new towels smell-help please

Try washing using 1 cup of vinegar in the wash, with about half the amount of detergent you usually use. HTH Barbara in SC and now FL

Using fabric softener on towels makes them non-absorbent, FYI.

I boil wash all my towels.

Try soaking overnight in strong detergent or baking soda -- but not both at once, as they will clean each other up and ignore the towels. Joy Beeson

My middle daughter went camping in the rainy mountains for two weeks, and came home with the smelliest gear, between the smokiness and the mildew, and, well, you know. She washed them, and just as she was getting ready to turn on the washer, I threw a cup of baking soda in with the clothes. The smell came right out, and she was thrilled. It's a nice cheap solution, too!

Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati

jakesgrandma wrote:

Chuck them in the washing machine and set it to the boil wash program. I thought they all did this. I've never had one that didn't.

It gives them a pre-wash, a main wash, a hefty rinse, and spins at 1200 rpm. Bit slow for modern washers. When we replace it, I'm looking for

After washing, try line drying the towels instead of using a dryer. It's amazing how nice things smell when they've been dried outdoors. I know that this makes towels go hard, but to me that's minor compared to any smell.

You can then soften them up by tossing them in the dryer for a few minutes. :)

I like to hang things out when I can. But if you have pollen allergies it doesn't always work well. :(

Sharon

Kate Dicey wrote in news:444dd190$0$33914$ snipped-for-privacy@ptn-nntp-reader03.plus.net:

no American washer does this. i did see an import front loader at Home Depot with a boil wash. it's not one of the higher end of that company (which i totally forget the name of right now), but it's the first boil wash i've ever seen in the US. lee

How strange... You'd never sell one here that *didn't* have a boil wash! Mine's hot and cold fill, too, so it fills quicker and uses gas heated water for most programs, thus being cheaper to run on hotter programs.

I don't use the really hot programs often, but being able to chuck baby-grunged things, fabric for shrinking, and all white cottons & linens like towels, table cloths, and calico yardage in and cook it is great. This rather basic washer runs at 'min' (whatever THAT is!), 30,

I saw that washer advertised in their sale paper, too. It's like a water heater booster on the washer, isn't it?? Am I mistaken in thinking the water is not actually at the boiling temperature, but just super hot?

Usually on the dial it says 95 degrees C, but it quite often simmers at least in mine! You don't want to touch the porthole when it's on that program for sure!

I'll have to check mine. It cost enough. Washes and dries in the same machine. It's a LG.

Helen

"Try soaking overnight in strong detergent or baking soda -- but not both at once, as they will clean each other up and ignore the towels. Joy Beeson "

Vinegar is the thing which takes out detergent, Baking soda or washing soda actually enhances the detergent or soap. since all three are base, while vinegar is an acid.

You may be right, Lee. Mine is an LG and it has a Sanitize setting which basically is the same thing. In fact right after Kate told me what she did i checked and have a load of items i like to wash this way. Much easier than the old boiler method with a huge caldron on a flame and a big stick!

Helen

Ah Kate; wasn't paying attention and so didn't realize you're from over `ome! I'll have to ask my daughter if hers does that too. I never really checked when we were there last in 2004. But, you are right. It's a great program to have on a washer.

Mine is much bigger than the usual ones I've seen at my SIL'S or daughters. It's the size of a standard size US washing machine only it's front loading and dries the clothes as well if you want. I still don't have a line up here so that's what I use till I do.

Helen

We get LG machines over here. They look like good value for money. I'm thinking seriously about them for the next time this one throws a wobbly! As it already has a large crack in the top of the drum, held together with Duck tape... ;)

Well isn't this just a huge discovery!!! Here in the increasingly "primitive" colonies, the trend is to COLD wash everything. Almost every cloth thing you buy says not to wash it in hot water. And all the detergents brag about working just as well in cold water. Yeah sure...... when donkeys fly! For those of us with dust mite allergy, the cold water thing is utterly stupid of course. I've never seen a washer that heated its own water--- though my Maytag is at least 15 years old now. Egad, I am really out of it! Dishwashers do that commonly however.

And now, the washing machines they are trying to sell here are front-loaders to replace the mainly top-loaders we've used in the past. They are calling them high capacity washers that use less water. Someone please explain that to me.... how you can wash more clothes in less water and not have everything come out smelly. I really want to understand this.

Here in the States, instead of doing meaningful water conservation like not so much airborne irrigation or less asphalt or less lawn-watering, they always push it off on the American homemaker in the form of often hairbrained mechanisms like some of these new washing machines or water faucets with limited output. Oh yeah... now there a good one that just torques me. So instead of filling your tea kettle in a few seconds, you have to stand there at the sink and wait forever for the water to dribble out or, an even better example, there's not enough water coming out of the showerhead to rinse your hair properly. People here are now compensating for the latter problem by installing the antithesis of conservation---multiple showerheads in their showers!!! Sorry..... this is just one of those subjects that just really grates on my sensibilities. They think we have naught to do with our time than stand in front of faucets and wait for an "attenuated flow" faucet. AGH! What noodlehead came up with that idea? Prolly the same squinty-eyed lobcocks who came up with the idea of stiletto heels. Sorry... just had to get this off my chest! I feel so much better now. (:>)

Thank the Light I have a husband that knows how to remedy those kinds of problems.

Phae