How to Remove Musty Smells from Towels

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Buildup on bath towels can lead them to be less absorbent and create a musty, mildew smell. Learn how to remove those stinky smells from towels and prevent them from reoccurring!

how to remove musty smell from towels mildew smelly

It happens from time to time, you’ll go to dry your face and you realize your towel, even fresh from the laundry, has a musty, mildew smell to it. Not good. Luckily it’s easy to remove musty smells from towels with a few simple tips and tricks. Read on to find out how to get rid of smelly towels for good!

Place your musty towels in the washer but instead of detergent add 1 cup of vinegar to the basin. Set the water temperature to hot and wash as usual. (DON’T ADD DETERGENT!)

Repeat the process but this time use one cup of baking soda instead of detergent, just baking soda, no detergent or vinegar!

Ninety percent of the time I do this my towels have no remaining musty smell after doing just the vinegar rinse. On the rare occasion that it does not work, I highly recommend this laundry sanitizer.

Why Do My Towels Smell?

Over time build-up from detergent and fabric softeners can prevent towels from absorbing and drying as quickly. This can lead to bacteria growth (gross!) which then makes those towels stink!

Text reading \"the secret weapons\" with picture of bottle of white vinegar and box of baking soda

How does it work?

Vinegar contains acetic acid which helps to break up mineral deposits and dissolve build up on the towels. Learn more about acetic acid here. Baking soda is alkaline in nature which helps to neutralize odors.

How to prevent musty smells

Now that you have gotten rid of the mildew smell in your towels, prevent it from coming back by repeating the vinegar and baking soda rinses on the towels every other month or so. It’s an easy way to keep your towels smelling fresh and absorbing properly!

Tips for keeping them fresh smelling

  • Always hang towels up to dry after using them
  • Make sure towels are completely dry out of the dryer before folding and putting away
  • Do not use fabric softener on towels, add white vinegar instead to prevent buildup
  • Do not use too much laundry detergent when washing towels, make sure you are measuring accurately, especially with newer high-efficiency washing machines

Have you had your towels go smelly? I’ve heard it’s more common on the east coast of the US where there is more humidity. Let me know if you have, and if so, where you live. I’m curious if it happens in drier climates too!

You might also like these cleaning tips:

Yield: 1

How to Fix Smelly Towels

stack of folded towels with text reading how to remove musty smell from towels mildew smelly

Buildup on bath towels can lead them to be less absorbent and create a musty, mildew smell. Learn how to remove those stinky smells from towels and prevent them from reoccurring!

Prep Time 10 minutes
Active Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 10 minutes
Difficulty Easy

Materials

  • baking soda
  • white vinegar

Tools

  • washing machine
  • dryer

Instructions

  1. Place your towels in the washer but instead of detergent add 1 cup of vinegar to the basin. Set the water temperature to hot and wash as usual. (DON’T ADD DETERGENT!)
  2. Repeat the process but this time use one cup of baking soda instead of detergent, just baking soda, no detergent or vinegar! Set water as hot as possible.
  3. Dry towels thoroughly in the dryer.

Notes

  • If towels still have an odor after the vinegar and baking soda rinses, you can repeat the cycle again.
  • As an alternative, the laundry sanitizer below also helps remove smells from towels.

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26 Comments

  1. Thanks. Once in awhile I will have a stinky towel here in Iowa. I thought it was just from the gym.

  2. This is so fabulous. The only time I’ve ever gotten musty towels, when my sweet husband would do the laundry. I don’t know why, but if a towel did not completely dry, he would still fold and put away. I printed this, framed it, and hung it in the laundry room for my husband could see this when doing any laundry, especially towels. Thanks for this wonderful post!!!

  3. SO after the wash and rinse in vinegar then repeat with baking soda, you DO NOT wash in detergent? Never ! Just always use these 2 washing methods?? Thanks My Hubby has a favorite towel and boy does it stink !!!!!

  4. So the vinegar and then the baking soda go where the soap would usually go? After both washes.. do you then wash in laundry soap or they go into dryer next? Ty!

      1. So do you put right into the dryer after the vinegar rinse? Do you normally do this method after the towels are washed and dried or when they are dirty/need to be washed? Thanks!

        1. After the vinegar cycle I do a cycle with baking soda then put them in the dryer. I do this every few months to keep them fresh depending on how often they are used. Or you can just do it when you start to notice that musty smell.

  5. I also have this smell in my sheets that are kept in the bedroom drawers.

    I live in New York, but it doesn’t matter what state you live in!!!

  6. I tried out this solution today for some musty-smelling drying mats and it worked like a charm – thank you! (Summer humidity in Massachusetts is a recipe for smelly towels and mats, so I am very happy to have found your trick for getting the smell out!)

  7. Hey! I never thought of that. I thought of using a fabric conditioner will bring fragrance to fabrics. I kept doing it every time but it just adds the stink. Thanks for bringing me to reality!

    1. it also helps if you use a clothes line outdoors…..fresh air…..sunshine……cool breeze…..no odor!!!

  8. I live in Virginia and just had this problem. I have had it with dish rags in the past and always just threw them away. Now I had it happen to one of my big, not very old, fluffy bath sheets. So I googled for a cure and found this. I can’t wait to try it out.

  9. I live in Connecticut. My fluffier towels and dish towels have that icky musty smell from time to time. It was worse when we lived in Maine.It is super humid there as we lived right by the ocean. I was actually contemplating throwing out most of my towels and buying new ones. Some of my towels are only a few months old and it really upset me to have to do this. So glad there is way to get that smell out! Thank you!

    1. I wanted to share my results. This worked great! Did it with all my towels. It has been a few weeks and a few more washes and still no smell. I will do this every so many washes. So thrilled! Thanks!

  10. I live in North Carolina and my towels smell musty all the time. I am going to try this today and see if it helps.

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