How can I get my towels to smell good?

I got this recipe from this web site: You will need a wide mouth glass jar, white distilled vinegar, a few wash cloths, and your favorite essential oil.

Pour the vinegar into the jar, add about 2-3 teaspoons of your favorite essential oil and the cloths. Add one soaked wash cloth to the dryer with your clothes, it not only takes out static, it also smells really good! I love it.

Are the older towels? I find that towels definitely wear out faster than clothes and need replaced. Soaking in Oxyclean or vinegar can help extend their life, I've found.

using fabric softener on towels causes them to hold odors and not be as absorbent

Use cleaning vinegar. I add it every 3-4 weeks

I also add vinegar to my towels. I use it with every wash because I hate that musty smell!

I also add vinegar to my towels. I use it with every wash because I hate that musty smell!

I also add vinegar to my towels. I use it with every wash because I hate that musty smell!

You don't need fabric softener. It causes towels to absorb less water and wear out faster. Make yourself 6 felted wool dryer balls (special all wool-no nylon or blends!) is available from JoAnn Fabric. Instructions with video on the web, under "making feltdd wool dryer balls). When done making the dryer balls, wash them with a load of laundry that can handle very hot water and very hot drying. This causes the wool to "felt". The dryer balls will fluff your towels so much, you'll wonder why you ever used fabric softener.

The wool costs about $7.00/skein, but you can usually get 6 balls out of 4 skeins. Wrap it quite tight, and don't forget to thread through the ball any loose ends of wool. It's reusable, for a very long time, and less expensive than the fabric softener, which is generally not advised in today's machines.

If you have a front loading washer, it is absolutely vital that you wipe the gaskets dry after laundering, and prop open (wide) the door. Further, slide open the drawer into which you add detergent and leave it open, too, until your next laundry day. Failure to do this can result in a mildew or mold smell in your washer and on your laundry.

Try adding white vinegar yo your wash, it is a natural deodorizer!

Try drying outside.

Wash towels on long cycle, ideally with bleach. Do NOT use fabric softener. Make sure they are really, really dry and cool before putting them away. And make sure that the place you store them isn't where they are picking up the musty odor. If it is, you will need to clean out the storage place to get rid of the smell and use something to dehumidify it regularly after. Ventilated shelving and not cramming towels in tightly helps, too. In my experience, this musty odor is very common in places where there is no central air and it is hot and muggy a lot of the time. It is a hard problem to solve, but the advice above has worked well for me.