Smelly towel issue driving me nuts! Towel suggetions!

Run them in a load with just white vinegar and hot water to get all the detergent from them.

Do you ever strip your towels? I know the smell he means, it's almost sour and usually the people I stay with don't notice it all all.

I believe I've read it's from laundry chemical build up

It could be any number of things, and not knowing exactly what you do or your products, think this article probably covers what you can do. She participates monthly in an organizing group I’m in and is so knowledgable, no nonsense and likes simplifying all things cleaning.

cleanmyspace.com/make-your-towels-loo-feel-and-smell-great/

My MIL said to add vinegar into the water early in the wash. That helps kill the odor and then the wash/ softener will leave them smelling like new.

Yeah…… that didn’t happen. I threw away every towel that we had an odor issue with. I was afraid eventually the other towels would start to smell, but they haven’t. I bought towels at Kohls. Nothing major. Just new. We haven’t had the problem since!

The smell is usually because the towels arent getting completely dry. To get rid of the smell, use vinegar and soak them.
Going forward, dont let them sit in the washer, get them right in the dryer and make sure they are completely dry before you take them out.

Vinegar and water never got rid of the funky smell my towels developed.

I used that Clorox disinfecting wash add in and it worked very well.

I also noticed that if you are cooking aromatics, like onions/garlic the odors seep into towels that are drying after using. Anyone else notice this?

Wash in hot water with bleach, color safe bleach if your towels are not white, and use a long, hot dryer cycle.

ETA I never have this problem with my white towels because bleach and thorough drying is the best way to go.

When I wash towels, I pour about a cup of vinegar right into the drum, throw the towels in, add more vinegar to the soap compartment where the fabric softener would go and wash them on HOT. No soap. Never use fabric softener on towels, it will make them smell funky fast and be less absorbent. If they still smell funky, you can repeat the vinegar wash with 3/4 cup vinegar where the soap goes and a half cup of baking soda in the drum with the towels. This does work because I’ve done it many times. 

Another thing that will help keep your clean laundry smelling fresh is to make sure to clean the gunk out of your washer’s filter periodically, I usually do it every 2-3 months. It gets NASTY with mucky black stinky gunk. Wipe down the door gasket and leave the door open and the little door where the soap goes between loads so those areas can dry out completely. Stinky washer = stinky laundry even when it’s supposedly “clean.”

Depending on your climate, towel rack configuration and thickness of towels, they may not be drying quickly enough for multiple uses without smelling funky. When we lived in a more humid climate, a heated towel rack made a huge difference - and of course you get used to warm towels when you get out of the shower so now it's pretty much a necessity regardless of climate. I also only use white towels so I can bleach periodically and always wash on hot water and dry completely in the dryer.

I started using that in every load of laundry at the dermatologist's recommendation, because DH and DD develop athlete's foot & other related problems very easily. Since you can't always bleach everything it has been a great solution (and has helped them a lot, too).

I broke down years ago and only buy white towels, etc. for the bathroom and kitchen. That way I can reliably run them through a hot water and bleach cycle, and don't have the smelly towel problem. I do have a problem if they don't dry completely, as previously mentioned, whether in the dryer or with regular use.

DD swims/teaches swimming/plays water polo so she goes through towels like crazy. She "inherited" all the old colored towels and beach towels. We run them with hot water and the Lysol sanitizer and haven't had a problem. Very occasionally we do, but that's because she's bad about hanging them up to dry and will leave them in her swim bag for days. Even so, the Lysol usually seems to do the trick.

I agree with this.

You need to work with DH to identify whether the problem is the clean towels smell straight out of the dryer, whether the clean towels smell straight out of the linen cupboard, or whether towels that have already been used smell upon subsequent uses.

I would address each of those problems in a different way.

I used Lysol Sanitizer every wash. Occasionally I use bleach but since Lysol came around, I do that less and less.

I don’t use fabric softeners on towels. I heard they don’t absorb or dry as well.

That is so true. They really need to be dried past what you think is dry. Moisture gets trapped in all of the little loops. Between the bit of moisture and the dark cabinet they are stored in, it can be a smelly mess.