Question About Laundry

Hi T.

You should try products from Melaleuca, they are awesome.Just contact me at my website www.internetceomoms.com/suesievers.

T.-
Try washing in hot with a little detergent and 1/4 cup of baking soda. If you do this consistently, the smell will go away. Good luck! J.

Hi T.,

I know you've received tons of great advice, but works great for me is a product called "Smelly Wash". I bought mine for about $17 at Ace Hardware. You put a capful into your empty washing machine and run it on the hottest setting; let the water sit overnight. This will clean your machine first before you use it on your towels. Then you do the same thing with towels only you let them sit for 2 hours. Re-wash them with laundry soap. It works amazingly well! I think it's desiged for front-load washers since they're prone to mildew and odor problems. You should really give this a try!

Good luck!

S.

Hi T......I have the same problem!! Here's what I can figure out...I think once the towels are subjected to mildew, unless heavily bleached, we will always get the odor when they are damp...have you ever noticed that odors come out of your carpeting when the air outside is super humid and heavy?..same reasoning...so my thought with my towels is one last ditch effort to bleach thoroughly (not so great if they're colored) and if that doesn't work then they are goners...I've decided for the price of a new bath towel at Target, it's not worth feeling gross everytime I shower!! Life's too short!!

T.,

I had the same problem. I started throwing in some bleach with my loads. The times I forget, I get the lovely smell....I don't put in a ton, as to bleach the towels, but enough to get the smell out...

I used to have the same problem! My solution was simple: we don't have a vent in our bathroom, so the towels never really fully dried between uses! Now we fully stretch them out after uses. One towel gets the entire towel bar and the other we hang on the shower curtain bar. Hope this helps you too!

We are "going green" and trying to poison the family as little as possible so there is no bleach in my house (a little lie, 'cuz I think the hubby bought some to de-mildew the basement shower--but I never use it). Bleach is very nasty for the body. When I had this problem, I, too, thought baking soda or vinegar must be the answer. So I sent the load through a double rinse cycle first with both. My front-loader can't soak a load or I would have done that instead. Then I washed them regularly in hot (might have thrown in some Borax, but don't think it was the answer) and added vinegar again to the final rinse. The smell was gone. I don't know which action did it, though, so I still have some experimenting to do.

I had this same problem until I switched to homemade laundry soap. Very easy and cheap. Check out my website, I published an article about it the other day and have the recipe listed. www.momlifestyle.com
The smelly towels are gone in my house!

try using bleach...but 1st get some wd-40 spray on towels-let sit...then wash in hot water with bleach....always did the trick for me....good luck

Do you use Dawn? I had the same problem until I switched to another brand.

I am late to post, but one other thought is that some synthetic materials trap odors and you just can't get them out. If your towels are not 100% cotton (or other natural fiber), you may be past the point of return. ;-)

This is somewhat repetive, but what works for me is to use cold water (both wash and rinse). Hot and warm water can trap smells. I also use 1/2 cup of white vinegar. I add it as the washer is filling up with water, but before I put the towels in. Then I air dry them. Good luck!

T.-- I am sorry if I repeat another responce. I have used vinegar before when I notice a smell in my towels. I have put some water in a a plastic bin with some vineger (about 1/2 cup) and let them soak for a while. I then wash as normal. Too much vinegar will make them smell too, so not too much. Good luck!!

I am glad that I looked at your question this am. I am a team member in a company called Shaklee. You may have seen our products on Oprah. "Get Clean" is a line of concentrated "Green" porducts that I just can't say enough about. I recently had this same conversation with a work friend and she tried one of the products called Basic G and loves it. She has 5 kids and lots of towels and they had the same musty smell until she started using the Basic G. I would love to get you some of this product. It is inexpensive and very effective and best of all safe for your home, family, and the environment. You can brows Shaklee product at Shaklee.com and let me know. ###-###-#### or e-mail with more question @ ____@____.com Thank you

T.,

I've had this problem before too. Nothing like buring your clean face into a musty smelling towel, is there?
In the past, I have filled my washer with warm or hot water, added 1/2 cup of bleach and 1/2 cup of Free and Clear detergent. Then, I added my towels. This way the bleach does not discolor the towels but does disinfect them.
Hope this helps.

I use a product called "Odoban". I get mine at Sam's Club...so not sure where else it's even available. This product costs me just under $10 for a gallon and works wonders.

What kind of laundry soap do you use?

What kind of water do you have, is it city water or well water?

Dependign on those questions will help you answer your question.

There a lot of chemicals in laundry detergents.

And depending how much chlorine is in your water...depends on the chemical reaction going on in your washing machine.

I have used Melaleuca's laundry sopa for over 8 years and haven't used anything else in quite some time. We switched to the Melaleuca store years ago to help our daughter's excema and found that due to the tea tree oil in the detergent, we no longer have the issues with moldy smelling laundry. We also find less lint in the dryer. Because our clothes aren't being eaten!

Anyways...if you would like more information, I would lvoe to answer any questions.

Good luck!

J.

I've had some luck getting very mildewy smelling towels to smell better by hanging them out in sunshine for a full day...even sometimes letting them get rained on and then drying again helps, for some reason.

One thing that can cause washclothes to smell really bad is if you throw wet ones in the laundry without hanging them to dry. Whenever I use a washcloth I'll hang it over the side of the laundry basket to air dry. Otherwise it gets buried and gets musty and then when you wash it and use it again it will stil smell.
One way to get the smells out is to use a few drops of tea tree oil, or even bleach in your wash load. Also using oxyclean or borax can help. You can also put vinegar in your rinse cycle.
Once you get the smell out it will stay out for a while. I just use the extra stuff every month or so because the smell tends to be a buildup thing over time.
Definitely be sure to hang used washclothes to dry though and you may be able to avoid it altogether.
Best Wishes,
J.

T., I also had this problem and tried everything.. Extra bleach, baking soda vinegar etc. I finally researched it on google and was amazed at what I read and what actually worked. I am not sure what kind of detergent you are using since you did not mention it. Not brand but liquid or powder. If you are using liquid switch to powder. That is what my problem was. We just bought a new washer and dryer and the guy at Nebraska Furniture Mart mentioned that same thing. To always use powder to avoid your items smelling. Just be careful when you use cold water and make sure that the powder gets completely disolved. I switched back to powder a couple years ago and have had no problems since.

Good luck,

S.