Clean towels aren’t always fresh-smelling towels. What, you ask? If towels are clean they should smell clean, right? Actually, no. It’s not always true.
If you live in an area where you have ‘hard’ water you probably have lots of calcium in your water, and it builds up in the thicker fabric of towels. Combined with the fragrances of detergents and fabric softeners, that build-up eventually takes a toll on those linens and you end up with foul-smelling, clean towels straight out of the dryer. It ain’t pretty.
1. Vinegar: Add one cup of white distilled vinegar (apple cider vinegar is fine as well) to the load of towels and wash it for a complete cycle.
2. Baking Soda: Leave your towels in the wash and put in a generous amount of baking soda (about 1/4 of a small box of baking soda). Wash it for another complete cycle using hot water.
3. Dryer: After the complete cycle, put the freshly washed towels into the dryer. Out come clean and fresh towels without any hints of vinegar.
Your towels will definitely smell clean and won’t have the smelly residues commonly left behind by detergents, fabric softeners and hard-water contaminants. This method also works for those towels that have been stored in a linen closet for a long time.