Transitioning To A Toxic Free Home
Over the past year, I have put a HUGE focus on living a toxic-free life! Wow, who knew there were so many toxins out there!
I’ve even written a book about the topic, and I just can’t wait to tell you about it!
Have you seen my book Natural Solutions for Cleaning & Wellness — Health Remedies & Green Cleaning Solutions Without Toxins or Chemicals? This practical guide gives you in-depth solutions on how to protect yourself and your loved ones for generations to come.
I’m going to dive into this book in just a moment, but first, let’s dive into getting rid of those smelly towels, shall we?
Someone Please Help Me Get Rid of These Sour Towels!
Okay, so this has been a HUGE problem in my household. A bit embarrassing yes, but we have STINKY TOWELS!!
Alright, who is with me here? There is nothing more frustrating than to get out of the bath feeling fresh only to dry off with a towel that stinks and sticks with you for hours.
So as always I set out to find a solution to my problem. I mean last year I discovered how to get rid of a bad smelling high-efficiency washer machine forever, and I still use that tip to this day!
My Attempts To Get Rid of Sour Towels
So the experimenting began. Last week I began to test and let me tell you…if there was a camera in my laundry room, you would all be getting a laugh right now.
Let me start by saying that my first instinct was to add vinegar. Vinegar kills odors in washer machines and I am sure they could help freshen my towels.
- Round 1: So the first load I used vinegar on a hot cycle. Bing….laundry done, opened my front loader and whoa…still smells! I didn’t even have to get them out.
- Round 2: Next I decided to add vinegar, baking soda, and a little laundry soap. HUGE mistake! DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!!! Oh my gosh you guys…I felt like I just watched an episode of the Brady Bunch…remember when Bobby put too much detergent in the washer machine and there were bubbles everywhere? Yep, that was my laundry room…so not a good idea! So now you know, combining baking soda and vinegar has the same chemical reaction as it does in baking. It fizzes up and makes a huge mess. Alright, scratch that idea!
- Round 3: Finally I decided to scratch everything BUT the baking soda! No soap, no vinegar, just plain baking soda and guess what…IT WORKED!!!
So here is what you need to do!
How To Get Rid of Sour Towels The Toxic Free Way
Put your towels into your washer machine. Mine is a high efficiency (HE) front loader washer machine but you can also do this with a standard washer machine too.
Add 1/2 cup baking soda right over the towels. Don’t worry about using the dispenser, just pour it right over the towels. If you have a standard washer machine, use 1 cup of baking soda and add it to the towels and then fill with water. DO NOT ADD SOAP OR VINEGAR, ADD NOTHING BUT BAKING SODA!
Run a full cycle using hot water for the wash and rinse cycle. You will be absolutely amazed on how fresh the towels smell.
Dry fully and then fold and use!
For Really Stubborn Smelling Towels!
If you have some towels that are really stubborn and still have a smell, then I highly recommend these 4 essential oils!
Lemon Essential Oil ~ You Can Buy Here
Lavender Essential Oil ~ You Can Buy Here
Coriander Seed Essential Oil ~ You Can Buy Here
Tea Tree Essential Oil ~ You Can Buy Here
Simply choose which essential oil you would like to use or you could use a combination of these essential oils and add 3-5 drops to the baking soda before you add to the wash and shake well to combine the essential oil with the baking soda. Add to wash and proceed as normal.
Why Towels Start To Smell
There are several reasons towels start to smell.
- They don’t fully dry out and become mildewy
- There is too much moisture in the air which again can keep the towels from fully drying
- Your kids leave them on the floor, again not allowing them to dry fully (uh can you tell that this is my issue) 😉
- You are using too much soap or fabric softener. This one is huge! Many of us use too much and the towels will have a build up of detergent or fabric softener.
Over the last year, I have been working on making my household more “green”! I can not believe how much money I am saving and how with little changes here and there, my house is truly becoming less toxic-free!
My New Book ~ Natural Solutions for Cleaning & Wellness
Did you like this natural solution? Then you’ll love my new book! I’ve written a book that that can help you and your family to transition into a Toxic-Free life!
Natural Solutions for Cleaning & Wellness is dedicated to giving you the information you need to remove toxins from your home and supply you with natural remedies to protect your health. This practical guide gives you in-depth solutions on how to protect yourself and your loved ones for generations to come.
You can Click here to view more details about this amazing book and to learn about the incredible gift bundle included with a book purchase.
This book has over 140 great recipes that are super easy to make with everyday ingredients! Here is a sample of a few solutions featured in this book!
Toxic-Free No-Wick Candle
All Natural Deodorant
Grease-Free Lotion
No fancy ingredients…just everyday, easy to find ingredients. This book is a must have for EVERY household! Learn more details here.
I use baking soda and soap in the wash and the vinegar is dispensed in the fabric softener compartment. Hot water. Also works liked a charm. My detergents are natural….homemade or ewg rating 1!
I have brand new towels, not thick either.
They still stink with the baking soda,
Even washed out the dryer….
I just read that you need to give your machine & dryer a “going over” as well otherwise the bacteria remains/is still breeding in there.
Baking soda didn’t work and these are new towels, less than a few weeks.
Even cleaned the dryer, good..
You might try drying your towels in the sun after washing in baking soda. The stink on my towels doesn’t go away unless I sun dry each time I reuse it.
