Laundry help

[annakris1973]

For some reason, when I wash and dry our towels, they always smell musty. I use extra detergent, warm water and dry them as soon as they are done spinning and rinsing. None of our other clothes have this problem. What can I use, or do differently?

TIA

 

[kaw1218]

My DH left a load of towels in the washer overnight once...I rewashed them about 4 times and they still smelled.....the only way I was able to get rid of the musty smell was to use a little extra fabric softener.

 

[Chickysmom]

You could try adding a cup or two of white vinegar with your detergent. Others are swearing by this and make sure you are drying the towels completely too....

 

[plgrn]

The only time I've ever had a problem is when I use a towel way too many times before washing it. Like if I use it everyday for a week and just throw it on the rack to dry between showers....it'll start smelling funky and come out of the wash smelling the same way. Maybe try washing your towels after every two uses. If you're already washing them frequently (I make the mistake of assuming everyone is as untidy as I am ) Maybe try air drying them by the fire or on the line in the summertime? Also what about using vinegar instead of fabric softener? I saw a thread on here about that somewhere.

 

[briannesmom]

You could try adding a cup or two of white vinegar with your detergent. Others are swearing by this and make sure you are drying the towels completely too....

It really works. If they are really stinky add a cup or two with your detergent and add some to your fabric softner dispenser. They will smell like vinegar when you take them out of the washer but after you dry them it will go away.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

Wash them in hot water and clorox bleach.


Your towels have mold in them, and mold happily survives warm water and the dryer, and every time you get your towels wet you reactivate the mold.

Clorox kills the mold.

If you have dark colored towels, try the hottest water possible and no bleach.

It's why I only have white towels and sheets; you can only truly get them clean with hot, hot water and clorox....

 

[famofsix]

I would check the dryer for built up lint in the hose and the lint screen. Maybe your towels are not drying properly.
If it is mold, I would buy new towels.

 

[Hidden_Mickey]

Since we are talking about towels, mine are fine but all my washcloths are stained. They still look dirty when they come out of the dryer. What am I doing wrong? I use each washcloth once, then hang it to dry in the bathroom before I toss it in the laundry basket, so I don't have wet cloths growing mold in my laundry. At the end of the week I wash all the towels and washcloths in one load with hot water and bleach. At one time I did not use bleach and then started to but they did not improve. I even bought all new ones and always used bleach on them, and the new ones are stained too. Help! Is it too late - are they permanently stained, or can I finally get them clean and keep them that way? BTW, the towels and cloths are all white.

TIA!

 

[annakris1973]

I just looked up the vinegar thread. I guess that will be my first line of defense. I have colored towels, so I can't use bleach. I just vacuumed out the lint trap, so the dryer isn't the issue. Hmmm keep the ideas coming...what about Clorox 2 does it kill mold? or Oxy clean? I can't really afford to throw away all of my towels and buy new ones!

Also, we typically don't re-use the towels often. At the most we use them twice, then wash.

 

[MEM]

I just looked up the vinegar thread. I guess that will be my first line of defense. I have colored towels, so I can't use bleach. I just vacuumed out the lint trap, so the dryer isn't the issue. Hmmm keep the ideas coming...what about Clorox 2 does it kill mold? or Oxy clean? I can't really afford to throw away all of my towels and buy new ones!

Also, we typically don't re-use the towels often. At the most we use them twice, then wash.

You can try a mixture of white vinegar and baking soda - we don't add them together, but put the baking soda right in with the laundry and the vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser.

 

[Chickysmom]

maybe make sure the towels are dry prior to putting them in the hamper?

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

Since we are talking about towels, mine are fine but all my washcloths are stained. They still look dirty when they come out of the dryer. What am I doing wrong? I use each washcloth once, then hang it to dry in the bathroom before I toss it in the laundry basket, so I don't have wet cloths growing mold in my laundry. At the end of the week I wash all the towels and washcloths in one load with hot water and bleach. At one time I did not use bleach and then started to but they did not improve. I even bought all new ones and always used bleach on them, and the new ones are stained too. Help! Is it too late - are they permanently stained, or can I finally get them clean and keep them that way? BTW, the towels and cloths are all white.

TIA!

Are you by any chance using Olay Body Wash? It's got petrolatum in it and that stuff's sooooooo not water soluble. Any body wash with Dimethicone or Petrolatum in it's going to trash your washcloths. I have a stack of them that are now rags thanks to Olay. I figured it was probably trashing my septic system to so now I'm back to glycerin soap.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

I had to check on this thread to see how many people said to use vinegar due to the other laundry threads and vinegar. I haven't tried vinegar yet, but I will this weekend!!!

 

[annakris1973]

You can try a mixture of white vinegar and baking soda - we don't add them together, but put the baking soda right in with the laundry and the vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser.

Won't that make an exploding mess when put together????

 

[Hidden_Mickey]

Are you by any chance using Olay Body Wash? It's got petrolatum in it and that stuff's sooooooo not water soluble. Any body wash with Dimethicone or Petrolatum in it's going to trash your washcloths. I have a stack of them that are now rags thanks to Olay. I figured it was probably trashing my septic system to so now I'm back to glycerin soap.

Yes! I've used body wash for years and recently switched to Olay. Damn! It doesn't really bother me because I KNOW the cloths are clean, but I just couldn't figure out why they stained. Once in a while I leave one out when we have company and I hope they don't think I'm dirty, lol.

Thanks!

 

[hlane]

I just wanted to chime in. I've had the same problem with our towels. Yesterday I washed a load, used my detergant, and also added 2 cups of vinegar. I dried them with one dryer sheet, then folded and put them away. Last night DH got home from school, and showered but I was already asleep. Today he called on his lunch to chat and mentioned that his towel was fluffy and smelled really good. (yes we lead a boring life and talk about things like that ) He said he thought I had bought new towels at first but then noticed they were fresh and fluffy but still raggedy I told him about the vinager trick and he was really surprised. So give that a try, it does work!!

 

[My2Cinderellas]

I use a scoop of oxyclean with every towel load to keep the musty smell down, it does help. And we are slobs who only wash towels once a week. It's how I grew up, anything more was "extravagant and wasteful". This from a woman who thought owning more than 2 bras was extravagant as well... thanks mom! I've gotten past that guilt but not the towel thing.

 

[vhoffman]

Well, maybe there's soap residue in your towels? Once I forgot to add detergent to the towel load, went to put some in and was amazed at the soap suds! I ran that load five times before they didn't produce their own suds!

Since then I use half the detergent in all my wash, not just towels. And I do the vinegar thing with towels.

 

[faith]

Since this is the budget board, the white vinegar idea sounds like it would work. I usually buy economy softener (at Aldi"s), but last week used a $1 coupon on a bottle of Downy Lavender and Vanilla scent. Used it for towels and sheets, and love the scent. It should put a nice light scent on your linens.

 

[englishteacha]

I agree with the vinegar suggestions. I'd add it to the wash and to the rinse. You could also do a wash cycle with some baking soda in it. I find the baking soda really helps with smelly laundry. I can't use scented products so there's no covering up bad smells in our house! I have to seek them out and destroy them! One thing to know-don't use vinegar and bleach together! They can make some unhealthy fumes!!