How to Remove Mildew Smell from Towels Easily and Quickly

In most common cases, washing your towels two or three times will finally remove the stinky odors.

However, special cases like mildew will need other strategies. Mildew tends to leave the odors and it is harder to remove comparing to other odors.

If you experience the problem, you may want to try the following methods.

Using Hot Water and Detergent

Even though detergent is advised to avoid in this case, it is proven to be effective if you use Oxiclean.

1. First, prepare a bucket of hot water

You can actually add cold water first and add boiling water until it gets to expected temperature. Make sure the bucket is big enough to contain all of the water and the towels added in it.

2. Second, add 2/3 cup of the Oxiclean into the bucket

Swish the detergent so it mixes well with the water. You can try tilting the bucket back and forth gently or stir using your hands. If you do this, please wear a pair of gloves to protect your skin. Use other tool as well to prevent injury from hot water contacting your skin.

3. After halfway fill the bucket with the mixture, add the towels

Please make sure that all of the towels are fully immersed in the water. Leave the towels and let them soak for around 48 hours or the whole two days.

4. After 48 hours, take the towels out of the bucket and wring them

Transfer the towels to your washing machine. Wash them using hot setting with detergent and cloth softener. Then, immediately dry your towel.

Than, here is the other way you can do to remove mildew smell from your favorite towels.

Using Baking Soda and Vinegar

This is often recommended as the safest solution. If this trick doesn’t work, you can try the previous method.

Put the stinky towels into your washing machine and wash using hot washing setting. Add around a cup of vinegar and a cup of baking soda in it, and wash a bit. If you don’t have both ingredients, you can use one of them with the same total amount to add.
When the vinegar and baking soda are well mixed with the water, turn off the washing machine. Soak the towels in there for a full hour. After an hour, turn the washing machine back on and continue washing as usual.
When the washing cycle is finish, add a cup more of vinegar and your usual detergent. Use the same amount of detergent as you usually use for a load. Wash using the same cycle once again and finish with extra one cycle of spinning.
Last, put the towels to dryer two times. If you need to, hang the towels for a while to completely remove any moisture from them.

It is often recommended to use detergent while removing mildew smell from towels. However, it can be an effective alternative when baking soda and vinegar don’t work well.

Oxiclean is a good alternative to the usual detergent but make sure to use appropriate tools to protect your hands. Happy trying!