How do you remove the mildew smell from towels. They smell OK until they get used again after a shower. The towels are cotton.
Jayne from Minneapolis, MN
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Add some Borax to your wash and your towels should start smelling fresh once more.
In my experience, the moldy smell comes from letting linens stay wet or damp after use. I make sure they get dry before stashing in the laundry or before hanging for the next use. I always use cold water for washing, never have to use hot.
If the towels are bleachable, that will get rid of the smell, I think. Vinegar is a good alternative if you have dark colors. Ammonia works, but will bleach out dark colors just as bleach will. Baking soda should be less destructive to the color than ammonia because it is not as strong. Don't use any of these products together. Some may make dangerous combinations, and vinegar and baking soda or ammonia cancel each other out and will do nothing if used together.
I have found that the towels smell if they do not dry out enough hanging on the rack, if they are not washed often enough, if you do not use hot water to wash them.
Another thing to try is just to wash them in hot water and hang outside in the sun. If they are not too smelly, this might just do the trick.
You're correct that towels staying damp causes them to get smelly. We put ours to dry on a rack immediately after using, before putting them in a laundry holding area. We wash in cold water and don't even have to use vinegar.
I tried borax; I did 3 complete cycles and then tried a load of towels and the odor was not there any more.
I FIND THAT IF put them through a short wash of cider vinegar and either 1/2 borax orvinegarlus a small bit of liquid downy(just a SMALL bit of Downy) is always enough to make my ciotton towels smell great!AGQiood luck
An appliance repairman told me that the mold problem with the front loading machines is caused by too much detergent being used and not using the high efficiency detergent. He says the machines are great but you have to follow the manufacturer's instructions.
First, the "mildewy" smell on the towels and t-shits is from human bacteria that detergent just doesn't kill or remove. Detergent and bleach only bring a temporary (if any) solution. You might even notice that the towels smell okay when they come out of the dryer, but when they get wet again...ugghh.
But here's how to get rid of the smell and get your clean-smelling towels and t-shirts back again:
- Add a cup and a half to two cups of white distilled vinegar into your wash along with the detergent. Then run an extra rinse cycle to remove any lingering vinegar.
Studies have confirmed that regular 5% acidity white vinegar (the kind you can buy in the supermarket by the gallon) kills 99 percent of bacteria, 82 percent of mold, and 80 percent of germs (viruses).
Give it a try. I guarantee you'll be amazed at how fresh-smelling your towels will be.
the worst product for any kind of towels is any version of fabric softeners ie; dryer sheets, liquids. the fabric softeners keep the towels from being thoroughly rinsed.i always use one cycle first without any detergent to rid of some of the soap,then i go thru the next cycle with detergent you will be surprised how little deterhgent you need.
If you don't have any luck with vinegar or bleach there is a washer cleaner sold at smellywasher.com that we used to remove a bad fungus smell from our frontload washer. This cleaner also cleans mildew odor from towels and clothing. It's $16.00 for one order but an order has lasted us more than a year!
I had this problem with smelly towels for a while, decide one day to put in some baking soda in the wash cycle and eliminate the fabric softener and believe it or not the smell is no longer there.
We had smelly towels as did half of our family does. We switched to sun and my mom switched to purex and well no more smelly towels! My mother in law has really smelly ones and well I told her about the liquid tide causing the smell and she said I will not buy that anymore and will now buy something else that is cheaper and won't make my towels smell.
I have read several accounts of what to do.
I own a front loading machine and for 3.5 years, no problem. The only thing that changed is I quit using bleach and started using oxy clean (with Tide).
First I tried the vinegar trick. Still didn't take care of the smell so....
I used a variety of them. I First used the AFresh tablets. 3 at a time.
Then washed the towels with vinegar only in hot water. After that, I washed with new detergent and bleach in hot water. Dried them with high heat and low a behold, they smell so good. I sent through this sequence for every towel in the house.
I hope this helps.
Sounds like many things to try. I truly believe it is the front loader machines. I just started using one two months ago and have that mildew smell. Never had it with my 20 year old Kenmore top loader.
I actually have this same problem so what I do is...... I dry my towels a second time. I read somewhere online that dryers are made more energy efficient these days and while your towels may feel dry, they are not. This is how mold and mildew can build up on them. I wash my towels in a seperate load on the hottest water and longest cycle then I dry them once and then I dry them once more. This usually fixes the smell! Do not leave your towels in your washer wet for to long try and get them out and dried immediately. I also make it a happy to try and clean my washer once a month or so with bleach, vinegar, and hot hot water with nothing in it. Seeems to help!
OMG, I read somewhere on the internet that liquid Tide is the problem, which is what I was using. I also read about a homemade laundry detergent consisting of 1 box of borax, 1 box of washing soda and 1 bar of Feldsnap soap shaved and mixed in. I made this and washed my towels and with just one wash, no more bad smell after using the towels. I also had the problem with some t-shirts as they were drying when hung up wet. I've tried a commercial powder detergent and it seems to work. I have an older top load washer. No more liquid Tide for me!
I find that my towels do not have that mildew smell if I dry them before they are put down the laundry chute to the basement. I have a small drying rack that is kept in the tub behind the shower curtain. All towels, washcloths etc. are dried on it. Then they can sit in the basement for a week before I wash them. Removing the rack for a shower is easy.
Use borax to get rid of it then use baking soda in the wash with anything like that or anything sweaty. It is a natural water softener and will remove smells from sweat, etc. It also reduces the amount of soap you have to use. I have used it for years after an engineer told me about it. My sons sweat and boy does the baking soda work. Just use one cup in your wash load.
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