Sour Towels

http://www.vinegartips.com/scripts/pageViewSec.asp?id=7

its a website for the many different uses of vinegar. i have even used it in my hair!!!

Arm and Hammer laundry soap. If things are really bad I let them soak in the washing machine for half a day in the stuff. My husbands stinky work clothes and beach towels all come out smelling great.

you can try adding about 1/4 cup of white vinegar to the washer or about 1/8-1/4 cup of ammonia.

I've had this problem in the past and have worked hard to find a solution. One thing is: you don't have to wash every day but be sure and hang wet towels after bath/shower so they can dry completely if you're not going to wash them right away. Don't pile them with other clothes or even other wet towels/wash cloths. Using hot water when you do wash helps, but I don't always do that to conserve energy. Adding a little bleach or Pine Sol (if you don't mind the smell) helps, but what I've found helps the most is drying them COMPLETELY in the dryer (or hanging them to dry outside). With towels, I put them on to dry an extra 20-30 minutes--just to make sure they are dry. This has really helped!

Try using some PineSol...

I'm not crazy about buying lots of products all the time, BUT when I used to have this problem, I gave in and bought some Clorox 2. I just use a tiny bit per load and wash with hot water, and I have never had it happen again!

Do you have a front-loader? A friend of mine had a front-loader that was about 8 years old and she was having the same problem with her towels smelling bad. She had her kitchen/laundry remodeled and didn't use the washer for about 6 weeks (it was closed the whole time). When she went to use it again, she opened it and was confronted with a smell like something had crawled into the washer and died. Apparently front loaders have some sort of gasket that you need to dry out occasionally or the mildew builds up and eventually starts to smell. She was told that there was nothing she could do at that point, so she went out and bought a new (top-loading) washer. I hope this helps!

I always use clorox 2 and set the wahser on the warm/warm setting. Works for me :)

I dont' measure I just put in one good splash it probably ends up beign about 1/2 cup

Hang your towels to thoroughly dry them before putting them in a hamper or clothes basket. I keep a clothes line strung across the front of my garage and hang anything i want to dry there. They dry in no time as the garage tends to stay pretty warm. Good luck!

Don't use fabric softener or softener sheets on your towels - it takes away the absorbency factor.

We also had this problem and use OxyClean when we wash our towels. Since doing this we don't have the sour smell any longer.

I put a cup of white vinegar in every load of wash. It keeps things fresh, clean, and my whites stay pretty white.

Try washing them in hot water. I noticed when I washed them in cold water they smell also.

The distilled white vinegar helped mine a lot. I waited until the rinse cycle to add it. Or after the wash completed with one rinse, turned it on again for just another rinse -- adding even half a cup to a large load.

If you have good weather (or lower humidity), believe it or not, drying the towels outside will help them smell better and (thank you, sunshine!) look whiter!

Good luck!

I just was advised by another Mom here on Mamasource about this and she uses a full cup of vinegar. We both have front loading washers.

My hubby is super sensitive about the smell of our laundry. He now wants us to use vinegar every time we wash.

Maybe a cup is too much but just test it. Plus, its cheap!

BB,
We have a same samiliar problem, this is a great question. I hope to get some answers back on your feedback.

If you have a front loader machine like me this happens sometimes with mine. I have found the vinegar to work and also leave the door cracked to allow the inside to dry out (mildew can form inside from the excess moisture and lack of air flow) Also, I heard that you are not suppose to use liquid fabric softener in front loaders, but I can't tell you why, sorry. Hope you have some clean smelling towels soon, good luck.

I use white vinegar about once a month on the towels. In the wash cycle. never really thought about how much---I just pour some in....maybe it's about 1/2 cup.

First, 1 cup of vinegar per load of laundry (with your regular detergent) is all you need.

Second, are your towels smelling sour when you first use them or after you have used them once or twice?

If they are smelling sour upon first use, then they may not be getting completely dry in the dryer to begin with. Then you fold them and they sit in the cabinet souring until use.

If they are smelling after 1 or 2 uses, are you hanging them out flat, single layer, and letting them dry completely? I have found that the humidity level living in SE Texas requires everything to be hung out single layer for them to dry without souring. Don't fold them over, don't allow them to be wadded or scrunched up. If you don't have enough room to allow all of your damp towels to hang out single layer, then you will have to find other areas to hand the towels, too, such as a door to a bedroom or closet.

Same thing goes for foods that can become stale. It's so humid down here, these foods have to be sealed up completely to prevent them from getting soggy in just a short amount of time.