Use vinegar as a natural fabric refresher If your clothes are getting a little musty—especially items that are frequently damp, like sports equipment or bath towels—try adding vinegar to the wash. "I know it sounds crazy, but it really works!" says housekeeping pro Melissa Maker of Clean My Space.
Mix one cup baking soda, one half cup Borax with one cup white vinegar and 20 drops of lemon or orange citrus oil. Add this mixture to your bottle of laundry detergent and use as normal.
If a towel continues to have a smell, it means that bacteria are still in your machine or on your towel. Run the washing machine again with bleach, or wash the towel a second time to remove the stubborn bacteria.
Add 1/2 cup of Washing Soda (it's better than Baking Soda, but you can use it in a pinch) and your detergent as normal. Add 1/2 cup of vinegar to your rinse cycle. Wash towels on preferred cycle. Remove from washer and tumble dry immediately.
Washing towels with vinegar and baking soda can bring them back to life in just three steps: Wash towels in hot water and one cup vinegar. Don't add any detergent. Wash the towels a second time (without drying them) in hot water and one cup baking soda.
If you have a standard washer machine, use 1 cup of baking soda and add it to the towels and then fill with water. DO NOT ADD SOAP OR VINEGAR, ADD NOTHING BUT BAKING SODA! Run a full cycle using hot water for the wash and rinse cycle. You will be absolutely amazed on how fresh the towels smell.
"A good thing to remember is to replace bathroom towels every two to five years and kitchen towels and washcloths every year or every two years, depending on their quality," explains Wischnia.
For the best-smelling clothes, you need to start with a clean-smelling washer. So, every so often, give your washing machine a clean with vinegar to keep your clothes smelling good after each wash. Also air out your washing machine by leaving the door open after each use.
Washing Machine
Vinegar is sometimes used as a fabric softener or for getting rid of stains and odors in laundry. But as with dishwashers, it can damage the rubber seals and hoses in some washing machines to the point of causing leaks.
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.
'Putting vinegar in the washing machine can be a useful method for cleaning and freshening your towels as well as other fabrics,' agrees home blogger Jenna Kate. 'You can have softer, cleaner, and fresher-smelling clothing and linens by introducing vinegar into your laundry routine.
The Watch-outs of Adding Vinegar and Baking Soda to Your Laundry. Although vinegar and baking soda are safe to use in both regular and HE washing machines, they are considerably less efficient than high-performance laundry detergents at delivering an outstanding and odorless clean.
Why Vinegar and Baking Soda? Baking soda and vinegar both strip residue from fibers in the towels and vinegar is a natural fabric softener. This makes them ideal for getting the smells OUT!
Baking soda has some similar benefits as vinegar, since it deodorizes and uses its abrasive powers to work off detergent residue and hard-water mineral deposits in your machine. In addition to these benefits, baking soda also makes your white clothes whiter and brightens colored fabrics.
If your towels are very stiff and scratchy, try adding around 250ml of vinegar to a wash along with your laundry liquid. Add it to the washing machine drum just before you load and set the cycle going, don't worry, it won't make your washing smell like a bag of chips.
Washing Towels with Vinegar
The vinegar helps set the colors and removes excess detergent residue.
“When used to clean a washing machine, baking soda can help to slough off buildup and can also help to deodorize the interior,” Baker explains. A scoop of baking soda added to laundry in the wash helps fabrics come out looking brighter and smelling fresher.
Laundry: Add bicarbonate of soda to your laundry when washing your whites and coloureds to make them brighter. Combining it with your eco-friendly detergents (soapnuts for example) will increase the effectiveness of it. It acts as a deodoriser, revives the colours and avoids the accumulation of limescale.
For Extra-Clean Clothes
“It will help lift dirt and grime from clothing,” says Reichert. Don't put baking soda in your washer's detergent dispenser, however. Instead, sprinkle it into the empty drum of your washer, then add clothes and whatever detergent and fabric softeners you'd normally use.