Well, how are you drying them? Or do they still stink when you remove them from the washing machine?

I dry them in the dryer. I don't notice the odor till I use the towels.

My aunt taught me to wash stinky clothes in Amonia. I use Amonia with lemon. It even removed underarm odor that stayed in my blouses when I was younger and had that hormonal "sweat"....lol

Give it a try....it can't hurt anything.

patti

Another thought...

If your washing machine is older...and had or has a fabric softner dispenser built in...they sometimes get clogged and the fabric softener spoils and smell rotten. I imagine it could get into the water and make things smell.

patti

If the towels are new it's probably from the dye. If you haven't washed them but once or twice, I'd keep trying. Just put them in when you need extra stuff to make a full load.

If you don't notice it until you actually are using the towels maybe they are picking up an odor from the closet they are being stored in. Do you notice an odor when you fold them?

Where do you store your towels? I no longer store mine in the bathroom, cause it is to humid and my towels were smelly.

Moni

What do they smell of?
I use Clorox Care (not Clorox) for my light color clothes and linens. The lady who told me about Clorox Care said she washes all her laundry with it. I've really been afraid to use it on dark towels, but she said it doesn't stain anything. It's up to you if you want to use it on the dark ones. She instructed me to mix it with the water and detergent, let it dissolve and mix in, then add your clothes. I have a habit of adding the clothes while the washer is filling, then mix detergent and Clorox Care in a bucket and pour it into the full machine. I really like this stuff.

For the dark colors, I use regular Lysol in the wash. I began that by using the blue Lysol because it was a disinfectant and smelled sooo good, but they stopped making it 5 or 6 years ago. So, I went to the regular Lysol for the disinfectant. Your towels will smell like it after washing, but it takes care of odors and the Lysol scent goes away in the dryer for the most part.

How long are they sitting in the washer before you get them in the dryer?? I have been having that problem here..no smell until they get wet again..I now use Oxiclean and only wash towels when I have time to put them in the dryer and get them dry as soon as the washer stops. DH told me that whatever I was doing was working, because he hasn't had a "stinky" towel in a long time..
If they sat in the washer any amount of time wet then they would stink when I dried them..so changing my washing habits has helped.

littlebit

I have one towel that smells as soon as you use it. Doesn't smell when it comes out of the dryer or off the line so it must be the dye. My other towels are fine.That one is navy blue...

I always wash towels (even colored ones) in the hottest water possible.

I put them in the dryer immediatly.

DON'T use fabric softener - it can build up over time, and it actually repels water, so it's best to not use it on towels. Did you know that one of the ingredients of fabric softener is animal tallow? No wonder it can start to stink :)

Don't use too much detergent either - I use about half of what they say.

Don't over fill the washer with towels - try about a half load of towel using the largest load setting so you have more water (hot).

Also, make sure everyone hangs up their towels after use so they can't get funky.

Some things that you could also add to the wash water that i have noticed that help me out with stinky clothes ( like when I leave the towels in too long) is baking soda, washing soda or borax. I use a 1/4 cup in the water and it seems to make a difference and gets the stinky out of the towels.

Stacie

Joan, maybe try putting them in a garbage bag with some charcoal, and close it tight, for a few days, then wash & dry as usual. I'm wondering if it is the dye in the towels causing the smell. If it is, the charcoal should pull all the smell out.

Tami

I've been having the same problem, Joann. The smell is on nothing else....not clothes or underwear.....just towels. It doesn't seem to matter whether or not I remove them from the dryer right away, either. I've tried everything and it's driving me nuts.

My DD suggested that it's the fabric softener and I guess if it's got animal tallow in it, no wonder! Ugh. I'm going to have to clean out the hidden places in my washing machine. Guess I haven't tried quite everything, after all.
Still, why wouldn't the smell be on the other things I wash using fabric softener?

I had the same problem with certain towels, My conclusion and apparent fix to it was they were not getting dry enough, so I bought some blue balls (they are sold as a 2 some for the dryer) I make sure the towels get a long dry cycle. The balls keep things moving and fluffed in the dryer so they seem to dry better, now no more smells.

When the washer stops, do you immediately remove them and put them in the dryer? If they tend to sit in the washer for awhile this is probably the issue.

I know what you mean because my towels stink too when I go to use them. The only thing I can contribute it to is that I used to let them sit in the washer for some time before moving them into the dryer. Once they get that smell, it's hard to get rid of it.

I bought new towel b/c mine were old anyway. Now, I put them in the dryer right away for a LONG drying cycle.

Also, make sure the towels are dry 100% when you take them out of the dryer. If they sit in there and they are a little bit damp, that will cause the smell too.

Ok - fess up -- what is the brand of your stinky towels?

We had this problem after buying a new front loading washing machine. We noticed the bath towels having a stale smell to them when used. I even had the repair man out to check the machine, they couldn't find anything. I hate the front loading washer!

I think due to using less water the towels don't get cleaned and rinsed enough. Not sure what type of washer you have but this was my experience.

Try some vinegar in the rinse water,it helps get out chemicals and any left-over detergent. Dry in a warm, but not hot dryer. This always works for me. We take a lot of showers and have a pool, so I washed literally thousands of towels.

I use a tiny shot of beach in the bleach dispenser. Yep I do! no smell!

When DD was in an apartment, she would put her damp towels in a pile when she was going to do laundry...sometimes it wasn't right away. She washed and washed them and couldn't get the funky smell out. She brought them to me last summer, I washed them in the hottest water, twice, both with strong vinegar rinses. Then I hung them out on the line for an entire sunny day. Not sure which part of it worked...I think it was the sun... but it did! They were the really big, fluffy 'bath sheets'.

Swimmer, I think you've hit on something. Our problem started when we got a front loader washer. Hmmmm....

we have a front loader that can get the towels stinky if we don't leave the washer door open so the inside of the machine dries out when we're done. we do laundry fri-sun and after each batch at the end of the day we leave the door wide open till we use the machine again. we've never had a problem since doing that unless dh forgets a towel batch overnight but then it's always his towels so that's his problem LOL! ~ liz