1/4 cup Miele Ultra Color powdered using Miele scoop. For colored towels. I use powder for everything. Ultra White for whites.

I'm doing Tide powdered Ultra Oxi lately

liquid dye/scent free detergent, extra rinse and scent free oxyclean and hot setting, hot dryer.

I use very little Tide free he turbo liquid, clorox2 pod, borax, hot water with a long soak. Two or three rinses. Vinegar in the first rinse. Don't know if it's my washer or water, but powders are hard to rinse and clothes are harsher feeling. Thank the Good Lord, I don't have a problem with musty odors.

Mostly I use a liquid for towels. They seem to be softer with liquid detergent.

I stopped using liquid a few years ago because it made my towels and washer smell.

Either, although usually powder. With chlorine bleach added more often than not on the white and colorfast specimens (have very few that aren't).

I agree with little greeny and elbits. Washing towels with liquid detergent made our towels harbor a mildew/moldy smell, no matter how well rinsed or dried. We have some white towels that I will occasionally wash with kitchen linens and use a bit of Clorox on. Almost every load of towels I wash I use hot water.

I use liquid and towels come out great❣️I have a LG washer and dryer and love them both. No issues.

I use Tide Powder for all my laundry now. No more stinky smell in the towels anymore!

Tide With Bleach Powder for white towels.

Liquid Chlorine Bleach.

I use powder for everything except darks — but only because I have been unable to FIND Cheer powder for darks lately. I feel like liquid can gum up your washer’s works and sometimes cause smells. YMMV.

We use Miele and Tide PurClean liquids only. Towels always washed at 140F. Never any smells other than the detergent fragrance if any.

I have used Tide powder for towels for years. On occassion I will use a liquid if I am trying to get rid of it. However, our new home has even harder water and we are using a newer GE TL. The Tide powder makes a notable difference in softening the water.

Tide original powder for all my laundry but blacks/navy. Hot water for towels + additional rinse. All the towels for DH's bathroom are white while mine are pastel. I occasionally use a dilute Clorox with white towels.

I've been using liquid detergent for my towels for decades and never gotten any smell from it. I also use scent-free detergent which I think is important to avoid any stale perfume smell.

I believe that water temperature is more important than whether you use liquid or powder detergent. I also only have white towels so that I can use the hottest water temperatures and not worry about color fading. My Miele W1 washer has an onboard heater, and I use the hottest temperature setting to wash towels with liquid detergent. Everything comes out perfectly clean, and odorless.

I use my homemade detergent for everything -- it's the best!

4 lb, 12 oz Borax

3 lb, 7 oz Arm & Hammer super washing soda

3 lb OxyClean

4 lb Arm & Hammer baking soda

Two 14.1 oz bars Zote soap

55-oz jar Purex Crystals fabric softener

I never use liquid detergent; first because it's more expensive for no more result, second because I try to minimize the number of one-time use plastic bottles I send to landfills.

I use Arm and Hammer Free and Clear liquid. Works great. Supposed to be scent free but I do notice a mild pleasant scent. I find it funny to see people care so much about using the perfect detergent and perfect washing machine, and then use fabric softener to put stinky oily hard to remove chemicals on their clothes. It bothers me when I’m standing next to someone with those fabric softener scented clothes. They have no idea that they make people gag. Is there anyone who gave up on fabric softener and survived it?

I use powder on towels. Which variety of powder I use varies based on what is on the shelf at the moment. Tide, Latin Ariel, All, now using 123 from the Mex market. I wash towels at 140F. Will add oxygen bleach much of the time if not using Tide w/Bleach powder. No smells. Always fresh. We used to have stinky towels when I had a poor perfomring front loader and used liquid detergent. Quite nasty and embarrasing.

SEA SEA,

No need to be embarrassed. People just don't know! That's why we exist!!

Though, I will say, I have used my fair share of nasty towels from other people's homes. I guarantee they are all washed with liquids, cold water, and no additional rinses.

Anna,

I use a very small amount of softener in a majority of loads. I agree that they are strong smelling when you don't use them, but I'm sure the people you smell are using entirely too much!! Not to mention all these new formulas that are designed to have long lasting scents and are scented to the point that your olfactory receptors are burnt up!

Mrs Pete,

If you can find it, I HIGHLY recommend using BIZ powder in place of OxiClean for your recipe. The addition of enzymes will supercharge it!

I use powder for everything. The repairman for our old washer told us that the liquids gum up the inside of the machine and are not good for it.

I will say one thing here. If you notice, the people who do not have any issues with their towels smelling in this thread are ones that use true hot washes on their towels. I firmly believe that any detergent will be OK as long as you are using a temperature that is going to be able to remove dirt, oil, residue, and kill certain bacteria. Warm washes (40ºC) might be ok when using a powder with a bleach activator, though I would not recommend it.

