My dish towels have a terrible odor and I cannot figure it out. I have washed them in bleach and they still have a odor. Help.
Nina
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Try putting about half a cup of white vinegar in your washing machine when you wash them.It will also work as a fabric softener.I have found that white vinegar works much better than anything else for removing odor.Even works on cat urine.If this doesn't work,try soaking them for an hour or so in half hot water and half white vinegar before washing.Hope this works.Good luck.
Ditto what 'willowcrystal' below said.
I soak in warm/hot with the detergent plus some Biz brand all fabric bleach for several hours during the day before I start the wash. I add one cup of vinegar to the rinse for a full load. We don't use detergents with scents because everyone is fragrance sensitive around here and this works. (The Biz has a tiny bit of scent maybe.)
Also when you are done with your towels make sure to leave them laying or hanging flat to dry out all the way before crumpling and putting in the hamper.
If you are also talking about dish rags and not just the dish towels rinse them out thoroughly (perhaps even in a little vinegar water first) before you lay them out to dry. Change them daily.
If you can line dry your towels at least part way outside in the sunlight that would help too. Hard to do this time of year.
Put some baking soda in your rinse load and that should help.
Put some baking soda in your rinse load and that should help.
Try microwaving your cloths damp for about 30-60 seconds before you wash them. This will kill any odour causing bacteria and viruses in the cloth. while you're at it place a piece of lemon in there at the same time and give your microwave a quick wipe immediately after with a clean dry cloth to freshen it at the same time.
You may have towels with the odor in the dye. For those of you that don't know.ANYTHING coming from China and other countires being shipped into the U.S.A. in Cargo containers have chemicals like formaldehyde and others I don't remember. Even the NEW bedding in plastic has a warning to "WASH BEFORE USING" I know these towels may not be new and you have washed them already.
Boil em'! We had a horrible time trying to get that funky smell out of our towels. Finally when hubby washed and dried his hands, then came over to me and his HANDS smelled funky, I decided enough was enough. I got out the stock pot, filled it with water, brought it to a boil, and dropped them in for a good few minutes. It did the trick!
Toss them! Dish towels are a major source of typhus and cholera! I'm sure yours have been washed, but sometimes they get too old to work with.
I had this same problem with my towels. They used to smell like mold and NOTHING woudl get the smell out. I recently found a product called BON-CC-41 from BioWorld Products that has helped a lot. I just add a couple of ounces to my laundry and it takes the odor right away! It is also great for many other things around the house so I always keep a bottle around!
www.adbio.com/
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