So when you notice a musty or sour smell in your towels or they lose softness and absorbency, Forté recommends adding one cup of distilled white vinegar during the final rinse (for a standard top-load washer that fills with water) to remove the odor.
Soak your stinky towels in a bucket of white, distilled vinegar for 30 minutes to overnight with a tablespoon of detergent to help loosen body soils. Vinegar contains acetic acid that breaks up mineral deposits and dissolves the build-up of body soils on your towels. Rinse thoroughly.
White vinegar is an all-natural towel stain remover—and it can eliminate that musty towel smell, too. To use this ingredient to your benefit, follow Mooney's advice: "Soak items in distilled white vinegar for three minutes before adding them to your washing machine," she says.
Boil towels occasionally Boiling towels in a pot of water for about 10 minutes can sanitize them and remove odors. Soak towels in vinegar and baking soda Soak towels in a mixture of water, vinegar, baking soda, and a little detergent overnight. Then wash them in the washing machine.
Adding vinegar directly to the wash with your laundry detergent may compromise its cleaning performance. Laundry detergents are formulated for specific pH levels, which may be disrupted by the acidity of vinegar, leading to less effective cleaning. It's best to avoid mixing them to ensure optimal results.
"Vinegar can help neutralize odors in the home, such as in the kitchen or refrigerator," says Katie Dills, senior vice president, The Cleaning Authority. The best part? All you have to do is leave a dish filled with 1/2 inch of white vinegar in the offensive-smelling room for it to work its magic.
Subtle fragrance enhancements: Some hotels add subtle fragrance enhancements to elevate the pleasant scent of their towels. For example, they may use scented sachets or keep natural essential oils like lavender or eucalyptus in their storage area.
The Accumulation of Bacteria and Fungi
Mold and bacteria are equally capable of making towels smell. Sometimes towels smell great when dry, but once they get wet, a musty smell lingers on your skin. It is more pronounced because our sense of smell is stronger for wet things than dry ones.
How much white vinegar should you use in laundry? Generally, 1/2 cup to 1 cup of white vinegar per wash load is a good guideline, depending on the size of your load and the purpose.
Using vinegar in laundry is simple. You can add it to the fabric softener dispenser in your washing machine or pour it in during the final rinse cycle. When adding vinegar towards the end of the cycle, manually pause your machine right before the final rinse cycle and add a 1/2 cup of diluted white vinegar to the load.
White vinegar, also known as distilled vinegar or spirit vinegar, is made by fermenting grain alcohol (ethanol) which then turns into acetic acid. Water is then added to the vinegar, so white vinegar is made of five to ten percent acetic acid and ninety to ninety-five percent water.
Fill a bucket with warm or hot water. The water should be enough to submerge your towels completely. Add 1 cup of white vinegar. The rule of thumb is that one cup of vinegar for one bucket of water is enough for cleansing your towels.
It's important to give linens the room they need to breathe. Over packing shelves with too much bed linen and towels stops the air circulation necessary to keep linen smelling fresh. You can also limit the chance of musty smells by lining the shelves with scented paper or adding dryer sheets between the linen.
Towels should be washed in the warmest water appropriate for the fabric according to the care label. Generally, warm or hot water is recommended for washing towels. Use a cycle specifically for towels or a normal/regular cycle.
Cleaning vinegar and white distilled vinegar are very similar in their composition (namely, acetic acid and water), but the key difference lies in the acidity levels between the two. "Cleaning vinegar generally contains a higher acetic acid concentration than regular white vinegar," says Sokolowski.
Place the towels in the washing machine and run a cycle using white vinegar instead of detergent. Due to its acidic nature, vinegar helps remove mildew or bacteria that may have accumulated on the fabric. Most washing machines have a compartment for fabric softener. That's where you should put the white vinegar.
If you notice that your towels begin to smell after a single-use, then it's probably due to a bacteria build-up. Your regular washing methods won't be enough to break it up. Instead, try vinegar! The acidity of vinegar gets rid of any chemical or mineral build-up that could be contributing to the sour smell.
Use Vinegar
Use about half the recommended amount of detergent while washing, and add ½ to 1 cup of white vinegar to the water during the rinse cycle.
If you are looking for extra, extra fluffiness and buoyancy, try washing with baking soda and detergent first, followed by washing with white vinegar.
It's normal for your towel to become musty and for smells to linger over time with regular use of your towel. To remove musty towel smells add about 64 grams or ½ cup of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) to your detergent tray and wash as normal.
Vinegar has a very low pH level which means it's very acidic, so it can corrode some surfaces over time. For example, using vinegar on natural stone like granite or marble can dull and scratch the surface and it can corrode surfaces like unsealed grout, window seals, and fridge and dishwasher gaskets.
A bowl of vinegar can start absorbing odors almost immediately and is typically adequate for up to 24 hours. When left out in a room, the acetic acid in vinegar neutralizes alkaline odors, such as those from smoke, cooking, or pet accidents, by binding with the odor molecules and neutralizing them.
Adding essential oils to your white vinegar cleaning solutions not only boosts their cleaning power but also leaves a pleasant scent. Here are a few recipes to try: Kitchen Cleaner: Mix 250ml of white vinegar with 250ml of cooled boiled water. Add 20 drops of lemon oil and 20 drops of lavender oil.