Help with sour towels?

Question

The towels my husband uses get sour after one use. They are fresh up until he uses them. I wash in detergent, bleach for colors, and fabric softener. I have changed detergents, changed his body washes, bought new towels and nothing seems to work. He can get by using the new towels about two or three times before they smell sour. His towels are red mine are white. I thought that had someting to do with it, but when he uses mine they sour too. They don't sour when I use them. Don't know what to do now.

Answer 1

He needs to go to the doctor. I once dated a guy with that problem and it was some kind of armpit odor dysfunction. I know it might be embarassing for him, but just tell him that the doctor hears and has seen everything. They can give him meds to make it so much better.

Answer 2

Does he hang them up to dry or just toss them in a pile somewhere?  Hanging them up to dry should help.

Answer 3

Have you tried adding baking soda or vinegar.

Baking Soda boosts the strength of liquid detergent and bleach. Add 1/2 cup to top loaders and 1/4 cup to front loaders. Also it increases the potency of bleach so you only need half the amount of bleach. Even color safe bleach.

Vinegar softens fabric and kills bacteria. Add 1 cup to wash's rinse cycle.

Answer 4

I'd trade and give him white.  Then you can use "real" bleach on them.

Answer 5

Add a cup of Borax to your laundry detergent - it gets rid of stains, smells & makes laundry brighter.  You can use less detergent when you use Borax.  Doing towells separately helps & so does using Vinegar in the rinse cycle.

I bought dark green, very good brand towells for an accent color for my bathroom & only use them when company comes.  I wash them with other colored towells (that are mainly beige) and after all these years, they still run!  They give the beige towells a greenish cast.  Drives me crazy.  Must remember to only wash them with other green things!  Be very carefull with red colors, too.  As someone said, all damp towells must be hung up to dry or they'll smell or get mold on them.