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If towels come out of the wash still smelling faintly sour, or the smell reappears the moment they get damp again, the problem usually isn’t your washing routine so much as build-up trapped deep in the fibres from previous washes. Towels are thick and absorbent by design, which is exactly what makes them slow to dry and easy for bacteria and mildew to take hold in if they’re left even slightly damp between uses.
Why towels hold onto mildew smell more than other laundry
Towels are usually washed on shorter or cooler cycles than they actually need, since people tend to treat them like everyday items rather than heavily soiled laundry. Over time, detergent and fabric softener residue builds up inside the fibres along with the bacteria that cause mildew smell, and that combination doesn’t fully wash out with a normal cycle. Fabric softener is a particular culprit, as it coats the fibres with a film that actually reduces how absorbent and quick-drying a towel is over time.
How to strip and refresh smelly towels
1. Do a hot vinegar wash first
Wash the towels on the hottest cycle they can handle, checking the care label first, with a cup of white vinegar added to the drum instead of detergent. No need to add fabric softener this time. The vinegar cuts through built-up residue and helps neutralise the bacteria causing the smell.
2. Follow with a bicarb wash
Once that cycle finishes, run the towels through a second wash on a hot cycle with half a cup of bicarbonate of soda added to the drum instead of the vinegar. Running these two washes separately rather than combining vinegar and bicarb with detergent in one load gives each ingredient the chance to do its job properly. Do not add bleach to either of these washes, and never combine bleach with vinegar in the machine, as mixing these can produce dangerous fumes.
3. Dry them properly
Dry towels as quickly and fully as possible after washing, ideally outside in the sun if you can, since sunlight has a genuine natural deodorising and mild bleaching effect. If you’re using a dryer, make sure the cycle actually finishes fully drying them rather than leaving them slightly damp, which is one of the most common reasons the smell comes straight back.
Ongoing habits that keep towels smelling clean
- Wash towels on a hot cycle, generally 60°C or above where the fabric allows, rather than a quick cool wash
- Use detergent sparingly and skip fabric softener altogether, or use it only occasionally, since the coating it leaves behind is a major contributor to trapped odour over time
- Hang damp towels out fully between uses rather than leaving them balled up on a rail or floor
- Wash towels every three to four uses rather than letting them sit in the laundry basket for weeks while slightly damp
- Give the washing machine itself a hot maintenance wash occasionally, since a musty machine can reintroduce the smell to otherwise clean towels
If the smell still won’t go
Very old towels that have carried a mildew smell for a long time may have bacteria embedded deeply enough in the fibres that no amount of washing fully clears it, particularly once the fabric itself has started to break down. At that point it’s often more effective, and better value, to replace them than to keep fighting the same smell wash after wash.
A smelly towel is almost always a fixable laundry problem rather than a sign anything is wrong with the towel or the machine. A proper hot vinegar and bicarb reset, followed by better drying habits, generally clears it for good.
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