"Stripping" Towels?

MrsKittieFantastico · March 2009

Ok, so something is wrong with my bath towels. Apparently, we had an issue with our washing machine stinking - musty So now all of our towels smell musty, no matter how many times we wash them (the washing machine is now un-smelly) and no matter how much detergent we use. We also *used* to use dryer sheets with out towels, so I imagine they aren't as?absorbent?as they should be.

Can I strip my bath towels like you do CD's - with blue dawn? I have a HE front-load machine, how much dawn should I use? Should I use any baking soda or vinegar?

TIA!

MKF

P.S. Any other suggestions would be appreciated!?

JenShea · March 2009

I would just wash them with only white vinegar - no detergent or softeners.

Alirebco · March 2009

You can also use RLR to strip towels.

suzymarie · March 2009

I occasionally get musty towels, and I have had a heck of a time getting rid of it. I think ours are usually from DH putting a wet towel in the laundry basket, and if I don't do laundry within a day they get permanently stinky. I have even bleached them to no avail. I think I am going to try a boatload of vinegar though, I hadn't thought of that.

Temp76535187505890 · March 2009

Personally, I can always smell the vinegar in the towel when they get wet again so I dont use vinegar with our towels. I would try the Dawn thing just like doing diapers. I'd just squirt in a bit, wash and rinse the heck out of them.

MTOW · March 2009

Sometimes I put just a few drops of Dawn in a prewash cycle for my towels. I've also started using diaper detergent on them.

Borax may also help, and pour vinegar over them before starting the wash.

maramarrie · March 2009

I have stripped towels before to get out fabric softener when it was accidentally used. I have used a tiny amount of bleach in the wash to deal with musty smell (or use the sanitary wash with normal detergent). Also, baking soda also helps with the odor when used every now and then. I don't have a problem with that smell much anymore since I use light colored towels (smell is worse with dark towels) and they are a bamboo blend, which helps. I had never washed anything with vinegar in the wash until I started CD (I just didn't know all the wonderful things about vinegar before that).

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