Smell......

I always use a capful of bleach in my dishwater and my dis towel does not smell bad the next day, maybe you should try that and see.

For the sake of bacteria I use new cloths every time. I have 10 cloths and that seems to be enough. Bac-out is an excellent product to get rid of the smell in towels and cloths. You canfind it at Jewel in the organic aisle in the cleaners section.

You're probably not rinsing the cloth out after your load. while I rinse the sink of sudsy water I also rinse out the cloth and then hang it to dry on it's own. Fold it in half at the most and hang on the faucet or side of the sink (be sure not to have it bundled). Use a new machine washed cloth at least once a week. Walmart and Target normally have inexpensive cloths in six packs or so, which should give you enough even if you want to use a new one each day.

I don't usually have that problem, but I wash my towels/rags etc in the hot cycle with a little bleach like prevsious post. You might try that.

Also, Clorox has some new towels out. You wash them once in bleach and it is supposed to "activate" something in the cloths so they always smell fresh. You might buy a set and see if they work. But you shouldn't use them until you first "activate" them.

put a capful of bleach in your dish water(or less) while washing dishes. also, soak dish towel in same amount of bleach and water(about 2 quarts)overnight. this should help. that smell is from the food residue left in the towel. you can also microwave on high for 2 minutes.

If it is a musty smell that only smells when they are wet, it's because it is taking too long to dry. We use "new" ones every day and wash them with a little bit of bleach. I just bought some of those microfiber shop rags and cut them in 4ths. I use them as wash cloths to clean my boys up after meals.

Dish clothes hold lots of germs. Before I switched to sponges, I used to fill the sink with a few inches of hot water, add about 1/8 cup bleach & let the cloth soak in there a few minutes or as long as overnight. Rinse with plain water & the cloth will be germ free & smelling clean. I use sponges now & put them in the dishwasher a few times a week.
I hope this helps.

I have the same problem. Every couple of days I run mine in the dishwasher. I have tried every type of sponge they sell with the same result. After rinsing the sponge I let it dry in a haing sponge holder and most of the time- in the morning it smells. I too would be interested as to why they smell so bad.

First try using Oxi-Clean in your washer, works great.
Second where you are hanging your dish cloths, is there enough air circulation? Also if the humidity is high in the area where you hang your cloths that can cause a problem.
Third, What kind of dish cloths do you use? Make sure you are using dish cloths from 100% natural fibers. Natural fibers breath.

Good Luck

Hi N.,

About 15 years ago my belongings were involved in a terrible flood. I tried to salvage what I could. I was given an emergency kit by the state with a booklet on how to get my things cleaned. I had tried washing my belongings with just soap and water, but after reading the booklet found I needed to use bleach. Once I used the bleach the awful smell went away. I now use both regular bleach and color bleach on all my clothes and towels (except the baby stuff). Now I don't have that problem with towels anymmore either.

We had that problem too. I was able to solve my problem by adding a scoopful of Oxyclean to the towel washload along with the regular soap. I also wash them on the heavy duty cycle in hot water.

Hope that works for you too!

When I worked in a child care center, the cook in the kitchen told me a few rules that the health department made her follow: If she was using a sponge to wash the counter and dishes, she had to soak it in a bowl of bleach water and let it dry. When she washed dishes she had to use the "three sink method" 1. soapy water, 2. clean water and 3. bleach water. A dishwasher would have also sanitized the dishes because they clean the dishes first with soapy water, then they rinse them with clean water and then they sanitize the dishes by heating them up to a temperature that kills bacteria.

I have heard that people wash their sponges in the dishwasher during their after dinner dishwashing.

I also use the washing machine with bleach because I use a lot of dish towels and I can justify a whole load, but If you just have one or two, keep a small bottle of Chlorox under your sink, fill the sink with a couple of inches of hot water, add a Tablespoon of bleach and soak it for a couple of minutes, then let it dry.

Wouldn't it be great if we could all take food service training?

FRESH WAVE Ace Hardware carries it. Look on line if nothing else.

I use several of their products. The towels smell great. The house smells great. Please try it.

They are harboring bacteria. Washing them may work - but sometimes if it's gotten real bad they will smell clean dry - but stink as soon as you get them wet again. You'll have to soak them in bleach and re-wash. Sometimes, even then the acteria is so embedded int he fiber they smell again. I take new ones at each meal and I always hang then to dry. I can't stand that smell and I hate how if you use it everything else stinks (the coutners, the kids hands and face ect)

I like to use clorox cleanup to clean the sinks after doing dishes, I use the dishcloth for this and after using the product and rinsing the sinks and cloth, I can use the cloth for several dish washings. Sure hope this helps.