Smelly towels!

[Ijustneed]

Freshly washed and they still smell. It's a sort of fusty, sweaty smell.

I nearly always add white vinegar to the rinse, but I dry them in a clothes horse in my bathroom and when in use they seem always damp. I've nowhere to put a towel rail, they hang on a hook.

Anything I can do? Other than buying new towels, that will probably smell soon too.

How and what are you washing them with? What temp and detergent? Are they white?

I have some ikea baby towels that no matter how I wash them always smell a bit weird - and I've been washing them for 5 years now! The rest of my towels, bought elsewhere, always smell fine. Must be something they're made of.

You need to air/dry them outside I would say.

Give them a 90degree wash with extra rinse, no fabric softener, followed by a good blow on the line or tumble dry ( otherwise they’ll end up crispy) and they’ll be good as new.
I do mine once a year.

Wash them at 60 and use powder not anything else.

Put them on the washing line on a dry, windy day. They'll dry in no time and will smell lovely. The best smell in the world is freshly line-dried sheets, pillow cases and duvet cover. And if you can get them off, washed, dried and back on the bed by bedtime they don't even need ironing.

Meant to say - obviously they get washed regularly in between!

wash them at 60 or higher, use bio powder, no softener.
dry quickly, ideally outside.

ime some red colours can smell a bit weird, I have a set of orange bedding and matching towels and they smell 'chemical' even after more than 10 years and frequent washes.

Maybe the way you are drying them. If I leave my towels to dry on a clothes horse they smell damp so I put them in the dryer instead.

Run your machine on an empty hot cycle with a bit of bleach in the detergent drawer. Usually, it's a case of the machine needing a freshen-up. Your next wash of towels should smell fine! And don't fill the drum to capacity with towels. Too many towels won't get properly washed and can give them that musty smell.

Also, when you're washing towels, try washing with just baking soda, nothing else.

I put a good glug of pineoclean lavender disinfectant in all of my washing. Stops towels getting whiffy and makes all clothes smell better.

If you have to dry inside, use a fan. Dries them quickly. I agree with poster above - fresh, sunshine dried sheets and towels is my favourite day of the week

Not everyone has the opportunity to dry outside on the line (sadly)

OP do you have a laundrette near you that you can take the towels to tumble dry?

I dry my clothes in my bathroom on a clothes horse too ... although I run a dehumidifier to draw the moisture out. I got it from Aldi, it was about £100 but money well spent.

Wash with powder at 60⁰C. Mine dry over the bannister

How often do you clean your washing machine?
Do you use liquid or powder?

I sell vintage clothes and have dealt with some real stinkers

Spray with vinegar and hang above bath to steam

Wash with a cup of baking soda

Hang on line

Repeat as needed

You're all assuming the OP has a line / outdoor space.

It's the drying that's the problem. Dry them outside or tumble dry them. Or dry on a hot radiator, not a cold airer.

I use Persil non bio laundry liquid, no fabric softener. It's not been dry enough to hang them out to dry until recently I have a tumbler dryer but rarely use it. I usually wash them on 50 degrees. They're all dark towels. They've dried on the line recently, but still smell. Today I put them in the tumble dryer for 30 mins then hung them on the clothes horse to finish drying.

I don't think it's the washing machine, nothing else smells.

I don't have a bath. I'll try as much of the above as I can, starting with a very hot wash. Is baking soda the same as bicarb?

are they large and fluffy towels?

do you use a quick wash or the longer cotton cycles?

I'd say that your bathroom is probably damp. We only get smelly towels on holiday if we have towels in the bathroom and its an internal one with a fan only, rather than a window.

The good news is that there's lots of dry days coming up (where are you, it's been dry for a while here in Yorkshire) so you should be able to get them outside for a good blow after a hot wash. If that doesn't sort them out, and it's not your machine, I think there might not be anything you can do and it's new towels time.

The bathroom has a small window that opens, but I don't leave it open all the time due to the cold.

I wash them on 50 degrees, the cycle takes an hour and 39 minutes.

Dont use liquid, use powder. Powders have bleaches that help keep the drum clean.

A splash of zoflora or laundry cleanser in the fabric softener bit of your machine when washing your towels could help too

I have quite sensitive skin, will zoflora be a problem?