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.

Dont know really. Try vinegar instead maybe

I already use vinegar, in nearly every wash. It's made no difference. I might try Dettol laundry liquid.

But you haven't tried powder. Bio or non bio powder will have bleaches to thoroughly clean the towels and the machine

I'm not a massive anti bac fan but I'm addicted to the Dettol laundry liquid! I use it on towels and some sports kit. Also deffo swtich to powder. Or bio liquid just for the towels

You need a long, hot cottons wash, at 60 degrees, with a fast spin. Put in more washing powder than you usually use.

OP I can't dry outside, don't have a tumble dryer or radiators so find drying washing challenging.

Things smell if they don't dry quickly enough.

Check your washing machine is clean and not smelly, if so clean it first.

Give the towels a hot wash with wash powder and no softener to get rid of the smell. Then you need to dry them thoroughly and quickly.

Start by giving them an extra spin cycle in the machine, get them out as soon as the cycle ends. Then find somewhere dry and warm to hang them where you can spread them out. A clothes airer doesn't give you enough space for bath towels.

I put a heater and a dehumidifier on in the room I am drying washing in if it is cold. On warm sunny days I open the windows.

Try rigging up a washing line indoors to give you space to hang the towels without folding them or doubling them up. If you can a line above your stairs works well.

Another option is to open your curtains and use a couple of clothes hangers with the clips for skirts to hang your towels from the curtain rail. Leave the window open so you get air flow. Internal doors are another good place to consider.

Do not try to dry washing in the bathroom, it is the dampest place in the house.

Do not do all your washing at once, only try to dry one load at a time.

Do not put things away until they are absolutely dry as that makes them smell.

For other items a hot iron helps ensure things are 100% dry before you put them away.

The problem is caused by the towels staying damp for too long (when in use and after washing). They get kind of mouldy and it's incredibly hard to get the mouldy smell out of them. If they weren't dark coloured then I would try bleach. Or maybe washing at 90 (with powder only) a few times.

If they hang on hooks and you can't dry them fast after washing then this is likely to be a perennial problem, even if you buy new towels. Sorry.

Is there room for a freestanding towel rail at all? I think you can get plug-in heated ones. You can definitely get heated drying racks from Lakeland etc. Is there any chance you could keep bath towels on one of these (maybe in a bedroom) so that they aren't wet all the time, and only take them into the bathroom when you need to shower? Hand towels obviously need to be by the basin, so that's more difficult.

A dehumidifier can also help a lot.

I'll use my tumble dryer when I can't hang them out. I've just been trying to cut down on cost of electricity.

The washing machine is old, but the rest of my washing doesn't smell so I guess it's because the towels aren't drying properly whilst in use.

So .. I washed half a load of towels on 90 degrees with just a cup of vinegar then dried them in the tumble dryer ... they smell clean now. Thank you very much everyone. As soon as I get more vinegar I'll wash the rest, then use bio powder from now on.

Definitely the ‘drying’ causing it. Both my landlords dried on airers indoors and always smelt musty and fusty. Things need to dry quickly so either hung outside or dryer. Completely dry them then fold and store. (Avoids dryer condensation which again, causes fusty musty smell).

Between showers, you need to hang your towel to dry properly as well, outside the bathroom. Try hanging it over the back of a wooden chair in front of an open window in your living room, etc.

Now that you've got the smell out they'll be okay to wash at 60 degrees on a cotton cycle. Then I always tumble dry as it gets them fluffy. They're never smelly.

What you can smell is bacteria. You're not washing the towels at a hot enough temperature, so you're not killing the bacteria that will naturally be on them.

And then you're not drying them quickly enough and the bacteria is able to develop again in the warmth & damp. Because it must take quite a while to dry if you're drying them on an airer in the bathroom - long enough, warm enough and damp enough for the bacteria to get going again.

They need a proper hot wash and then dry thoroughly and quickly - either outside if you can or in the tumble dryer and then finish off outside.

Do you have a heated towel dryer/radiator in your bathroom? Popping them over this should dry them out between uses.

Thanks. I've a radiator in the bathroom, but it's right next to the toilet. But then so is the hook to hang it on ...

Try adding a cup of bicarbonate of soda to every wash in future. Not dissimilar to white vinegar in benefits but without the smell.