Today’s challenge dealt with smelly towels. I accidentally forgot about a load of towels in the wash a little too long, one day. I had tried re-washing them a few times, but they still had that FUNK smell. (You know the one, right?)
I thought I might just have to throw them away, but “OH NO” Pinterst to the rescue! Alright, it I might have over dramatized it, just a tad. 😉
But truthfully, this pin is a good one!!! I found it here, but apparently it is common wikiHow knowledge.
Here’s all you need:
Just run it through the washer on the hottest setting with a cup of vinegar. Then do it again with a half a cup of baking soda.
Worked GREAT and saved my towels!
(Yes, I watermarked this picture, because I KNOW you will all want it! That or I just got carried away?) Difficulty: NOT (if you can wash your clothes, you can do this) Time it took: ~ 2 hours (two wash cycles & 1 dry cycle)
Cost:Â $0 (had everything on hand)
Finished Product:Â Clean towels that smell CLEAN
Savings:Â $$$$ (Could have cost a lot?)
See back here tomorrow with something for my girls…
~Angela
You are just too cute. I always throw baking soda in with my towels and also my whites.
It usually helps…but I’ll definitely keep this tip on hand for the next time I forget towels in the washer(which…let’s face it…WILL happen)
Anne, I am a perpetual “forgetter!”
I use about half a cup of vinegar in my washer for every load of wash, added during the rinse cycle. It helps to kill the bacteria that causes odors in all sorts of clothes (my DH’s work shirts being a big offender). It also helps to get any remaining soap out. Since I make my own detergent out of Fels Naptha, washing soda and borax, I don’t bother with the baking soda. Another obvious solution to the smelly clothes problem is chlorine bleach, which is extremely effective at killing bacteria. Obviously you have to be careful how you use it. Works well for white towels, but it may not be an option for colored towels, or clothes. Then again, sometimes it works without taking the dye out. Of course, it has a funky odor of its own, but it usually fades away over time.
Jusa, thanks for the tip about the vinegar. Remembering in the problem! 😉
For HE washers, Do you just put the vinegar in the detergent drawer or in the bleach slot?
Samantha, that’s what I did and it worked great!
Angela, For the Front load washer, which one did you put it in? The Detergent drawer OR the bleach slot? Thanks.
Chandni, I put it in the detergent one. Hope it works for you!! 🙂
i cant wait to try this – what kind of vinegar did you use?
Tonya, I just used apple cider vinegar because it’s all I had. It worked great!
Did you wash the towles with laundry soap first then again with the vineger / baking soda?
I only used detergent after I did the vinegar/baking soda. It’s supposed to strip the film off the towels that has built up from the detergent.
It worked great at getting the smell out!!
I’d seen (and tried) another version of this that involved letting the towels soak in the vinnegar tub for an hour before running it through the cycle, and then letting them sit in the baking soda tub for an hour before running it through the 2nd cycle. It worked great, but the two hours of “down time” just waiting was enough to keep me from doing it again. I’m trying your way this morning and am optimistic it’ll work as well as the other version. Don’t know why I didn’t think myself to just try it this way!
Mary, hopefully it will work great and save you some time! 🙂
I will be trying this. My towels are really stinky! I was curious how often you do this?
Robin, I don’t do it very often. It’s normally only after I have forgotten a load in the washer. 🙂
I kept noticing that my clothes were starting to smell bad VERY quickly- like if they stayed in the washer for an hour, I could smell it already! Eventually, even when my towels went straight to the dryer, I could smell the ‘funk’ when I started drying off. I could not figure out what I was doing wrong!
The smell had happened years before, but only because I left the laundry in.
Now, it was happening a lot- what had changed?
Well, I had a brand new washer- a top of the line washer, so I knew that couldn’t be it.
Finally, I decided to look up my problem online- & just in case, I added my washer’s brand name & model to the keywords ‘clothes stink’.
I hit paydirt!
Evidently, front-load washers are notorious for holding bacteria & detergent ‘slime’ in the rubber , on the drum and any other parts that are exposed to the concentrated soapy mess! Also, since they use so much less water than other washers, those parts don’t get rinsed as well.
Most people don’t realize that they only have to use 2.5 tablespoons of their regular liquid detergent (or buy the detergent marked HE- for HighEfficiency washers). But, even if you use the right amount, the ‘funk’ can still start setting up!
Try running your washer with a mix of vinegar, Borax & Washing Soda, using the hottest temperatures you can, it’ll get rid of that smell. (equal parts of Borax & Washing Soda & I added the vinegar to the fabric softener tray- as much as it would allow me to). The Washing Soda is KEY to getting the ‘detergent slime’ loose from your washer parts, & the Borax is a natural deodorizer. You can also do this about every 3-4 weeks as a preventative measure.
DO NOT add VINEGAR & BLEACH to the same load!!!
Use one OR the other.
Yes, bleach is excellent for killing bacteria- but, if your washer has detergent slime on it- hot water, Borax & Washing Soda will get rid of it for longer than 2-3 days
You can also add Borax & Washing Soda to every load of laundry(both are considered ‘boosters’, but each one ‘boosts’ in different ways- so, clothes get cleaner & I don’t have to use as much detergent anymore). I also started using the ‘Extra Water’ & ‘Extra Rinse’ settings.
Since I started doing that to each load, I haven’t had ANY smell build-up.
You can google the to find the exact amount of the ingredients to use. You may want to google to uses of Borax (it’ll kill fleas in carpet or pets’ beds- sprinkle & vacuum next day~ it’s a natural deodorizer….), Washing Soda & vinegar. {Washing soda is also made by Arm & Hammer, but it comes in a MUCH bigger box than baking soda- you may have to look online to see which of your stores carry it- I usually buy it at Kroger’s & at some WalMart stores; I get the Borax at WalMart}.
(Have you seen the Tide Washing Machine Cleaner? The mixture above is basically what it contains- at a FRACTION of the cost! I got an old OxyClean container & add equal amounts of Borax & Washing Soda- mixed it well- & w/each load of laundry, I add between 1 & 2 scoops of the mix, using an old KoolAid scoop.)
Sharnon, Thanks for the tip!! I use a a pre-made solution for my front loader, but I’ll have to try your solution!! 🙂
So it this ok to use on clothes as well? As in fire resistant clothing?
Krystle, I probably wouldn’t do it on the fabric if it needs to be washed.