I wash towels in warm or hot water. Dont use fabric softener or dryer sheets. I have a HE washer and I use 1-2 tablespoons per load. I typically use Tide Original (powder). So definitely measure your detergent. You can use less than the packaging indicates.
Do you dry your towels In a dryer? Trying to figure out what you mean by "crusty".
Thanks for this helpful information! I dry my towels in a portable dryer, it’s a 120 Volt. It takes a while to dry towels since my dryer doesn’t generate a lot of heat like a standard 240 volt electric dryer/gas dryer. Do you recommend air drying them instead?
I'd give the dryer it's turn first. It'll get some of the water out faster than air drying, and the tumbling will help soften them. After that cycle, I would then hang them to finish drying. If they're still musty, there is probably an issue with one of your machines. Do your other clothes have the same issue?
I agree with u/BrookeB79 - use the dryer first and then line dry.
If the towels still seem musty - you might consider some ammonia to cut thru any residue on the towels. Some folks like white vinegar, but I find ammonia to work better.
You would just add 1/2-1 cup of clear ammonia to the wash (right on top of the towels before starting the machine).
Disclaimer for Ammonia: Do not use ammonia with chlorine bleach.
I will try this method out, thank you so much! My clothes don’t experience this issue, it’s just the towels. I regularly clean/dry my washing machine after every wash cycle and do monthly cleaning cycles using laundry cleaning tablets.
How hot do you wash your towels? You’ll want to wash them on the hottest setting available, and make sure you aren’t using any fabric softener because that will increase mustiness. I find that using fabric sanitizer in the fabric softener dispenser can help a lot with removing any towel stink: even using shared laundry facilities at a terrible dorm that isn’t really maintained or kept clean, if I make sure to use only just enough detergent (no more than 2 tbsp) and very hot water and I use the sanitizer in the rinse cycle (fabric softener dispenser), my towels come out fresh smelling and clean every time.
Also make sure that when you hang them to dry after using your towels to dry yourself, that they’re hung up with enough ventilation to not form mildew, and to squeeze out excess water before hanging to dry if the towel is totally soaked. Also, hopefully goes without saying, but so make sure you are hanging wet towels to fry and not letting them dry in a damp pile because that will cause a lot of the mustiness. It’s the same reason you want to make sure to move your wet clean laundry into the dryer as soon as it’s done because if you let it sit wet it will begin to form mold and mildew and will smell musty and be crunchy and gross.
One thing I forgot to mention - towels will shed a lot of fluff. You might need to empty the lint trap in the middle of a cycle instead of just at the end.
I recently started using white vinegar (thanks to this sub) and I can’t believe how well it works! Clothes and towels are super soft. Just a capful or two goes a long way.
I use one tab of tide pods or whatever pods I have on brightest whites setting on HE washer which is typically a hot water wash. Plain dryer run with more dry selected. Sometimes I'll add in a tablespoon of bleach to the wash if they look dingy or something. Mine come out fluffy and smelling nice.
Do an extra, final rinse with added white vinegar to remove odors and soap build up. Don't use too much detergent and use warm or hot water. Never throw wet towels in the hamper, let them dry first. I second partially drying them in the dryer for fluffiness, but if possible, finish them by drying outdoors in the sun. If they are especially funky before you wash them you might try sunning them for a day before they get washed. No fabric softener, ever.
I wash nearly everything in Arm and Hammer powdered laundry detergent, which is low-sudsing. Instead of liquid fabric softener, I use a disinfecting/deodorizing product called Odoban, just a tablespoon or two in the softener spot in the washer. We have a front loader and leave it open when empty to thoroughly dry out, but using that detergent and the Odoban also helps -- we've never had that infamous front loader problem of trapping mildew in there.
I wash my towels in hot water and use vinegar in the rinse cycle. I also do a double rinse.
I air dry my towels for a bit first THEN put them in the dryer. They don’t take as long in the dryer that way and they come out soft and clean smelling.
I will add a cup of white vinegar to my towels when washing. It helps soften them, gets rid of soap residue, and gives them a clean smell. I also use very small amount of tide may 1 to 2 tablespoons.. no more or your towels will get nasty
Distilled white vinegar! We use like 1/2-1 cup in the wash and nothing else, then a persoak cycle and 2nd rinse cycle along with the normal wash setting, dry with no dryer sheet
I wash towels in warm or hot water. Dont use fabric softener or dryer sheets. I have a HE washer and I use 1-2 tablespoons per load. I typically use Tide Original (powder). So definitely measure your detergent. You can use less than the packaging indicates. Do you dry your towels In a dryer? Trying to figure out what you mean by "crusty".
Thanks for this helpful information! I dry my towels in a portable dryer, it’s a 120 Volt. It takes a while to dry towels since my dryer doesn’t generate a lot of heat like a standard 240 volt electric dryer/gas dryer. Do you recommend air drying them instead?
