How to get mildew smell out of towels?

Question

My husband being a penny pincher, makes everyone use their towels 2 or 3 times before tossin' them to the laundry.(I'm grown, so I refuse to do this, ick) The thing is I wash them and they smell great, but by the next day after it has been used(ick) they have a mildew smell. We have a towel rack that allows the towels to be spread out and air to move through so they dry and I even will spray with lysol and then fabreeze. But for whatever reason, they still smell like mildew. Is it because I line dry them? What can I do to keep them from smelling like mildew(other than washing daily)? I already use bleach in the wash. I have since stopped letting my kids use them 2 or 3 times before washing them, its just gross.

Yes I do have a dryer, but don't use it often(my husband is a tight wad). I think I might start though. All of the answers are good ones and Im doing towels today and bought the things that was suggested. So I'm going to wash in seperate loads and try each thing. I hope at least on of them will work for us, because I do not want to buy new towels, just for this to happen again.. Thanks!

I'll pick a best answer once I find out= )

Answer 1

I hear your pain. My kids have a habit of throwing their towels in a pile in their bathroom and not bringing them out for days...so we get the same nasty smell.

The quick and effective solution that I found is to put a cupful of OxyClean for laundry into the wash. It's actually a hydrogen peroxide-based cleaner, so it kills all the mildew organisms. No more smell and a whole lot less mildew in general in the bathroom after using it.

Answer 2

If you are washing your towels & washclothes in hot water, with a touch of bleach, that's great. I am stumped as to why they would still smell like mildew. Do you take the towels out of the washer as soon as they are ready to dry? If not, they will take on a mildew odor after a day or so. Are you using a liquid softener. Yes, maybe your towels smell like mildew if you are line drying. Do you not have a dryer? If you do, use it when the towels are nearly air dryed. The towels will be softer & smell better.

Answer 3

Try adding some baking soda to your wash. It helps in my front loader washing machine that has a tendency to have that mildewy, damp smell. I also add some liquid Downy with Febreeze to the wash at the beginning of the cycle (instead of waiting for the proper time) and my laundry smells fresh for a long time.
Also, you may want to run your towels in the dryer for a very few minutes after they have line dried for a while, just to get the stiffness out of them from line drying. Even a fluff or low heat cycle for 15 minutes would help...and it also makes the Febreeze/softener smell come out a little more.

Answer 4

My daughter has a bad habit of washing towels and leaving them for a few days before putting them in the dryer.

when I find them I wash them again and as you they smell okay until they get wet. then (ick)

I put some Lysol liquid in with my detergent. about half a cup and let it clean.

The towels smell good even after a day.

Answer 5

Buy new ones and tell your husband to hang up the towels to dry everyday.

Answer 6

all i can say is this. my mother in law's house flooded for katrina. she had 16" of water, and even though her clothes did not get wet. she brought them to my house (2 weeks after katrina hit b/c no one was allowed to go home in that area), washed them plenty of times, and even left them outside for days and spraying with frebreeze. the smell never ever went away. it even smelled up my house when she washed them. so she had to throw everything in her home away b/c of the smell. so i would just recommend getting new ones b/c that kind of smell will never go away.

Answer 7

Vinegar..believe it or not..add some to the washer and the smell will go away and they won't smell like vinegar either. It works!