I've never heard this, but maybe someone else has.

I have found that certain cotton towels absorb the fragrance of the dryer sheets more than others. Depends on the kind of cotton and how thick, I suppose. The towels I ordered from Sferra are the fluffiest, best smelling towels I've ever had. Others from Lands End are not. The original cotton used in making the towel will affect how they smell also.

What brand of fabric softener sheet are you using? I find Bounce the best for fragrance next to RH's natural lavender ones. I'm not sure RH even makes those anymore.

That's a new one on me. At least that I can remember. For me, not smelling smells great. Usually it's not the fabric itself that smells rather it's something in there. If you wash it out, it'll be softer, odor limited unless the fabric really does have a smell, should last longer and absorb better in the case of towels and the like. I've gotten away from things that don't do something to clean. I have gotten to dislike fabric softeners, perfumed air "fresheners" and the like.

I think one point that is overlooked is letting towels dry after using. I think too many people toss them in a damp/wet heap into a hamper or something to grow and ferment and then wonder why they smell. I hang towels and washcloths up to dry then toss toss them down the clothes chute when they've dried.

Twebbz, I am on the same hunt. How do you use the peroxide? In the wash or the rinse, and how much?
Many thanks for your time,
J

Peroxide is best used in the wash with warm or hot water. Most machines rinse with cold and peroxide does not work in cold water. Here's what I do for my whites, I wash at 150F and let it go for about 10 minutes to allow the enzymes to do their thing, I then add 3/4 to 1 cup of peroxide and let the cycle finish. The results are whites that are just as white as if I was using chlorine bleach. For colored items I would probably use a half cup with warm or hot water. Hope that helps.

How expensive THAT must be for a laundry add-in! Not to mention the large number of chemicals in it: "Active ingredients in commercial brands of mouthwash can include thymol, eucalyptol,[13] hexetidine, methyl salicylate, menthol, chlorhexidine gluconate,[11][14] benzalkonium chloride, cetylpyridinium chloride,[15] methylparaben, hydrogen peroxide, domiphen bromide and sometimes fluoride,[16] enzymes and calcium. Ingredients also include water, sweeteners such as sorbitol, sucralose, sodium saccharine, and xylitol (which doubles as a bacterial inhibitor).[17]"

"Sometimes a significant amount of alcohol (up to 27% vol) is added,[18] as a carrier for the flavor, to provide "bite",[19] and to contribute an antibacterial effect.[20]"

I avoid "smells" and scents of all kinds because most of them seem to be a toxic chemical of one kind or another. I'm with cynic on this one... NOT smelling is perfectly acceptable. If they smell like mold/mildew, then you have another problem. Although there are enough types of antibacterial ingredients in mouthwash to probably take care of THAT problem. A couple T. of bleach OR (brown bottle) Lysol, OR washing soda or borax might be other effective, and less expensive, alternatives.

We use our towels for the entire week before washing them. They are hung near a floor register where the fan on the furnace/AC is on constantly, so they dry quickly after each use. I use Charlie's Soap (1-T. per large load of laundry) and vinegar in the rinse in towels. No smell when dry, other than the great outdoors from line drying them. The sun also sanitizes, as an additional plus to line drying outside.

I also agree with thoroughly drying wet towels (bath and kitchen) before placing them in the laundry. We have an accordian, wall-mounted drying rack in the laundry room where everything wet is air-dried before it gets placed in the laundry baskets.

-Grainlady

Egads!!! Fresh smelling towels is one thing, but minty fresh is not my idea of clean for towels or clothing.

If your towels are not smelling clean after laundering, then they are not getting cleaned in the wash. Rather than just covering up the problem with fragrances which will break down eventually and then the bad smell will return, concentrate on getting them clean without the use of adding fragrances.

Gain is about the strongest smelling detergent out there and if you are finding that even Gain cannot cover up the smell enough then there is something else going on with your laundry. Why do you not like Borax?

Does your machine need cleaning? Could your towels have a build up on them from using dryer sheets? I would suggest to continue with the vinegar rinses, but stop the dryer sheets for awhile and see if you can get some of the old residual fabric softener out of them.

Janet

As someone that does formulary, I wouldn't think that would be very cost efficient. Mouth wash in general is a simple recipe of mostly alcohol, water, mint essential oil, sweetener, and preservatives. It is the alcohol that kills the germs/bacteria and the mint which gives it that fresh flavor.

I can see how maybe the alcohol in the mouthwash "Might" kill some of the germs in your laundry to freshen it, but the dilution ratio wouldn't seem like it would be an effective germ/bacteria killer once you mix it with that much water in your machine. The peppermint essential oil used in flavoring might freshen slightly, but no better than a few drops of essential oil added into the wash.

I would think that is an expensive and not very effective way to freshen towels.

If it were the machine, other types of laundry would have an odor but that is not the case. For towels, borax and washing soda have no effect on odor. Baking soda is a little better. I use AFFRESH to clean the machine every couple months.

I have a compact Maytag MAH2400. The best method to clean towels so far is two manual rinse and spins. Then the longest heavy duty hot wash with an extra rinse. Then another manual rinse and spin. I use GAIN HE powder at small load half amount, VIVID small load half amount, 1/3 cup hydrogen peroxide and fill the fabric softener compartmant with vinegar. The results are very good.

BTW...I tried FEBREZE LAUNDRY ODOR ELIMINATOR. I did one manual rinse and spin then the longest heavy duty hot wash with extra rinse and one manual rinse and spin. I used GAIN HE powder at small load half amount, half scoop of SUN OXY and the FEBREZE, cap amount line one. The result not as good as with the Hydrogen Peroxide as the thicker towels still had a light odor.

I use Pine Sol to freshen towels and whites, your laundry will smell yummy and clean, not like disinfectant. Use the Original Pine Sol, there is directions on the back of the bottle.