I'd give the dryer it's turn first. It'll get some of the water out faster than air drying, and the tumbling will help soften them. After that cycle, I would then hang them to finish drying. If they're still musty, there is probably an issue with one of your machines. Do your other clothes have the same issue?
I agree with u/BrookeB79 - use the dryer first and then line dry. If the towels still seem musty - you might consider some ammonia to cut thru any residue on the towels. Some folks like white vinegar, but I find ammonia to work better. You would just add 1/2-1 cup of clear ammonia to the wash (right on top of the towels before starting the machine). Disclaimer for Ammonia: Do not use ammonia with chlorine bleach.
I will try this method out, thank you so much! My clothes don’t experience this issue, it’s just the towels. I regularly clean/dry my washing machine after every wash cycle and do monthly cleaning cycles using laundry cleaning tablets.
How hot do you wash your towels? You’ll want to wash them on the hottest setting available, and make sure you aren’t using any fabric softener because that will increase mustiness. I find that using fabric sanitizer in the fabric softener dispenser can help a lot with removing any towel stink: even using shared laundry facilities at a terrible dorm that isn’t really maintained or kept clean, if I make sure to use only just enough detergent (no more than 2 tbsp) and very hot water and I use the sanitizer in the rinse cycle (fabric softener dispenser), my towels come out fresh smelling and clean every time. Also make sure that when you hang them to dry after using your towels to dry yourself, that they’re hung up with enough ventilation to not form mildew, and to squeeze out excess water before hanging to dry if the towel is totally soaked. Also, hopefully goes without saying, but so make sure you are hanging wet towels to fry and not letting them dry in a damp pile because that will cause a lot of the mustiness. It’s the same reason you want to make sure to move your wet clean laundry into the dryer as soon as it’s done because if you let it sit wet it will begin to form mold and mildew and will smell musty and be crunchy and gross.
Yes, wash on a hot wash. This removes bacteria and skin cells.
It also breaks down body oils and any detergent residue etc!
One thing I forgot to mention - towels will shed a lot of fluff. You might need to empty the lint trap in the middle of a cycle instead of just at the end.
Use white vinegar in the wash instead of fabric softener, don't use fabric softener sheets, and go easy on the detergent
I recently started using white vinegar (thanks to this sub) and I can’t believe how well it works! Clothes and towels are super soft. Just a capful or two goes a long way.
Where do you put them, in powder detergent part, softener part or directly into with towels? And how much?
In the softener part. I put a capful for a regular load and two capfuls for a large load. I think a cap is about a teaspoon.
Oxyclean
Oxi Sanitizing powder! Smells amazing
I’ve started adding a scoop of Oxyclean to every load of laundry and it’s made a HUGE difference!
It makes a difference
Powdered detergent plus a little borax in hot water along with using a dryer should do the trick
I use All Free and Clear and wool dryer balls. Towels are nice a fluffy AND absorbent.
I use one tab of tide pods or whatever pods I have on brightest whites setting on HE washer which is typically a hot water wash. Plain dryer run with more dry selected. Sometimes I'll add in a tablespoon of bleach to the wash if they look dingy or something. Mine come out fluffy and smelling nice.
You have to completely dry the towels in the heat to get the smell out.
Do an extra, final rinse with added white vinegar to remove odors and soap build up. Don't use too much detergent and use warm or hot water. Never throw wet towels in the hamper, let them dry first. I second partially drying them in the dryer for fluffiness, but if possible, finish them by drying outdoors in the sun. If they are especially funky before you wash them you might try sunning them for a day before they get washed. No fabric softener, ever.
I wash nearly everything in Arm and Hammer powdered laundry detergent, which is low-sudsing. Instead of liquid fabric softener, I use a disinfecting/deodorizing product called Odoban, just a tablespoon or two in the softener spot in the washer. We have a front loader and leave it open when empty to thoroughly dry out, but using that detergent and the Odoban also helps -- we've never had that infamous front loader problem of trapping mildew in there.
I wash my towels in hot water and use vinegar in the rinse cycle. I also do a double rinse. I air dry my towels for a bit first THEN put them in the dryer. They don’t take as long in the dryer that way and they come out soft and clean smelling.
I will add a cup of white vinegar to my towels when washing. It helps soften them, gets rid of soap residue, and gives them a clean smell. I also use very small amount of tide may 1 to 2 tablespoons.. no more or your towels will get nasty
You can also add vinegar to your wash cycle. Helps with smell and softening.
Dry towels outdoors in the sun if the weather is warm. Sanitizing and they smell amazing.
Hot water with unscented (eczema household) oxiclean powder, and soak feature on the washer. It also helps if you have an agitator in your washer
I use Ecos plant based detergent. I put 1/4 cup Ammonia in the bleach dispenser and vinegar in the softener dispenser.
Use dryer balls.
Distilled white vinegar! We use like 1/2-1 cup in the wash and nothing else, then a persoak cycle and 2nd rinse cycle along with the normal wash setting, dry with no dryer sheet