I use "OdoBan" in my final rinse. It makes towels, (and all my laundry) smell fresh wonderful. For stubborn musty odors in clothing, I turn off the washer, and let the final rinse soak for thirty minutes or so.
It is inexpensive ($10 for a full gallon jug plus a 24 oz refillable spray bottle). It has too many uses to mention. It is not a masking agent. It eliminates all odors and kills 99.99% of germs. With six dogs, I wouldn't be without it.
By Erika from Tallahassee, FL
I need help getting that Funky smell out of towels. No detergent seems to do it.It seems like as soon as they get wet they smell dirty.
My towels always smell stale even after they have been washed. I tried baking soda in the washing machine but that didn't work.
I have a top load washing machine, nothing new and fancy. my towels come out of the wash with this smell and when they get wet again, it's worse.
I don't have a problem with my washer making my towels and dishrags smell. It is the men in my house. If you use a towel, it is wet or damp and then leave it in a lump on the floor or bed, it will start smelling.
My bath towels have developed a very bad odor! I've allowed them to dry before placing them in the hamper and they still have an awful odor in them.
How do I remove foul smell from towel ? I want to add fresh smell to the towel.
Sukhwinder
I use my towels only two times (drying thoroughly between uses) before washing them again. Prevention is key when it comes to smelly towels. To remove the stale odor, I would recommend you wash them with a cup of white vinegar (use no detergent) and have them go through the entire wash cycle.
After they've gone through the final spin cycle, wash as you normally would with detergent. If you have a clothes line, let them line dry every so often and fluff them in the dryer when they are completely dry. Hope this helps!
After you wash them in vinegar, hang them out on the line to dry in the sun. If you know it's going to rain you could leave them out to get rained on and then let them dry again. I found that the rain and sun helped to freshen mine!
Wash towels with 2 tablespoons of Pinesol added to the water.
Use baking soda in the wash with the towels. Do not use it with the vinegar, as they will cancel each other out. About a cup per large load of laundry should do it. Ammonia also works, but tends to change the colors of the towels.
When working in the kennels at the vet hospital I learned from a professional cleaner that if you wash anything that has feces or urine on them you need to put 1/4 c. clorine bleach in the washer. I add it to the water and swish it a bit before adding the clothes to be sure it's mixed well. It will disinfect the clothes without bleaching the colors and get rid of any smells. I use this at home also and it does work, even on other smells.
I have struggled with this issue for a while and just recently came up with a solution that works for us. We do not have a dryer, so I line dry everything inside. I have tried the vinegar, baking soda, bleach and non of it worked for very long. The towels would come out smelling fine, but when they were dried and then used the smell came back.
So, I add some Arm & Hammer all natural super washing soda, it's a detergent booster and is not very expensive.
I have been putting my towels in the washing machine as normal, only a couple at a time (because of the limited drying space), adding my normal detergent and softener and then adding the Soda. I probably add a little less than 1/2 cup.
This has worked for me, I hope this was helpful.
How can I get my bath and kitchen towels to smell fresh? These items get used VERY frequently in my house (we have 3 boys) and never have a chance to sit around and get musty. Bath towels are always air dried before being put into the hamper so they are not getting sour.
Removing mildew smell from towels: Even, large, dark colored ones that can't be bleached. Soak the towels in 50% diluted tomato juice for two or three hours, run the wash cycle to be sure the towels are completely saturated, then rinse two or three times in cold water.
Why do my towels still smell after washing and drying immediately?
By Electra from Lebanon, OH
Mine did too. Now I wash as usual but in the rinse cycle I put a splash of vinegar (1/4-1/2 cup) and the smell is gone. It removes all smells from the fabric and any leftover detergent.
You can also use baking soda to remove this odor. I suspect it is caused by damp towels not drying out properly in the bathroom. That is what is the problem when my towels get stinky. If they are white towels you could bleach them. But do one or the other. Don't use multiple treatments at the same time. Ammonia will also take out this sour smell, but it will also dull the color of brightly colored towels, so I would not use it on nice bath towels, unless they were already white. Works just fine on kitchen tea towels, too.
The city water dept. Told me that august is the time for algae bloom in all public water supplies from lakes especially; that we can expect that swampy odor even when drinking it. Perhaps vinegar kills the odors because the algae are alkaline and the vinegar is slightly acidic? I have noticed, too, that detergents are getting less powerful, not cleansing properly, but that vinegar and twenty mule team borax seems to improve it all?
I have a problem with my water, I think. I wash a load of towels or dishrags, and they don't smell very good coming out of the dryer. Then when they get wet, they stink.
What am I doing wrong? My towels smell after washing, when I leave them in the basket down in the cellar. Will those new detergent boosters work? Fabric softener sheets do not seem to work.
By Barbara W. from OH
Vinegar is my solution for smelly towels and I have found that when I bought a front loading washer I was using way too much soap. I have cut way back and use the kind of detergent meant for front load washers but I still run all my washed clothes and towels through an extra rinse.
By the way, do not use dryer sheets or fabric softener on your towels. That may seem odd, but the dryer sheets and fabric softeners make the towels not as absorbent, so they don't dry you off as well. My husband read about this tip in our local paper and I tried it and my towels are much, much more absorbent, yet they still feel soft in spite of not using a dryer sheet in the load!
What can I put in the washing machine when washing towels and washcloths to eliminate a strange odor that occurs when using them. I have tried baking soda, Biz, vinegar, and cannot get them to smell nice and fresh.
By Sharon
My child is always leaving towels lying around on the floor, or the furniture. They are never dry when she drops them where she does.
I wiped something up with a towel and did not realize it was garlic and washed it with the other towels now I can't get the smell out. What do I use to get it out?
By nastassja