If you can find it, I HIGHLY recommend using BIZ powder in place of OxiClean for your recipe. The addition of enzymes will supercharge it!

Hmm, I don't know BIZ, but I'll try it when I make another batch of detergent -- but that'll be months.

use true hot washes on their towels.

I use hot every couple washes, but not every time.

Remember people, reduce your detergent amounts for towels and denims. Down to a 1/4 of what you would use for a load of dirty sweats/T's/underwear or whites load. Powder or liquid. You will start to resolve a lot of issues with the towels.

I wash bath towels and wash cloths with kitchen linens (dish towels and dish cloths) and socks, and the occasional general-purpose cleaning cloths. Full dose of detergent, spiked with STPP (for 10 years), always chlorine bleach. Never softener. I typically use softener on sheets, blankets, comforters, and a small dose on shirts. I have no issues with towels, never did for the duration that I've been doing laundry.

For years now the only time I have had towels that smelled a little disagreeable is when I did not let them get 100% dry. I always use FS, but am very careful about the amount, and only use powder detergent and 20 Mule Team Borax. Occasionally Clorox with a load white only towels.

I am curious about the people who have Mieles and other machines with on-board heaters that use liquid detergent rather than powder as I wonder if water that hot completely compensates for not using powder in terms of long-term buildup. Using FS I know I am probably adding some buildup to my outer tub, but if I get 15 years or so out of my SQ, I will be very satisfied.

Sorry for the thread hijack, but Dorian Crouse,...your new Kenmore FL washer didn't come with you and your family on the move to a new house? I saw upthread that you are using a newer GE TL now.

There's a large difference between using liquid detergent in a Miele with onboard water heating that can reach "high temperatures" vs. a typical toploader or a frontloader without water heating and (probably) washing everything in cold or the dumbed-down temps that pass nowadays for warm or hot.

Do FLs with onboard heaters heat the water before it comes into the tub or when it's already in the tub?

^^^What dadoes says. Even though I only washed in hot and warm in my previous FL washers, I never got a true hot (140F) wash due to automatic temp reduction. I estimate I only got as high 111F, even on hot. Thus, the stinky and moldy smelling towels. I couldn't understand (at the time) why our towels stunk so bad. As dh used to say: I don't get it...we bought the machines, we use good detergent, the only time the washer's door is closed is when you are running a wash, you use hot water, wth?

When it's in the tub, Nick.

What I don't get, is why before FLs were the norm, and before washers heated the water became commonplace, why the issue of mildewy smelling towels was not an often reported problem. I used liquid detergent and FS for years in my TL Maytag then Kenmore then GE washers, and never had an issue with laundry having that odor. I never washed in cold, and Hot was whatever my WH was set at.

Detergents had phosphates, weren't "eco."

"... Hot was whatever my WH was set at."

^And there's that. Warm and Hot weren't restricted to 75°F and 95°F.

Dadoes, I have no idea what the temperature was; I set it very high. Our house now has two water heaters, and the one that services the kitchen and laundry is scalding hot. Still, back in the 80s and 90s I never had an issue with towels smelling bad. The first time that ever happened to me was with my first FL washer in 2001. That is when I switched from liquids to powder.

SEA SEA,

Yes, the Kenmore is in storage for the time being. Due to my continued education, I am currently still living at home. My mother was engaged and we planned on moving a while after. Since we just made the move, the GE is our daily driver instead of the Kenmore, though I will say I continue to be impressed by it! I miss the internal heater and 1300 RPM spin. Oddly enough, clothes are far more wrinkled with this machine despite 700 RPM spin and being machine dried. Very odd.

Mrs Pete, something like every other wash being hot should be OK, though not optimal.

Mark, with soft water I agree to reduce detergent dosing, though this might be an issue with harder water. I, like Dadoes, usually use a logical amount of detergent for our scenario, though I also typically use an extra rinse.

Someone else had mentioned it is very important to completely dry towels in the dryer. If not, this will in fact produce mildew and odor from bacteria and spores in the air. This is one of the major reasons why I always machine dry my towels. Drawing towels on extra low heat also may not be enough to force all moisture out of the towels before the dryer turns off.

I have stayed at peoples houses or they wash their towels and too low of a temperature. The towels are significantly better after just one wash in true hot water. Though, you can imagine the amount of junk being removed from the machine itself. As mentioned above, some people have their hot water heaters set on the factory setting of 120°F. Especially for non-ATC machines, this will produce lower warm water temperatures and unsatisfactory hot washes. Our old Kenmore TL from when I was a kid was directly next to the hot water heater, but this did not matter since the water heather was set at the lowest setting. Hot water washers would potentially cool down to 110°F before the wash action would even begin. We might be onto something here. Most Americans don't even touch their hot water heater, and for some this may play a role and poor results when using hot water. Though, some of us lucky ones have built-in heating elements in our machines, and some even have 240V supply.

