We’ve talked about how to soften your scruffy towels but what about when your towels get that awful, mildewy smell? This happens when they don’t dry all the way before you use them again or if you left a forgotten load of towels in the washer for too long. You open the door to retrieve them and they smell so bad, you’re tempted to throw them out. But don’t – they can be revived. Just follow these steps.
- Wash Towels on the hottest water setting possible. You may need to turn your hot water heater up for this wash. This is heavy duty stink you gotta get rid of and it needs hot, hot water. If you have a machine with a sanitizing option, use that.
- Wash on the longest, most heavy duty cycle your washer offers. The sturdy cotton material most towels are made of can handle it. This is the type of item your “heavy duty cycle” is made for so have no fear and use it! To get rid of that horrible smell and most likely the bacteria causing the smell, the towels need a lot of agitation and the long cycle will help the process.
- Use a capful of detergent up to the top fill line. Be sure to use high-quality detergent and a lot of it.
- Use a full scoop of oxi-clean in the wash and 1/2-1 cup of white vinegar in the rinse. Just put the vinegar straight into the fabric softener dispenser. Do not use fabric softener. It will only mask the smell and the next time you use the towels to dry off, the smell will be back. If after this initial washing your towels still smell moldy, repeat the above steps before drying. Heat will set in the smell. You may have to repeat the washing steps a few times if the towels are exceptionally stinky.
- Line dry or set on a portable drying rack in direct sunlight if possible. Fresh air and hot sunshine will help further get rid of the smell. If you can’t dry them outside, dry them on the hottest setting on your dryer. Make sure they are completely dry. This advice contradicts our drying guide in our blog “top 10 ways to ruin your clothes” but remember, you’re trying to get rid of a very difficult smell to remove. In this one situation, you want to use the hottest heat and be certain they are completely dry. If they are wet at all when you put them away, they will smell horrible again the next time you use them.
If the do-it-yourself process above sounds more than you’d like to tackle, we’ll clean your smelly towels as part of our Wash, Dry, Fold. Just let us know they need special attension. We use the highest-quality detergents or we can use the detergent (we retain these for you and inform you when supplies are low).
To get started, please bring your laundry to any of our locations, or call 317-577-5752 to set up free delivery within our delivery area.
– S.O.
I have beige towels that I use in one bathroom, and white ones in my other bathroom. I always bleach my white towels, and they never smell. However, I can’t bleach my beige ones (obviously) and I was about to get rid of them because they were starting to smell awful. (These towels are only a year old, they look great, but the smell took my breath away.) I couldn’t get rid of the smell no matter what I did:
*Hottest water setting – nope
*More detergent – nope
*Heavy duty, extra rinse cycle – nope
*Hottest dryer setting, long drying time – nope (I couldn’t try the “let them dry in the sun method” – I live in the Seattle area)
So, I was about to throw them out, but finally tried the vinegar-in-the-rinse-water method. OMG, I wish I had tried that FIRST! It worked! All my beige towels are fresh smelling again and I don’t have to throw them away!
Thank you, Tanya! We have found that for home remedies and cleaning, vinegar is great! If you’re on pinterest, we have a lot of fun boards. One of our boards in about cleaning and home remedies. Thank you for taking the time to comment! http://pinterest.com/classiccleaners/do-it-make-it-clean-it-fix-it/
I wish I would have searched this about a year ago or so. I threw away so many beautiful towels when I realized I could not get rid of that musty smell. I searched this on yesterday and went out and brought the Oxi-clean and vinegar and washed all the towels yesterday as well….all I can say is OMG! They freshness is back like never before. You guys are a towel saver. I love purchasing pretty towels and just wish I could have saved the ones I threw out!
[…] Vinegar White vinegar is a powerful odor neutralizer and works wonders on underarm areas of fabrics. Fill your washing machine with water, then add 1/3 cup of white vinegar. Turn off the machine and let the garment soak for 20 minutes, then launder as usual. (This will also work to freshen your musty smelling towels). […]
A cup of ammonia added to the wash water will take the smells out of towels and blankets. And it leaves no ammonia smell. I do this to all my blankets twice a year to remove smoke, grease, and dusty odors.
Would a laundry detergent with oxi- clean in it work for a Fresh clean towline and sheets ?
You could use Oxi Clean alone however when the towel gets wet again, the smell from the bacteria remaining could come back. I like to use vinegar too. Vinegar is also a natural fabric softener!