Have your towels ever gotten to the point where even after you wash them they smell a little funky? I admit that's happened here. I even wash my towels in a separate load with less detergent and no dryer sheet (you do know that using fabric softener will hinder your towels ability to absorb water right?) and it still happens. David found this tip from Lifehacker and I tried it and it really works! So naturally, I thought I'd share it with all of you.
Apparently laundry detergent companies seriously overestimate the amount of soap you need to wash a load of laundry, and if you use the amount recommended on the bottle in addition to using dryer sheets/fabric softener towels will lose their absorbency and start to stink. Sound familiar? Over time soap residue accumulates within the towel's fibers which causes the towel not to absorb as much water as it previously did and also not to dry as quickly. The result is stinky towels that never seem to dry completely.
So how do you rejuvenate your towels so that they smell fresh? You use vinegar and baking soda! Wash the towels in hot water with 1 cup of vinegar (no soap!), and then run them in hot water again with 1/2 cup of baking soda (no soap!). Dry as usual an then revel in your fresh smelling towels.
I wish I knew about this sooner!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
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3 comments:
Good tip! So many people don't know that softener makes towels less absorbant. For any type of load I use a bit less soap than they say I need and add vinegar to the rinse. Vinegar gets rid of stink, is, antibacterial and softens too!
I've heard of using vinegar, I still use fabric softener sheets in the dryer for our clothes but never for towels. I make our laundry soap which I think also helps. I may give the vinegar a try when my gigantic Costco sized box of fabric softener sheets runs out.
Vinegar is so cheap that I keep a big jug of it with my laundry soap. I use a big pour of it in every load that has stinky stuff in it like clothe diapers, kitchen dish cloths, and towels. It stinks AS it is washing, but miraculously takes away all the smells when it is dried. Amazing!
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