why do my thick towels smell after washing??

[vannah]

hi
I originally thought it was because I wasnt drying them quickly enough, ie leaving them in the washing machine after washing finished and then only remembering a few hours later to tumble dry them. I thought it was the slow drying process as thats what happens with clothes, if they dont dry quickly enough (indoors- im in a flat)they smell of ...wee (sorry!) You know the smell I mean - like when an umbrella hasnt dried out properly...

anyway, stop rambling. I cant use fabric conditioner - only surcare due to eczema. My towels are fairly thick and Ive tried drying them on the radiators and immediately in tumble drier.

Any suggestions? I must sound mad!
thankyou

That doesn't sound mad. What you need to do is wash them with some vinegar, that will kill the bacteria and they shouldn't then smell.

I used to find this happened as well but put it down to me overfilling the machine with towels.

I don't use fabric softener as it makes them less absorbent and you just wipe the water round you rather than dry you!

What temp do you wash them at?

wmmc - great tip about the vinegar, meant to try that with the nappies but didn't get round to buying it - is it normal white vinegar?

You need to clean your washing machine every 3 months or so by putting it on the hottest cycle, with nothing in it apart from a bottle of white vinegar poured into the drum. This cleans the pipes and kills nasties in the machine!

you overload the machine

great, going to clean out washing machine first, try not to overload and wmmc - how much vinegar to wash towels? And where, in the drum or in the soap compartment?

In the drum - pour it all in. I put tea tree oil in with my fabric conditioner or in the soap compartment now and again too.

If you think what goes in a machine thouhg - pooey nappies, urinated nappies, knickers, vomit ridden clothes, in my case cat beds with bits of cat barf containing dead things no wonder it smells if it doesn't get cleaned occassionally!

I get this when I dry the towels in the dryer. If I dry them on the airer or washing line, they are fine.

Put essential oil in your dryer too - lavender is nice in the dryer.

Vannah a cupful will do it - I tend to get the cheapest vinegar in the supermarket since it all works the same.

hello, my mum was complaining that there was a smell of 'wee' in her bedroom it turned out that the smell vanished when she switched her brand of liquid soap detergent. she used to put washing on the radiator or on a maiden on the landing

wash them on a hot wash.... at least 60

According to the man who came to mend my dishwasher a few weeks ago, all machines should be run on their strongest/hottest cycle at least once a week to keep the machines clean and in good working order. So you ought to be doing a 90° degree wash cycle at least once a week to ensure the machine is clean.

As for towels, I usually wash them at 60° and from time to time at 90° in Ariel but never with fabric conditioner. I then tumble them dry. They never smell.