Stinky Dish Cloths! Yuck!

I had the same problem... my Mom told me to toss out the cheap ones and buy good cotten. Guess what? She was right. The cotten ones do not stink. I can use them, throw them in the laundry and they don't smell at all.

Gotta love it when Mom knows best :)

1 mom found this helpful

Yeah, I'd throw them out. When you get the new ones start washing them with a little hydogen peroxide instead of bleach.

My mom's dish cloths always stink and it REALLY bothers me! Try Oxy Clean - perhaps soak them in water & Oxy-clean BEFORE washing them, then wash them on the hottest water possible w/ the Oxy-clean & detergent. Always make sure that you hang your dish cloths IMMEDIATELY after using. My mom forgets them on the counter when she is wiping up or after dishes...and if they don't fully dry, they will just stink! Good luck!!! N.

try putting borax in your wash with hot water. its just like a box of soap in the detergent aisle. i had some clothes in a bin in storage that got wet and smelled moldy and it got out the smell (took 2 washes) but i dont think dishtowels would take that many.

Use Oxiclean in your laundry in addition to your laundry soap. It takes out all kinds of smells-even pee soaked bedding that sat for 3 days while I was out of town,

hi. i know what you mean. smells like mildew. like you havent washed them! try arm and hammer super washing soda. its in a box. when you wash the clothes fisrt time with this use a cup. then after that use 1/2 cup. i started using this and my washcloths and towels dont smell bad anymore.

Ya know it's possible that the vinegar is keeping the sour smell.
Stop using the vinegar and baking soda.
Wash the dish cloths seperately and bleach them.
Yes I know bleach is bad for the environment :) (I'm not a huge fan of it myself but sometimes ya just gotta)
Your other alternative is to toss them and get new ones from Dollar General and from here on out wash them in hot water every day. They harbor germs. So don't use them more than once a day.
Don't know where you are at, but you could also try going to Zerbos in Livonia.
They carry a product that helps get stains and smells out of things. Don't remember the name of it off hand, but if you go up there or to another healthy food place that carries health food products, go to the cleaner dept and look for what I'm describing. That can work ok.
I'm just thinking that in this case the dish cloths sound like they may just need to be replaced.
Good luck.

I have the same problem with some of mine. I too have found no cure. Are they colored? Sometimes the dye used can cause them to smell. You may have to throw them away, I did.

I have found that same smell on some of our clothes and that it happens when I have left them in the washer too long. It happens even more so in the summer. I have to rewash them and I add the detergent, fabric softener and about a cup of ammonia to the load. It actually gets the smell out!

I try not to leave them sit wadded on the sink etc. (my husband and kids are nortorious for this) and make sure you rinse them really well and wash them right away. I have not found a way to get rid of that stagnant dish cloth smell, so I have allways replaced them. But hopefully this will help prevent it. Lay down the law in your house and stick to your guns. Good luck!

Hi T.,

Try ammonia in the wash the next time you wash them, just make sure that you don't use any products with bleach when you do. As you probably know, bleach and ammonia together cause toxic fumes. Ammonia has many uses in the laundry. Read the back of the bottle next time your at the store. Hope that it works for you.

I've found that if there is the slightest bit of soap left in a dish towel when it's wet it will always smell musty. Make sure that all of the soap is gone. The kitchen sponges do it as well!

There are white or blue "disposable" (but you can wash them over and over again) dishclothes with the cleaning supplies (by the sponges, scrubbies, etc. usually) that are awesome. They are usually in a plastic see through bag that hangs on one of those hooks. They clean up really great and do not stink.

I always wash my dish cloths and dish towels together and separately from anything else. I was them with detergent and bleach each time I wash and they never smell. I also let them hang to dry each time I use them.

You can try putting them in water and dawn dish detergent.......

I have found that washing my towels in Oxiclean helps with any odors and that includes when my kids were bedwetting. It was the only thing that took out the odor. I use if faithfully and if I have one that has sat and gotten smelly from that I soak it first then wash it.

my fil sticks his in the microwave. gets it wet and sticks it in for 2-3 minutes. take it out w/tongs or something b/c it's hot. let it dry over a rack or over your faucet and it works depending on how old they are. hope this helps...

Throw them out. Buy a few 100% cotton dish towels that you can alternate with. If one towels is starting to get damp, use the other towel so it has time to dry. Personally, I've never had any issues with my dish cloths smelling. Perhaps you may want to let the dishes air dry a little bit before drying them so the cloth doesn't get so wet.

I used to have the same problem.
Try changing your laundry detergent. Wash dish cloths and towels together, then add a little bleach and a little baking soda to the wash cycle.
Use a different towel every day.
If you eat meat and dairy products you might have to use new dish towels every 3mos. Buy them in bulk, if you don't already do so and rotate the use of them.

I've always heard to lay them across the top rack in your dishwasher...

I was my dish towels with detergent and ammonia. Never have a problem. try it

Make sure you always remove it from the water, even if you're leaving the sink with water in it and something soaking. Clean the dish rag out in the soapy water, then rinse in clean water, squeeze it out as best you can, and drape it over something (like the dish soap bottle) under the sink where the air can circulate and dry it. And especially don't leave it wadded up and wet in the sink. I was forever running into that problem when my MIL stayed with us and cared for our kids when I worked.

I have the same problem and it drives me NUTS! Finally, I gave in and started buying new ones at the dollar stores every few months. I can't stand that smell, and luckily they are cheap there.!!
~L.

Stinky dish cloths often have stains too. I like to soak them in the washing machine with IRON OUT. You'll be surprised how clean they'll come out. We used to live in the country with a well and I learned lots of tricks with washing there. Now I live in the city but still can't be without my Iron Out. Inez

I use ODORBAN it's a product I buy at Sam's Club. I'm not sure where else to get it, but if anyone knows let me know, because I'm no longer a member at Sam's Club. Odorban is a concentrate one gallon bottle. I use a little in the washer with smelly clothes or dishclothes. It is also great for taking away smoke smells and pet odors. I learned of the product while working in an apartment community. If we had an apartment with bad pet odor we would take the carpet out and spray the floor with this product and the odor was completely gone, even for my picky nose.

Hi T., my son is a professional chef and he uses electric dishwasher soap to get blood and food stains out of his chef uniforms. He uses it for his white clothes too, like socks and t-shirts and they look real white! You could try it. Good luck, J.

Try washing them with a little amonia added to the load. It works for mine.

My husband started buying TIDE and Downy with Febreze. The green cap works best. We tried bleach, ammonia, lestoil, etc... and nothing worked. I also discovered that you cannot let the towels sit for very long before you wash them or stack them wet in the hamper or washer.
B.