Why do my towels smeel like sweaty gym?!?

[ButtonLoon]

This has been going on for a while now, since we had to shower at DH's work while having our new boiler installed. I feel like I've tried everything - washing lots, washing on 90, line dry, tumble drier dry... they still smell like sweaty gym, it's gross.

What haven't I tried that will save me from the ick?

PS Towels are dark blue so would really rather not bleach them.

Smeel. facepalm

Perhaps it's your washing machine that needs a maintenance cycle?

Try running some zoflora through your normal wash to get the towels smelling normal again.

It could be a detergent build up, especially if you're using more and more powder thinking that will solve the problem. You need to run and rerun them with no detergent for several washes to stop that.

You could also try a bio powder in future if you're using non bio.

Your name is awesome. Didn't know we could use that many characters.

Maintenance wash is done, we don't use much detergent because it does build up so we are actually using less and less. I will try bio and I've never heard of Zoflora.

Oh yeah, I also washed them with a nice cupful of white vingear.

how do you dry the towels?
if they need more than a day to dry they tend to start to smell.

powder or liquid?
do you use softener?

Yes, I also think it's your machine that's the problem. It needs a few good maintenance runs, and that should do the trick. Also to dry the towels fairly quickly, out on the line on a dry day is ideal.

Aw fanks!

Sounds like you're on the right track, sometimes it just takes a while. Zoflora is in the disinfectant aisle btw.

They are line dried in the summer, tumble (condenser) dried in the winter. I suspect part of the problem might lie in the between-showers zone however, our bathroom doesn't have good air circulation and my towel hangs on a hook.

Liquid - ecover as I cannot stand fragrance.

The weird thing is though, the towels that didn't go to DH's work do not suffer this problem.

I would wash them a couple of times with biological powder, no softener at 90.

Ecover is your problem I suggest. We gave up on it. It doesn't work.

Soda crystals, bio detergent and wash at 60 degrees. :)

Ditch the liquid and get bio powder

ecover does bio powder as well. sometimes hard to find but cleans really well and smells lovely.

You need to run a couple of maintenance washes through your machine. Use soda crystals as you don't like fragranced stuff.

Switch to powder instead of liquid because liquids just don't contain the cleaning agents that powders do which help keep your machine clean. I use Aldi's own brand powder - it is nowhere nearly as strongly scented as branded powders. You can use half powder half soda crystals too to cut down on the amount of powder used. Soda crystals help soften the water and make the detergent dissolve and work more effectively.

Definitely dry the towels between uses. I hang mine over the shower screen after my shower then hang it on a hook later.

OK thanks everyone! If I remember I will report back, perhaps this is a project for when school starts back again!

Are the towels being folded up after a shower at work and going musty because of that?.

I'm going to replace mine with linen or cotton hammam style towels when funds allow or they don't dry on the towel rail between showers in the winter.

OK, I washed with a bio powder on 60, used a towel straight away - no smell. Pulled out the other towel to use a week later - smell. It was bone dry when it went into the cupboard, so I will investigate the other things stored in there!!