The Unexpected Culprit Of Bathroom Odor (& How To Get Rid Of It)

Bathroom odors are no joke, and if you've been vigorously cleaning to freshen up your smelly bathroom to no avail, you might be forgetting about your towels. If you know everything else is spotless, those lingering scents could be caused by damp towels. When moisture remains in the fabric, mildew, mold, and bacteria can grow on your bathroom towels – including hand towels and washcloths — producing a gross, musty smell. To get rid of this smell for good, you'll need to properly wash your towels and use white vinegar or baking soda to help eliminate the odor.

Though there's a chance you're not cleaning your bath towels as often as you should be, there are other reasons these linens could stink. With bathrooms that are particularly humid, it can be difficult for your towels to fully dry, but trying to ventilate the room could help. Additionally, if your towels are hanging on hooks too close together, there might not be enough air circulation to allow all the fabric to dry quickly. Leaving more space in between the towels could help them to dry better and avoid the mildew smell. For those that have a hamper in their washroom, letting damp towels sit in it could be the cause of your bathroom odor. By thoroughly washing and treating stinky towels and allowing your newly used ones to fully dry, you can keep your bathroom smelling fresh and clean. Plus, your towels will probably feel nicer to use after your shower.

First, identify which towels are producing the smell, as it might not be all of them. You'll want to ensure that you don't mix these musty linens in the wash with your clothes or your other towels, as it could just spread the problem. To start removing the smell, you can either soak your smelly fabric in white vinegar for at least half an hour or run them through the washing machine on warm or hot with only a cup of vinegar. Not surprisingly, you can get rid of stubborn bathroom odors with the help of this all-natural product. The vinegar will help kill the bacteria causing the odor. If all your towels are white, you might be able to skip this step and simply wash everything with bleach in hot water.

When adding vinegar to the washer, you can put some in at the end for the last rinse to handle slightly smelly towels, or at the start of the cycle for serious musty odors. Now, you'll need to wash the towels again with a strong laundry detergent. Versions that contain oxygenated bleach can be helpful when eliminating odors. If the scent remains after these two cycles, washing your towels with ½ cup of baking soda can help fight the mildew smell, as well as the scent of the vinegar. Particularly musty towels may need to have the process repeated to truly remove the stink. When the towels finally smell clean, dry them completely.