As far as residues go, we never had an issue with residue in our old duet of 11 years. We did a wide array of washes with liquid detergent. I am not afraid to wash in cold water, it just has its place. I also use fabric softener. I just don't understand how people have such high amounts of residue and buildup unless they are exclusively using water temperatures below warm. Another factor that I've always had a suspicion about is washing with detergents that do not contain enzymes. When using detergent as such, body oil, sweat, sebum is not going to be fully removed unless there is a temperature of at least 100°F or greater. I would be very interested to see if these oils can potentially bind to hard water minerals or detergent and form harmful residues over time.

Now that I think of it my grandparents had a Kenmore top load and used ATC called for majority of washers with tide powder and downy. While the machine was not spotless it wasn't as bad as you would expect. For whatever reason she decided to switch to tide pods. That machine within months had a very thin layer of residue and did not smell polite. I wonder if that could be attributed to the sodium percarbonate and SPS activator working to keep some organisms at bay. Although will never know.

Thank you for the update. I'm glad to hear you have the Kenmore. I hope all goes well for you and your family. A lot going on! I hope the GE continues to be a friend to your laundry.

SEA SEA,

Originally when the house went under contract the washer and dryer were listed on it. I had to haggle both machines back as that was a mistake on the realtors part. It took quite a lot of hunting to get that machine and it's gonna have to be pried from my cold dead hands. She's not going anywhere. Hope you are doing well also!

We must have really weird water (moderately hard avge 90ppm) where we live. Whenever I wash any towel on HOT (140° F), it becomes scratchy while most of the posters here don't have that problem. When a friend of mine got her first FL washer, her towels became scratchy (I have no idea what temp she used or the detergent dosing because her washer was a different brand from ours)

The newest Costco towels I bought a couple months ago have only been washed in Very Warm (120°F) and they are not as soft as they were when brand new. We do not use fabric softener, so this just stumps me.

I have some older towels (30-40 years old) that are the old "velour" type bath towels. For some reason, they are not scratchy. Now I'm starting to wonder if that is due to the shorter loop? All these newer "plush" towels just get stiff and scratchy in HOT water. Argh!!!

I even bought and used the product for diaper-stripping that removes excess detergent, in case that was a problem, and there was no change.

I can see you having a 'talk' with the realtor Dorey. : ) I'm glad you got that sorted out! I remember how much thought you put into the new Kenmore. Best of luck in the new place. I also hope the schooling goes smoothly. I have a kid starting her ph.d in a couple weeks. It's a lot. I'll be keeping good thoughts for you. Both of you! : )

Cavimum, Mamapinky probably would have had thoughts on your scratchy towel situation. Sorry to hear your new Costco towels went stiff. That's too bad. I know you had high hopes. We have softish water here and full fill SQ TL. I think that might be why our Costco towels are still pretty soft. I don't use fabric softener either. When we had our crummy FL washers, our old, (new at the time) Costco towels were rough and scratchy and the loops were matted down. Those got better in the SQ, but to this day are not as soft as our newer Costco towels are, which had never been in that FL that stiffed up our old towels. Water chemistry and the washing machine seem to play a large roll in any issues we may have. I know I can't rinse well enough here, no matter what I do.

"Scratchy" fabric can be caused by residual precipitates from hard water, esp. with detergents that are heavy on sodium carbonate. A non-precipitating water softener such as STPP (complex phosphates) can help. It can be added to the wash, rinse, or both. I suggest dissolving it in warm water for adding to the final rinse. May or may not help but is something to try.

Vintage washer ad touting automatic dispensing of additives ... the compartment for Calgon water softener dispenses "at beginning of rinse period."

Just regarding people talking about their hot water heaters' set temperature. A number of states in the U.S. (but not all) adhere to anti-scald codes and regulations (International Plumbing Code, SBCCI, National Standard Plumbing Code (PHCC), and Uniform Plumbing Code). Those codes require a maximum temperature of 120°F. If you live in one of those states, you won't get your washer's hot water above 120°F without the washer having an onboard heater.

(As an aside, these code regulations are not without reason. In the United States, scald injuries from tap water send about 112,000 people to the emergency room each year, and hospitalize nearly 7,000.)

Amazing Norge washing machine dadoes! I can't imagine having such the machine! Thanks for sharing, and good reminder about stpp. I tend to forget to use it myself, but it makes a difference.

Shannon, very true about scalding. Our old water heater only went as high as 120F. Our new one can go as high as 180F, but I keep set to 140F as I don't want anyone to get harmed. 140F is plenty hot and damaging to skin. We had to train ourselves to open the taps in a different pattern when the new water heater was installed to not burn ourselves. We don't have young children here anymore, but if we did, I'd have it set to 120F for safety.

Is Calgon something we should be using in our washers or has it been supplanted by all the softening agents already in detergent?

Good question, Nick. I'll bump this up, waiting for answers.

Right