The powerhouse combination of vinegar and baking soda are the main ingredients needed to reclaim your towels, but you may be able to thoroughly wash the musty smell from your towels using your regular detergent. The thickness of towels makes them ideal for moisture to collect, which is great since they exist to absorb excess water. However, too much moisture can be a deterrent. That's why it's incredibly important that you allow your towels to dry completely after being used or after being washed.
Removing your laundry from the washer right after it's done is the easiest way to prevent this, but sometimes life gets away from us, and a freshly washed load gets left in longer than it should.
However, if you know how to clean towels properly, you can live a life free of musty, smelly towels. There are several ways to give your towels a proper washing, and you can even target the potential source of the problem: your washing machine and dryer. Here are a few things you can do to get your towels looking like new again.
Depending on how much mildew and bacteria are present on your towels, two simple towel-only loads with your regular detergent may be the solution to your problem.
All you have to do is run two cycles one after the other using a moderate amount of detergent. However, just remember to not add any fabric softener as that can leave residue and buildup on your towels, which will only encourage more bacteria to grow. Thanks to their absorbancy, towels can be left with coats of fabric softener that the washing machine is unable to rinse off completely.
That layer of fabric softener not only keeps the towels from being properly washed, but it also keeps them from becoming completely dry, which then allows bacteria to multiply. It's also crucial that you don't use too much detergent when washing your towels. Because of the absorbency of towels, your washing machine may not be able to wash away all of the detergent, which will then build up and keep your towels from being as absorbent as they should be. Detergents are designed to use a small amount, so use only the amount that is recommended on the bottle.
Household white vinegar is a lifesaver in many ways, and ensuring your towels come out fresh and free of mildew is one of its perks. White vinegar helps your washing machine get those stubborn layers of fabric softener and detergent off your towels, and the acidity of vinegar kills the bad bacteria before it can grow any more. To remove bacteria from towels using vinegar, start by putting in a load of three to four towels in your washer along with a cup of vinegar, and run the washing machine on the hottest setting possible.
After you've washed the load with vinegar, wash it again on a normal cycle with a moderate amount of detergent. Then, immediately move the washed towels to the dryer and dry them on the hottest cycle and make sure they are totally dry before removing. Remember not to leave the towels in the washing machine after the wash is done — otherwise, all your hard work will be for nothing since damp towels will begin to grow bacteria quickly. While vinegar on its own is a miracle worker, it becomes a superstar when coupled with baking soda.
To perform this deep clean, you'll need to run two towel-only loads. But, in this method, you load the towels with a quarter cup of baking soda first. Then run the washing machine on the hottest cycle possible.
Heat is known to kill bad bacteria, so the hot-water wash with the baking soda is sort of like a deep clean on its own. After the baking soda wash, run the washing machine again — using the hottest cycle, of course — along with a full cup of white vinegar.
Once they are done in the washer, move the towels right away to the dryer and make sure they get completely dried before putting them away. This method is perfect for ensuring you remove bacteria from your towels because the type of acid in the vinegar will break down any mineral deposits that may be lingering on your towels.
It will also break down any grime, which will then be washed away by your machine. Baking soda is known for neutralizing odors thanks to the fact that baking soda is an alkaline substance. It absorbs foul smells and breaks down and dissolves dirt and grease, which is why it's such a favorite to keep bad odors out of your fridge.
Giving your washing machine and dryer a deep clean will kill any lingering bacteria in there, which inevitably will prevent it from transferring onto your clean laundry. To give your washer a deep clean, simply run it empty on the longest cycle with two cups of white vinegar or half a cup of bleach. At the end of the cycle, rub it down with a clean rag soaked in vinegar and water.
Deep clean your dryer by wiping down the inside with a clean cloth soaked in vinegar and water. You should also clean out and wash the lint trap, but make sure it is completely dry before reinserting it. Knowing how to clean towels to remove bacteria and mildew is great, but prevention is always better.
Plus, preventing mildew is much easier than getting rid of it! If you are looking for a product that eliminates stubborn towel and clothing odors FAST, then you need to check out this OUT ProWash Odor Eliminator laundry detergent that is marketed for washing bad smelling work clothes, but also removes smelly odors from bath towels.
Many people also use this DIY solution for getting odors out of smelly towels. All you need is some vinegar and baking soda. Place your towels in the washing machine and fill the machine with hot water.
Add 1 cup white vinegar no detergent , and wash as usual. This method works better than regular detergent for removing odors because the vinegar removes the built up residue on the towels that is causing the odors in the first place. The baking soda then removes any lingering odors. This is not something you need to do all of the time, only every couple of months when you start to notice the mildew smell again.
In between, just wash as usual. Soak towels in vinegar. Soak your stinky towels in a bucket of white, distilled vinegar for 30 minutes to overnight with a tablespoon of detergent to help loosen body soils.
Vinegar contains acetic acid that breaks up mineral deposits and dissolves the build-up of body soils on your towels. Rinse thoroughly. Add detergent. Dry your towels. Machine dry your towels according to the care label instructions use Bounce Dryer Sheets for extra freshness, softness, and static control. If air drying, hang your towels on a clothesline or a rack to allow air to properly circulate.
Allow towels to dry completely before storing. When it comes to ridding your fabrics of bad smells while giving them an amazing clean in the process, your best bet is to use a powerful laundry detergent, such as Tide. Mildew smells tend to intensify in warm, moist environments, so a bunched-up, wet towel left in the washing machine drum or at the bottom of your laundry basket provides just the right circumstances for that mildew smell to develop.
Additionally, body soils left on your towels either from the use or from poor-performing detergents will break down over time to release a sour, musty smell. Now that you know how to get that musty smell out of your towels, just follow these simple tips to prevent smelly towels in the first place:. Hang your towels up to dry after each use.
Never place wet towels or clothes in the laundry hamper.
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