There are five people in my household and laundry piles up quickly. The thing that bothers me the most is that the kids throw soaking wet towels in the laundry and it never smells fresh after the laundry is done I cant stand to breathe in that horrible smell from our towels. Please give me any secret you use I use borax and Gain detergent, fabric softener and dryer sheets and have tried baking soda and it wont go away.
So i took the advice to wash the towels with vinegar and it did the job getting out of the shower today was pleasant and no smell in the towels.. Thank you Mamas
I use non-toxic laundry cleaners and haven't had this problem.
Ask the kids to hang the towels over the shower or put up hooks in their bathroom. If they don't, then teach them to do their own laundry. If they do the laundry a couple of times it will be easier to remember to hang the towels up!
Have you tried replacing your fabric softener with vinegar? That works well for us.
We have a laundry shoot that leads to the basement. My family throws EVERYTHING down the shoot (wet towels, poopy onesies, (yes, my DH has done this "accidentally" before etc) and it all sits until the magic fairy gets to it and all ends up clean in the drawers! When I use vinegar as fabric softener, all smells seem to disappear!
We have a "rule" in our house that nothing wet or damp goes in the hampers! The towels get hung up over the shower rod until they are dry and we wash the towels twice a week- use the towels over again until it's "laundry day". Your body is "clean" when you're drying off so there's not need to grab another towel!
Oh... and a housekeeper. I don't know exactly what she does, but I'll live on rice and beans before going back to doing my own sheets and towels! I think she uses a little bit of lavendar water in the washer and it makes everything smell clean and fresh!
Maybe the washer is stinky. I have a front loader and i use the tide washing machine cleaner and that takes out the stink. I also hang some things outside , sunshine will make anything smell better !
What about using Downy Fab Softener and dryer sheets? Maybe using the same "final" laundry items can help. If not, the suggestion of using vinegar as a fab softener is at least worth a try.
Good luck!
How about they hang up the towels to dry before they throw them in the laundry? That would tick me off.
Separate towel hamper?
I use Tide with Bleach Alternative and I haven't noticed any lingering smells.
I use Arm and Hammer. I've noticed that I have to switch the laundry from the washer as soon as it is done into the dryer, and then quickly get it out and get it folded - and make sure it's completely dry. Sometimes on heavier loads (like jeans or towels) my dryer needs to run twice. Then I have to put it away quickly or it gets wrinkly and never smells as fresh.
Make sure the towels are completely dry before you wash them. I am surprised the baking soda didn't help. Try sprinkling it directly on the clothes instead of in the water, maybe?? or use more?
Also, if you have a front loader make sure you wipe down the rubber gasket around the door-- water (and gross lint) collects there and gets stinky. Wipe it down with bleach water.
Good luck! I hate that moldy mildewy smell.
Smellywasher.com sells a product called Smellytowels and it works wonders. I think Bed, Bath and Beyond may carry it. The main thing you have to do is tell your kids to hang ALL wet or even damp towels, because when they are wet and tossed in a pile, mold spores grow and that is the smell you can never get rid of without smellytowel cleaner. The mold spores grow and are activated everytime the towel gets wet, which is why your body smells after drying off with one of these supposedly clean towels. The same things happens to wet workout clothes, swimsuits, ect. Wet clothes can never be left bunched up or you will have that smell.
Hi A.!
Hey, we do two things...if they don't hang their towels (each child has a different color towel that is "his" color) then I take the towels and the next bath or shower they have to dry with what they can find or drip dry. This is such a bummer, I've done this once, with one child and never had to do it again. to get the musty smell out of the laundry we put 1/2 cup of white vinegar in the with the laundry when I wash it. If the laundry sits in the washer too long, it also gets musty smelling and I just use the vinegar and run it through a rinse cycle. This eliminates the problem. best wishes!
K.
HOT water and vinegar works for me.
When I have stinky dish rags, I put them on the rack in the dishwasher and then it's not stinky when it comes out because the hot water has killed the 'stink bugs' This way I don't feel the "ick" putting them in the wash with the other stuff. Or if I'm draining boiling water from pasta(or whatever) I pour it on the rag in the sink. :-) I haven't had too many stinky rags lately because I do make a point of changing them out every few days at least but this helps when I *do* have them.
I would definitely try to train your kids to HANG DRY their towels! Before a bath is when to change their towels, not right after. Good luck!!!
