Laundry help

[kuusimo]

You know... your dryer may still need cleaning- run the lint screen under the faucet and see if water goes through it. You should be washing the lint screen every 3 months with soap. I have to scrub mine in order to get all of the stuff off. If the water can't get through, it can actually be a fire hazard AND your dryer is running harder in order to get the clothes done. This is the number one thing you can do in order to keep your dryer around longer. (A tip from my brother- the enviromental safety engineer.)

 

[rapriebe]

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 always use bleach in my towels and they are all colored. Just don't put too much bleach in it. I will set my machine for a small load, add bleach to the water, agitate it then add my towels and wash cloths. I let it set for 15 minutes or so, rinse the bleach water out then wash the towels along with any other clothes to make a full load. This has always worked for me and I feel like my towels are fresh.

Never tried the vinegar solution. What's the vinegar suppose to do??

 

[annakris1973]

okay...second dumb question....does vinegar go bad??? I have a gallon bottle of white distilled vinegar under my sink, and honestly have no idea how old it is. It smells like vinegar?!? I bought it to mop my hardwood floors with, then switched to something else.

 

[ZPT1022]

I'll give you some ideas that we use with our cloth diapers. If it can take the stink out of the cloth diapers of two year olds, it can certainly do towels Since this seems to be an ongoing thing I would gather all the towels and washcloths and plan on spending the day with them occupying the washer. Sort out a load's worth and use about a cup of baking soda and a cold water cycle. Put the towels in at bedtime, pull up the lid and let it all sit overnight. Now you can't let detergent sit overnight because it will eat at the fibers but baking soda is fine. In the morning close the lid and let it run through it's cycle- don't put in detergent or anything else. I would then run it through a second cycle, hot water, about 1/2- 3/4 the detergent you normally use, and vinegar instead of fabric softener. When that is done run it through a third cycle with 1/2 the amount of detergent you think you need, and a dropperful of tea tree oil. I know this seems extensive but you obviously have a build up of some sort going on. Once you do this, to maintain the towel freshness, when you wash in the future I would stick with hot water wash cycle, 1/2 the detergent you usually use, a dropperfull of tea tree oil, NO FABRIC SOFTENER, and then use 1 and only 1 dryer sheet. Dry them on the high setting as well. All the heat, as well as the tea tree oil will kill off anything that is funky. Tea Tree oil is a natural disinfectant. This is what we do with our towels and no more funk. Also, the no fabric softener thing- towels really don't need it, and using it on them can cause the water to not absorb as well into the towel since fabric softener coats the fibers. The detergent can be another problem since we often use a lot more than we need. It's more noticable on things like towels. Oh, and I also put a dropper full of tea tree oil in with our sheets and they smell better now too. Hope it works out for you!

 

[steen995]

I've been using color safe bleach with warm water. It's the only thing that seems to work for the kitchen wash clothes and towels. I may have to try vinegar now though since it's so highly recommended.

 

[imageid]

We had the same "musty" problem with our towels. I found it was coming from the wooden towel rack. DH changed the racks to metal. Vinegar helped the "musty" smell, but Borax really took the smell away. I highly recommend trying Borax, it is not very expensive.