I use ammonia. Yes, it burns your nose so bad if you smell it, but here is how to use it. You soak your sour smelling towels with a couple squirts of it, in the water. Run them through a hot cycle,just to wash out the ammonia, and then you can wash them again with laundry soap. I hope it works for you too.
What about colored towels, do you use this remedy for them also?
baking soda and vinegar are used to clean up a clogged sink with its fizzing action…when I read you put vinegar and baking soda together in your machine..I was like OH NO….trouble….
I’m about ready to throw mine out for this very reason…will give this a try!
haven’t tried baking soda for towels but I did make some detergent and that was included as an ingredient and it killed all my elastic on all my kids clothes.
My towels didn’t have the smell but it bothered me that the rinse cycle with a load of towels always had a lot of suds. I started washing my towels with only baking soda in the wash cycle and vinegar in the rinse cycle and it took a couple months of washing without detergent before my towels would rinse without suds. The detergent builds up in them so bad, and that causes some of the smell. And fabric softener makes them not as absorbent.
Borax works the same way, too.
Heartily recommend BORAX, too!!! I started using it for stinky towels, mmm maybe, 30 years ago. No more stinky towels whether well or city water. The only issue now is where to find it now that we’ve moved from MD to NC. My current box came from Food Lion and is in laundry additives. ‘Couldn’t live without it.
Walmart!! If you can’t get it locally you can order it online
Borax can be found in any supermarket along with the soaps and other things.
borax does not help mine at all, tried it many times.. didn’t work
Baking soda can help us clean in so many ways. An interesting use to share (off topic from laundry but helpful to everyone who uses any kind of ‘product’ in styling their hair: I use baking soda to clean the product out of my hair as well! My hairdresser taught me this. It really works well in the shower after washing your hair with shampoo to make a paste of the baking soda and a little water and work it through your hair and rinse. I shampoo again with just a little shampoo this time and then rinse again to get really clean, product-free hair again!! (What would we do without our product ha ha! But it does build up.)
So many laundry detergents have fillers and other chemicals in them. You have to wonder how they contribute to laundry problems like this. I have used a natural laundry cleaner for so long – it has enzyme-activated natural cleaners for really clean laundry and has no phosphates and no chlorine and is hypoallergenic. Also love that it is a spot remover as well and very concentrated – you definitely don’t want to use too much!
What is brand name and where did you buy it?
My hairdresser taught me that too only she told me to mix a little with the shampoo, wash it and then re-wash and condition. It saves a step.
I’m also curious what you’re using for a laundry soap. Thanks.
I also learned this years ago from my hairdresser, it truly does work. I have fine hair, this takes the “weight” out of it, keeps my my hair from going flat.
When reading your article on my kindle, your “pop in” completely blocks the page and there is no way poo f getting rid of it without signing up for your newsletter. There is no visible x in the corner.
I enjoy all the information out there about laundry detergent, etc. but what about static in the dryer. I use vinegar in the rinse cycle of my washing machine and dryer balls in the dryer and the static is terrible. My family lives with it but they really don’t like it and I get that look… “why can’t we use the chemical products?” , you know that look? Any ideas out there?
I have the same irritating problem! I recently started putting large safety pins on some old baby wash cloths. I put like 2 or 3 per wash cloth. Just pop one in the dryer and cuts the static by at least 75%. I get a little here and there from mixing fabrics. I also use the vinegar in place of fabric softener. I was going to make some wool dryer balls, but heard they aren’t a true fix either. Then I saw the safety pin idea on Pinterest. Good luck!
Ditch the drywr balls for balls of aluminum foil. Does the same thing the dryer balls do while removing static!
For those of you attempting a toxic free lifestyle, do your best to ban aluminum foil in your homes.
As an Environmental Management researcher, I can assure you, aluminum foil is extremely toxic.
Of course, on the Internet, you’ll find websites stating it’s fine. However, look at the date of the article, who authored the article, “the ties that bind,” and if a medical study (with clout) was used.
You could stop using the dryer???? I’ve been using a dehumidifier in my laundry for 12yrs (you need a laundry space with doors to close and then buy the dehumidifier for whatever size the space is). Even heavy items dry overnight and sports shoes, pillows, duvets (always difficult in a dryer) all dry perfectly without any static. No mildew in or around the washing machine either. Uses a lot less energy to do a better job of drying.
Putting some safety pins on your dryer balls will help with the static. Try a couple til you notice the difference.
So you actually pinned a few safety pins to your wool dryer balls and use them when drying clothes in the dryer and it helps with the static cling?
Don’t over dry your clothes. Reduce the drying time by about 10 minutes. I use wool dryer balls, reduced the drying time and I have no static in any of my clothes. I hang up any t-shirts so they finish drying if slightly damp and there are no wrinkles so no ironing needed. I live in a cold, dry winter climate.
Keep all these ideas coming. Chemicals are too harsh for me and I have severe allergic reactions. I use baking soda for so many things that I buy the large boxes now. Thanks for your blog.
Can’t wait to try this. I usually use vinegar, but it doesn’t work well once the smell gets really bad. I am wondering about colored laundry….is banking soda safe to use on colors? I’m afraid it may fade them.
Baking soda is just fine for colored and fine fabrics. Vinegar for the rinse. Any stains, try a bit of shampoo and hydrogen peroxide, allow to sit for 5 minutes then rinse. Not blood. Use cold water and salt as a paste, then rinse. Repeat as necessary.
I would love to know what laundry detergent you use Vickie?