Country CleansAll recipes
Home › Cleaning recipes
Recipe 26 of 100 · The Country Cleans Mix Book

Why Guest Towels Smell Sour When They Get Wet

the Strip Soak That Fixes It

Towels that go sour when wet hold a waxy film of softener, detergent and body oil. Wash them normally first. In about 5 gallons of the hottest tap water dissolve 1/4 cup washing soda, then 1/4 cup borax, then stir in 1 tablespoon dish soap. Push the towels under, stir every hour, soak 4 to 6 hours until the water goes gray. Hot wash with no detergent, then dry completely. Kids or pets? Utility sink or covered tub. No bleach.

Mildew Smell Strip Wash for Towels and Fabric recipe card: 1/4 cup washing soda, 1/4 cup borax, 1 tbsp liquid dish soap, About 5 gallons hottest tap water
What it fixesTowels, gym clothes and sheets that smell fine dry and go sour the second they get wet.

You need

Mix it

  1. Fill the tub with about 5 gallons of the hottest tap water you can get. Hot matters more than anything else here.
  2. Add the washing soda and swish until dissolved.
  3. Add the borax and swish again until the water is clear.
  4. Add the dish soap last and stir it in gently so you do not build a foam layer.

Use it

  1. Wear gloves and push the clean, already washed items under the water. Yes, wash them normally first. You are stripping residue, not washing dirt.
  2. Stir the load every hour or so with a wooden spoon or a mop handle.
  3. Soak 4 to 6 hours, until the water goes cloudy gray or brown. That color is the fabric softener, detergent and body oil film that was trapping the smell.
  4. Drain, then wring the items out.
  5. Run them through a normal hot wash cycle with no detergent at all, just water, to rinse the strip solution out.
  6. Dry them completely, in the sun if you can. Damp storage is what started this.
Dale's noteMildew smell in towels is almost never mildew that is still alive, it is a waxy buildup holding old bacteria, which is why regular washing does nothing. Once you strip them, stop using liquid fabric softener on towels entirely and they will stay fresh and actually absorb water again. Do not confuse this with the whitening soak in the laundry chapter, which is the whitening soak for towels that have gone gray or yellow. This one is the smell soak. If the towels look fine and smell sour, you are in the right place.
Don'tIf there are small children or pets in the house, use a utility sink or a covered tub, never an open bathtub, and never leave the bathroom door open while it soaks. Five gallons is a drowning depth for a toddler and the water is caustic enough to burn a mouth. Do not put bleach anywhere near this soak, and do not soak anything with elastic, spandex or a waterproof coating, because the hot alkaline bath destroys elastic and delaminates waterproof layers. Skip wool and silk completely, since washing soda will wreck both.
The Country Cleans Mix Book

This is 1 of 100 mixes in the Mix Book

Glass, wood, bathrooms, mold, kitchens, carpet, couches, laundry, floors, metal, odors and more. Every one with the same exact amounts, steps and warnings. A PDF in your email within a minute.

GET THE MIX BOOK · $12.99
Free: Dale's Fall Deep-Clean Checklist

Free: Dale's Fall Deep-Clean Checklist

19 jobs to do before the house closes up for winter, room by room, plus 3 recipes printed in full. Print it and stick it on the fridge.

SEND ME THE FREE CHECKLIST

More homemade cleaning recipes

How to Get Smoke Smell Out of the House After the First FireClean Out the Fridge Before ThanksgivingHow to Keep Bathroom Faucets Spot Free for the HolidaysHow to Get Rid of Mold on a Bathroom Ceiling