Smelly towels

[Tinseltrauma]

Does anyone have any idea why my towels smell? They smell fine when they come out of the drier and are put away. Then after just one use, and being hung on the heated rail, they smell awful - musty and stale. I really don't want to start washing them after just once use - for environment and lazy reasons! Please help!

Wash at 60 degrees with powder? Try dettol laundry cleanser

Agree with hot wash. I leave things to cool down before I put them away, are they completely dry.

I agree with the 60 degrees wash and is there anyway you could dry them outside?

What temp do you wash at and with what and also how do you dry? It sounds like^^ they are either not dry when you have finished or not washed fully (I mean by cycle ie a quick wash and detergent/softener not rinsed out).

yes to hot wash, at least 50 degrees
and don't use softener.

Hottest wash with biological washing powder or antibacterial product don't use any fabric softener and make sure they're fully dry before putting them away.

You might have resident soap sludge.

Put cotton towels only on a HOT HOT HOT wash with no soap and no fabsoft, and a cup of soda crystals (washing soda).

Does the water in the machine foam up and go grey?

If so, that's the old sludge dissolving out. It will be in your machine as well. Bacteria feed on it

You will find the towels come out softer and cleaner (and whiter, if they are white) than they went in.

You can also desludge the machine by running it empty with hot wash and soda crystals, but that seems wasteful to me as the towels also need it.

Use less powder, per instructions, and a spoon of crystals each wash to prevent future buildups. The crystals make the soap dissolve and work better. £1 a kg on the laundry shelves at the supermart.

Cool washes are not good at dissolving soap or detergent so it tends to create this residue. It's quite a common problem.

Thanks everyone. Reading your replies I suspect the wash temp is the problem (together with softener), as I always wash at 40 degrees . I read somewhere that the enzymes in bio powder don't work above 40, but not sure if that is correct?
It's puzzling though that they smell fine when they come out of the drier and start to smell only after one use and going on the heated towel rail. Maybe that is activating some sort of residue as PP have suggested.

most washing machines are cold fill, so the enzymes have plenty of time to work until the temp is too hot. then the 'soap' part takes over.

@woodencoffeetable ah, I see! Thank you.

I put mine in the tumble dryer for ten minutes after every use