I have a question that I don’t think you have blogged yet. Some of my towels smell mildew-ish! After I wash them, they smell good. After they get wet the first time, they smell awful! How can I get this smell out of my towels?
Answer:
I know exactly what you are talking about and I hate that smell, it’s awful! If this is an ongoing problem for you start by making sure that your towels are hung well after each use, so that they can dry out quickly. If your bathroom is musty or damp, or the towels aren’t hung well, they won’t dry quickly and then they will get that mildew smell.
In order to get rid of that smell, for future uses put some baking soda in with your laundry detergent. Next time you do a load of towels add 1/2 cup of baking soda to the rinse cycle and it will absorb the mildew smell.
These quick and simple tricks will have your towels smelling fresh and new all over again!
THanks for that. I'm going to try it my son's football stuff b/c it's nasty.
Huzzah!!!! Thank you!!!
So, I go on TT&J and I try to comment on two before and two after me….and look who came up!!! You were right behind me 🙂 You have inspired me to get baking soda, you know? I bought a HUGE bag at Costco! Now I have to use it!Becky B.www.organizingmadefun.comOrganizing Made Fun
Thank you!!! I will be doing this tomorrow!
Great tip! I hate that smell!
I have some old furniture that smells “OLD”.. have tried the Baking soda thing, Order be Gone, left it in the sun… now what… it is still old smelly….
Eileen,
This is a great question. We were not sure so we put it before our Facebook followers. You can see what they had to say here: https://www.facebook.com/askannamoseley/posts/704398239634875
Baking soda doesn’t work. I tried that for years and the smell never even diminished. The only way to get that smell out of your towels is to wash them in hot water — extra hot if your washer has that option. Then you have to make absolutely certain that they are completely dry. I had mildewy smelling towels for years but once I switched to hot water and extra long dryer cycle, the smell has never returned.
Anna, I have noticed that my towels and clothes seem to loose their “softness” when I wash them with laundry detergent and baking soda. After putting the laundry detergent in its alloted container, I put the 1/2 cup baking soda directly with the load. Am I doing something wrong?
The only thing I can think of is that maybe you are using too much detergent. If you have an HE washer make sure to only use the amount of detergent it calls for, too much will make your clothes and towels “stiffer”. I hope that helps. 🙂