking soda, then hot with detergent and baking soda and another like that cause the smell wasn't quite gone.
After that, I haven't had a problem. Good luck!
@ArwenBride: If that blew your mind, then if all your laundry starts to smell hire someone to take apart your washer. We found 1/2 inch of blue and black mold ON TOP OF THE DRUM. Effing gross. We cleaned it out and now we leave the door open to let the drum dry every time. I also dry off the rubber seal with a rag and run cleaning tablets through the wash once a month. Google "mildew front load" and you will be disgusted with what you can see.
ETA: Love front loads for their ease of use and green energy, but hate them for the smell. Next washer will be a topload-- not a question for me.
@takemyhand: There are top-loaders which don't have an agitator and are as energy-efficient as a front loader. We got one last year from GE, and it is extremely quiet when it runs (the wash cycle sounds similar to one of those old dot-matrix printers - weird, but very quiet).
I got it because a front loader didn't fit in our laundry room. But after I've heard about all the problems people have with front-loaders, it seems like a better option!
Omigosh thank you all so much!! I definitely have not been super cautious about moving the towels right into the dryer, I had no idea! I am going to run them through with vinegar tonight! I knew I could count on the bees :)
@takemyhand: Ahhhh that sounds so scary! Luckily we have a top loader. I was considering a front loader for when we "upgrade" though, so I'm glad you shared this with us!
@Alleycat: i am VERY weird about the smell of towels. My husband says I am crazy and that he cannot smell anything, but I smell something on nearly every single towel I use. Even all the brand new EXPENSIVE towels we got as wedding gifts smell to me. I really don't have advice on how to fix it... i just keep buying towels! (that start to smell very quickly anyways)
I just make sure to get them really dry, immediately after washing them. With some of my clothes, I take them out and hang them up before they're totally dry, but I get my towels extra, extra dry to prevent the smell.
Also, it doesn't help when my husband throws his towel on the floor after his shower instead of hanging it back up on the towel bar. ;)
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Okay, I have a weird question. Recently, I read online that fabric softener lessens the absorbency of towels. So we stopped using it in our towel loads and sure enough, I have noticed a difference! More absorbent! However, I have also noticed something else. The towels are smelly. Not super smelly, and it's not like they smell really bad. They just don't smell nice. They kinda smell like....I don't know, old towel? LOL. I've noticed this the most on the hand towels I use to dry my face.
Is this normal? Is there some other way to make the towels smell nice without using fabric softener? Any tips/tricks/suggestions are welcomed!